Granite Garden

During the 1930s in the United States, the Works Progress Administration developed the Federal Writers' Project to support writers and artists while making a national effort to document the country's shared history and culture. The American Guide series consists of individual guides to each of the states. Little-known authors—many of whom would later become celebrated literary figures—were commissioned to write these important books. John Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ralph Ellison are among the more than 6,000 writers, editors, historians, and researchers who documented this celebration of local histories. Photographs, drawings, driving tours, detailed descriptions of towns, and rich cultural details exhibit each state's unique flavor.

There is folk that wants to whisper in your ear, and then there is the music of Lankum: urgent, desperate and detonating, full of lyrics and sounds smacking together like waves shattering stones in a storm. The latest folk signing to Rough Trade Records (a label delving brilliantly into traditional song in recent years), the quartet – formerly known as Lynched – marry the rawness of the Watersons with the roar of Richard Dawson, and eerie drones plunge their coarse, clattering harmonies further into darkness.

Peter Maddison meets more resourceful individuals turning their dream designs into perfect homes as the sixth season of the Australian architecture show begins.

A comprehensive course on types of flooring, their use, installation challenges and solutions.