After three acclaimed thrillers (Quiver, Trust Me and All He Saw Was the Girl), Peter Leonard returns with a real humdinger, a cat-and-mouse thriller which moves from 1970s Detroit to Munich. But what does his father think of it all? He’s a natural, reckons Elmore.

This December our Archivist, Robert Brown, put together a small display of Faber Christmas cards, dating back to a post-war period featuring cards and designs from the likes of Barnett Freedman, Edward Bawden, David Jones and Edward Ardizzone. What better time of year to show off some of these festive delights?

Max Liu signs off for the year with an account of December’s Faber Social with the rallying cry to ‘get stuck in’. The theme was decadence, and a line-up including DBC Pierre and Richard Milward didn’t disappoint. The Social returns in February – see you there.

Christopher Logue, who has died, began writing in 1950s Paris. The following decade in London, he wrote for the Royal Court, started the vogue for live poetry readings, invented the poster poem, and starred in Ken Russell’s The Devils. But he’s perhaps best-known for bringing Homer’s work to life for modern readers – an epic undertaking.

Alan Glynn’s had a busy and successful 2011 – a new novel in the UK (Bloodland), at long last the movie version of Limitless starring Robert DeNiro and Bradley Cooper, and the Irish Crime Novel of the Year win. He’s gearing up for the US publication of Bloodland, as his profile continues to rise on both sides of the Atlantic.

In 1941, Berthold Wolpe joined Faber and Faber as resident art director and cover designer extraordinaire. Over the next 30 years, Wolpe created a distinctive look for the list – a dynamic fusion of bold colours, graphics and typography. Four of his iconic book covers are now available as beautiful prints.

Today sees the publication of The Beautiful Indifference, a new book of short stories from Man Booker-shortlisted author Sarah Hall. It’s a gem of a collection – only seven stories including ‘Butcher’s Perfume’ (shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Prize in 2010). For your reading pleasure, here’s another: the autumnal ‘The Nightlong River’.

The winner of this year’s Dylan Thomas Prize is Lucy Caldwell with The Meeting Point, her second novel. The award is doubly impressive when you remember that earlier in the year Lucy also won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. You can watch Lucy here read an extract from the book.

Crunch 2011, the Art and Music Festival at Hay-on-Wye, returns with an inspiring line-up of talks, with the theme of ‘Awake in the Universe’. On the 19th November you can catch legendary film-maker Nicolas Roeg, and Faber author Joanna Kavenna – don’t miss!

This weekend, 22nd and 23rd October, Faber Academy has commissioned an interactive poetry installation called Poetry Under The Arbour as part of the Bloomsbury Festival. It will allow people to take the words of poets from three different eras – Keats, Eliot and Daljit Nagra …

Our call-out to young artists to reimagine the cover for William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, for inclusion on a brand new edition of the book, is picking up steam. On the accompanying website Judy Golding, the author’s daughter, talks in depth about the book, her father and book cover design.

‘I never thought I’d arrive on stage after Jarvis Cocker,’ marvelled Faber’s Lee Brackstone at the end of the fifth Faber Social. Four authors, skilled short story writers, were joined on stage at The Social by the Pulp frontman in what was a truly memorable evening of literature and music. It’s becoming an unmissable night out – Max Liu reports back.

Reading poetry while watching the Rugby World Cup on TV is usually a bad idea. But, as Max Liu suggests, if you’re going to do it, make sure you have Mick Imlah to hand. Imlah was a great poet – and a great sportsman. He brought the language of the rugby field to his poems. Declaring his allegiance ahead of this weekend’s crunch match, Max Liu pays tribute.

‘The contemporary short story is in rude health and its profile should be celebrated.’ Faber’s Lee Brackstone, at last weekend’s award-ceremony for this year’s Frank O’Connor Short Story Prize, applauds its winner, the great Irish writer Edna O’Brien, and is heartened by a renewed enthusiasm for shorter fiction.

We’ve often featured Willy Vlautin, Richmond Fontaine front-man, on this blog. His band this month release their new record, The High Country. But Willy isn’t the only musician out there writing sublime Americana fiction. Editor Angus Cargill picks out two other accomplished authors – songwriters and novelists, Simone Felice and Steve Earle.

This week saw the launch, attended by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, of Anthologise, a national poetry competition for secondary schools. Spearheaded by Carol Ann Duffy, it encourages young poets to create their own anthologies. We think it’s an excellent initiative.