Ben Wilkinson

I've been looking forward to the appearance of Katharine Towers 's first collection of poems for some time now, having come across her work in a pamphlet, Slow Time , a few years back; a striking little volume for its poems' economical and unshowy resonance. So it was a pleasant surprise to spot the title poem from her debut with Picador, The Floating Man , in the Guardian the other month, and to see her collection longlisted for the Guardian First Book award . Even more so, it was a pleasure to write at length on the collection for that publication; my review of The Floating Man , appearing as it did, in last Saturday's Guardian Review . For those interested, it's also available to read online . And after you've been suitably persuaded, you can order a copy of the book , a snip at 25% off the cover price.

South London-based band the XX have won this year’s Mercury Prize, and deservedly so. Their self-titled debut beat other shortlisted albums from Mumford and Sons , Biffy Clyro , Dizzee Rascal , Foals , and bookie’s favourite (?!) washed-up has-been Paul Weller – all, I think, would have made deserving winners with the obvious exception of the latter. But the XX are unusually and subtly original in a way none of these artists are: their moody, electronic, skeletal songs are unlike anything else going on in the British pop-music mainstream at the moment. Like all great bands, they manage to sound wholly contemporary while also retaining a timeless feel; atmospheric and haunting, their stuff isn’t showy but it sticks and, I think, will stand up for years to come. I fully recommend buying a copy of their album if you haven’t already. Along with Klaxons , PJ Harvey , Pulp and Elbow , I’d go so far as to say they are perhaps the most deserving winners in the Mercury Prize’s history . Bu