· June, 2007

Stories about Literature from June, 2007

Iran: Rushdie and Bin Laden

Mohmmad Ali Abtahi,blogger and former vice president criticised both Queen Elizabeth and Islamists for attributing titles to Salman Rushdie and Osama Bin Laden. The Queen made Salman Rushdie a Knight and some Islamists call Bin Laden, Seifallah, God's Sword.

Martiniquian blogger on “Fleurs du Mal”

  28 June 2007

Le blog de [moi] celebrates the 150th anniversary of Fleurs du Mal (Fr) by posting “Le Vampire” and explaining her attraction to Baudelaire's poetry: “Baudelaire speaks of death and women like no other. I really understand his fascination with the two…I open [the book] rarely because it always brings out...

Jamaica: Personal Space

  27 June 2007

“From the beginning of slavery, there has been a war fought over black bodies and black space and because we have been victims in the past, we have conceded our space and our right to that space and it has had a debilitating effect on our self-esteem.” Jamaican Geoffrey Phlip...

Latvia: The Battles of Cesis

An outstanding post by Marginalia‘s Peteris Cedrins on the history of Latvia's the Battles of Cesis – as well as some musings on the Internet vs real libraries: “Though I adore and am addicted to the Internet — I would rather my mind resembled a library than looked like cyberspace....

If Bloggers attended the Conference on the Caribbean…

  25 June 2007

This past week (June 18-21) leaders of CARICOM met with President George W. Bush and other top U.S. government officials in Washington as part of the Conference on the Caribbean. Official word from the U.S. Press Secretary is that: “The Conference on the Caribbean continues an important dialogue between the...

Kuwait: Give Women More Rights

As usual, this week's Kuwait round up by Abdullatif Al Omar addresses a number of issues including the disappearance of people in summer, Kuwait's unwritten traffic code, the attack of a Kuwaiti diplomat in Iran and the plight of mothers who cannot be considered as legal guardians for their children - simply because they are women.

Iran:A woman revives the traditional stroytelling

Thanks to Forever Under Construction we can see slide show of the performance, with excerpts and an interview with Gord-Afarid, Fatemeh Habibizad, the first Iranian woman Naqqal – a performer reading and enacting stories of the celebrated Persian epic The Book of Kings: the revival of the traditional storytelling.

Jamaica: Trusting Walcott

  20 June 2007

“A battle over individuality, morality, divinity, and spelling was being fought on a Caribbean beach. I loved it.” A passage from Omeros inspires Jamaican Geoffrey Philp to write about why he trusts poet Derek Walcott more than his pastor.

Haiti: Reflections on the beauty of life

  19 June 2007

Note d'Or writes about a new-found appreciation for the beauty of life after a nine day hospital stay. “As I greet each tree, each bird, each blade of grass and my square of flowers, I thank the rusty beds for being there to make me aware of these beauties that...