Stories about Literature from December, 2011
Ghana: Reading 52 Books in 50 Weeks
Fiona reaches a milestone: 52 books in 50 weeks: “With two weeks to spare, today I reached my goal of reading fifty-two books for the year. A week ago I was beginning to wonder whether I would make it and then I discovered The Hunger Games and ploughed through three...
Peru: Afro-Peruvian Christmas Music
Christmas, a Christian celebration that arrived in Perú with the Spaniards at the beginning of the sixteenth century, was adapted over the years by different Peruvian communities. The black community also managed to incorporate its own individuality in the festivities, expressing its particular experiences in the artistic creations made to honor the holiday.
Jamaica: when poets join academia
UK-based Jamaican writer Kei Miller muses on the consequences of poets joining the academic world. “Poetry is certainly not known for its plain-spoken-ness and in fact is accused, just as much as the academy, for its obscurity and its pretensions. And this is as it should be!”
Cuba: Prix Carbet for Padura
Cuban writer Leonardo Padura has won the 2011 Prix Carbet de la Caraïbe, reports Repeating Islands. The prestigious prize for works of Caribbean literature in French, founded by the late writer Edouard Glissant, was awarded to the French translation of Padura's novel El hombre que amaba a los perros (The...
United Kingdom: Video from Hitchens’ 1999 U.S. Book Tour
“Hitch Hike” is a 53-min documentary by Palash Davé about British writer Christopher Hitchens’ 1999 U.S. tour promoting his book about Bill Clinton. The full film is available for viewing on Vimeo (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3). Hitchens died on December 15, 2011.
Pakistan: English Should Be One Of The National Languages
Habib R. Sulemani introduces us to some of the new faces of Pakistan excelling English literature and thinks that English should be declared a national language along with other Pakistani languages.
Egypt: Celebrating Naguib Mahfouz's Centenary
Today marks the centenary of Egyptian Nobel laureate and leading novelist Naguib Mahfouz. The occasion is being remembered on Twitter.
Chile: Communist Party Asks for Pablo Neruda's Exhumation
Lillie Langtry, from the blog Memory in Latin America, comments on the petition by the Chilean Communist Party to exhume the remains of poet Pablo Neruda “due to allegations that he may have been poisoned.”
St. Lucia: Poetic Preaching
Caribbean Book Blog profiles a local priest who “has just published a book of narrative prose and poetry”, which he describes as ” a Caribbean-centric “theological reflection on the social, historical, economic, religious, political, and national consciousness.”
Francophone Africa: The Important Literary Contributions from Former Colonies
The Genevan blog of Rémi Mogenet, Le Savoyard de la Tribune, explains with supporting examples that [fr]: “Mythological African traditional stories have made a remarkable entrance into francophone literature”. He quotes the Mandika epic tale of Soundjata, written and published in French by Guinean D. T. Niane, as well as, for...
Africa: Online Space for African Languages and Poetry
Maneno Matamu is a platform for African poets/writers to showcase their work in the rich and beautiful languages this continent is blessed with. It is a collective breath expressing our linguistic peculiarities, discoveries and oddities.
