Welcome to our summer edition! Never before have we published 78 people in a single issue. ‘Books of the Year’ is our major feature – always fun to commission. Find out what leading writers, critics and artists enjoyed reading in 2014. Poetry is a strength this month: we have poems from Felicity Plunkett, American Paula Bohince, and Porter Prize winner Michael Farrell, among others. Dion Kagan reviews that audacious French film Stranger by the Lake, and Ian Dickson admires the STC’s Waiting for Godot. Other highlights include Robert Dessaix on Colm Tóibín’s The Testament of Mary, Robyn Williams on Stephen Hawking, and former agent Mary Cunnane’s defence of the slush pile.