Stories about Literature from November, 2006
Caribbean: Nalo Hopkinson audiobook recording
Caribbean-born sci-fi writer Nalo Hopkinson solicits help with the pronunciation of certain Igbo words and botanical names as she prepares for the audiobook recording of her novel, The New Moon's Arms.
Albania: Ismail Kadare
Wu Wei writes about a talk given by Ismail Kadare in Oxford.
India: On Butterchicken in Ludhiana
Chandrahas is impressed with Pankaj Mishra's book – Butterchicken in Ludhiana. “Reading it this week for the first time, I was struck both by the smoothness of its style – it is a book without any dull bits, and the language has a full, rich flavour – and the strength...
Argentina: 2007 Book Fair
Former librarian Jeff Barry takes an early look at the 2007 Feria Internacional del Libro de Buenos Aires, noting that “the average print run for a book in Argentina was 3,520 in 2005,” however, only “4% of the titles were translated into Spanish from another language.”
Albania: Kadare's Novel
Music and Life – Everywhere! reviews Ismail Kadare's ‘Broken April’ and writes about Kanun, the Albanian blood feud laws.
Haiti: Syto Cave Podcast
French literary blog Topolivres posts (Fr) a podcast of an excerpt of Haitian poet and playwright Syto Cave's show Voisins Complices [Neighbors and Accomplices]. Voisins Complices has been performed in Haiti and Barcelona and is scheduled to go to New York in 2007.
Benin: Televised Literary Contest
France-based Togolese blogger Kangni Alem recounts (Fr) with much enthusiasm his recent experience at a televised literary competition in Benin which attracted aspiring writers of all ages. The competition was organized by beninoise Djamila Idrissa Souler and took place November 6. Says the blogger: “This contest illustrates, in a bold...
Costa Rica: Creative Commons: Publishing Paradigm?
Costa Rican native Andres Guadamuz examines the nexus of book publishing and Creative Commons.
Voices from South Asia
Bangladesh: Asif of Unheard Voices: Drishtipat Group Blog analyzes the current political situation in Bangladesh and urges all the Bangladeshis to take a non-partisan moral stand to get out of the current crisis. Andrew Morris writes an essay in Desicritics about the historical faces of Dhaka city titled Bangladesh Diary:...
Congo, France: Prix Renaudot Awarded to Alain Mabanckou
Sanaga Peregrinations announces (Fr) that the prestigious literary Renaudot Prize was awarded to Congolese novelist Alain Mabanckou for his novel Memoires de Porc-Epic [Porcupine Memories]. Explains the blog: “Fine storyteller, Mabanckou takes the voice of a porcupine who confides in his friend the baobab and tells him of his life...
Jamaica: Poet Shara McCallum
The subject of Geoffrey Philp's latest installment in his “In My Own Words” series is Jamaica-born poet Shara McCallum.
South Africa: taking over the world
Latifah is taking over the world (a poem): I am a photographer- I keep telling myself One day, just one day the name will be written on the Star Newspaper, picture by- “Busisiwe Sigasa” This is a beginning of it , the beginning of greater things to come.
Cuba: 5 questions with Sandra M. Castillo
The latest installment in Geoffrey Philp's “Five Questions” series is an interview with Cuban writer Sandra M. Castillo.
Russia: Dostoyevsky's Translations Re-Designed
David McDuff of A Step At A Time announces that his “translations of Crime and Punishment and The Idiot are among five titles chosen for recovering by design artists to celebrate Penguin’s 60th anniversary.”
Argentina: Darwin in South America
“Interested in South America and have a scientific bent? Then lose yourself for weeks among the complete work of Charles Darwin, now available online. It’s quite an astonishing collection pulled together by the University of Cambridge,” writes Jeff Barry. Some follow up research leads Barry to a bookstore in Rome...
Jamaica: Marley/Rastafari survey
Geoffrey Philp publishes the results of his Bob Marley/Rastafari survey and posts an “In My Own Words” piece with Jamaican writer Donna Weir-Soley.
Colombia, Peru: Medellin Poetry Festival
Liz Henry recounts an incredible (if not completely credible) story about the 1995 Medellin Poetry Festival where poets were kidnapped until they secured their freedom by reciting poetry to their captors. For more info on this year's Medellin Poetry Festival, check out Henry's post and the blogs she links to.
India: Desi and Londonstani
An Anthropologist Wannabe on being a desi and on Malkani's Londonstani. “Malkani explains, and I paraphrase, that minority (Indian) communities find it difficult to integrate quickly and effortlessly, so, they may do just the opposite, that is voluntarily isolate themselves from other communities, trying to build up their self-esteem and...
