Stories about Literature from September, 2010
Kenya: Winners of Kenyan Conversations Competition
StoryMoja announces the winners of Kenyan Conversations Picture Prompt Writing Competition: “In 1st Position is The Gentleman’s Club Written by Clifton Gashagua (Ksh 2000/-, 2 Storymoja books and 1 complimentary festival pass to the Storymoja Hay Festival)
Kenya: Prison Literature in East Africa
Kimani Wanjiru discusses prison literature in East Africa: “Maina wa Kinyatti perhaps has the highest number of books that vividly describe his harrowing experience. He has a collection of poems A Season of Blood: Poems from Kenyan Prison (1995)…”
Russia: Lost and Found in Translation
Poemless posts a follow-up to her earlier entry about the contemporary Russian literature available in English.
Latvia: Translation of Rainis’ 1929 Article
All About Latvia translates an article on “the process of convergence” between ethnic Latvians and Latvia's Jews, Russians and Germans, written by Latvian poet and politician Rainis hours before his death on Sept. 12, 1929.
Guyana: Twitter & Book Marketing
“If it weren't for…her often unbridled twit-icisms on all aspects of life, and her occasional spats with followers, which have brought her seemingly closer to us in all her entertaining complexities…I probably would not have bought Terry McMillan's new book”: The Signifyin’ Woman blogs about book marketing on Twitter.
Lebanon: Why in the Name of God?
“Show me a single religion condemning; As blasphemy, the biggest sin of all, Speaking in the name of God. Puny avatar; Why in the name of God?…” are the first few lines of a poem written by Adonis49.
CEE: Books and Reading Notes
War and Peace posts a mini-review of Sholem Aleichem's Tevye the Dairyman; Csíkszereda Musings reviews William Blacker's Along the Enchanted Way; Poemless wonders why there are “so few translations of contemporary Russian authors available to the English speaking world.”
Trinidad & Tobago, St. Lucia: Regional Winner
Caribbean Book Blog notes that a Trinidadian teacher submitted one of the regional winning entries in the Commonwealth Short Story Competition.
Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica: Remembering Wayne
On the one-year anniversary of Wayne Brown's death, The Caribbean Review of Books posts an essay by Mervyn Morris on the writer's life and poetic achievement.
Guyana: Book Blogger Week
The Signifyin’ Woman celebrates Book Blogger Appreciation Week.
Trinidad & Tobago: Happy Birthday, Alice Yard
Pleasure says of Alice Yard's fourth anniversary: “The contribution of this space, at formal, anecdotal and social levels, cannot be underestimated. It has been a place for the arts, in a country where the arts are all too often left bereft.”
St. Lucia, French Guiana: Googol
“What if a superhero was born today in French Guiana? How do you cope with inviting her into your plan – wherever or whoever you are? I am Googol explores these questions”: Caribbean Book Blog profiles the Caribbean national behind the world's newest superhero.
Kenya: Koroga Enchants
Koroga is an Africa story involving poets and photogpraphers: “At the heart of Koroga is a deep desire to understand how art shapes our social imaginations. Poets have responded to a range of images that capture the density and play of contemporary living, the beauties and tragedies that surround us.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Supporting Young Writers
“It’s an ambitious endeavour, aimed at making a crucial intervention in Trinidad and Tobago’s literary scene and education system”: The Caribbean Review of Books interviews Lisa Allen-Agostini about her admirable initiative, ‘The Allen Prize for Young Writers’.
Guyana, Jamaica: Literary Peace Prize
The Signifyin’ Woman, upon learning that Marlon James’ ‘The Book of Night Women’ is listed as a finalist for the 2010 Dayton Literary Peace Prize, asks: “Can there be such a thing as a book worthy of being prized for promoting peace? Better yet, can a work of fiction be...
China: The arrest of Xie Chaoping
A Chinese writer, Xie Chaoping, was arrested by Shaanxi Police for his book on “The Great Relocation”. ESWN has translated the story.
Armenia: Literary Capital 2012
Ianyan provides a comprehensive report on news that Yerevan, the Armenian capital, will become UNESCO World Book Capital for 2012. The blog says that the city will be the 12th to hold the title, coincidentally in the same year that marks the 500th anniversary of the first printed book, but...
Egypt: Wanna be a Bride; From Blog to TV
An Egyptian blog featuring humorous short stories about a girl's endless quest to find a suitable husband was published into a book more than two years ago. This year it was turned into a television series, which is being shown across the Arab world this Ramadan.
Nigeria: Online Nigerian Literary Magazine
Sokari writes about Saraba, an online literary magazine created and published by Emmanuel Iduma and Damilola Ajayi, two Nigerian students of the University of Ife.
Chile: Isabel Allende Wins Chilean National Prize for Literature
On Thursday it was announced that, after much criticism, Isabel Allende was the winner of the 2010 Chilean National Prize for Literature. Julio Suarez Anturi thinks [es] that the criticism she receives from other writers and intellectuals who think she did not deserve the price is born of envy.
Colombia: Children's Literature Author Jairo Aníbal Niño Dies
Jairo Aníbal Niño, one of the most-loved authors of children's literature in Colombia, passed away last Monday. Twitter users and bloggers remembered the author and his work.
