Cover Stories: The battle for Iraq literature, European fiction

As soldiers and journalists return from Iraq, publishers and agents go into battle to sign up the telegenic with a story. In the US, attention is focused on the rescued Private Jessica Lynch. Here, editors are heartened to hear that the BBC's Rageh Omaar, "the Scud Stud", looks set to sign with agent Georgina Capel. The only problem is that the book he wants to write is about Mogadishu, where he was born and spent much of his childhood. No doubt, with the right offer, he could be persuaded to get the war over first. Meanwhile, John Simpson has signed with Macmillan for a book about the rise and fall of Saddam. The Independent's Robert Fisk has long been writing about the past 50 years of bloodshed in the Middle East: his Night of Power is promised for next June.

* Unlike our continental cousins, we Brits still read comparatively little translation, although initiatives such as The Independent's Foreign Fiction Prize are helping to swell its popularity. Now the the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has teamed up with Borders to celebrate European fiction. The chain's Charing Cross Road branch is committed to a three-week promotion from 9 May. It will run the gamut from Tintin to Eco and Grass. On 8 May, Denis MacShane, Minister for Europe and a sometime translator of Brecht's poetry, will host a panel discussion at the store featuring Tessa de Loo and Panos Karnezis.