Angelina Jolie, Alfred Brendel, Alice Walker

This week Angelina Jolie discusses playing a villainess in Disney’s new dark fairy tale Maleficent. Alfred Brendel talks about forsaking the piano to write poetry. Alice Walker explains why poetry is medicine in conversation at the Sydney Writers Festival. Spoken word poet Kate Tempest performs at Britain’s leading literary festival in Hay. The Nigerian artist Victor Ehikhamenor considers the three dimensional possibilities of canvas. We find out how a South American insect helped create the sumptuous look of the Italian Renaissance. Fifi Haroon reports on what’s new in the arts from Pakistan and we hear about the rise of an independent music scene in India.

(Photo: Angelina Jolie, Alfred Brendel (c) Michael Latz/Getty, Alice Walker (c) Peter Kramer/Getty)