Stories about Literature from December, 2006
Trinidad, Guyana, South Africa: Book talk
85-year old Guyanese writer Wilson Harris has a new novel and Nobel prize-winning South African novelist Nadine Gordimer's estranged biographer is half-Trinidadian, reports Jeremy Taylor, who also reveals his favourite Caribbean novels of 2006.
Argentines: Books of 2006
Jeff Barry lists the recommended 2006 foreign and Argentine books according to Ñ magazine.
Venezuela: Elizabeth Schön and God
Guillermo Parra translates a piece by Ana María Hernández G. about the latest book by Venezuelan poet Elizabeth Schön.
Iran:Virginia Woolf in Tehran
Bokhara Magazine has organised a Virginia Woolf night in the House of Artists in Tehran. You can see several photos in Tadaneh blog.
Russia: A Blogger's Short Stories
Copydude is posting short stories – one, two, three, four – he wrote while in Tatarstan: “They come under the category of ‘True Lies’ – or what writers prefer to call ’semi-documentary’. I wrote them about real people – but sourced largely from local gossip.”
The Balkans: Reading List
South East Europe Online compiles a list of English-language books on the Balkans.
Jamaica: Manley and the new global politics
The Latin America News Review posts an article by Claude Robinson about Jamaica's former Prime Minister, Michael Manley: “Professor Marable, one of America's most published and controversial academics, believes that Manley's central ideas about social justice in both the domestic and global contexts can have a new resonance in the...
Pakistan, Bangladesh: In conversation with Uzma Aslam Khan
black and gray in conversation with the author of Trespassing, Uzma Aslam Khan. “The Soviets were in Afghanistan, Pakistan was ruled by its most brutal military dictator, General Zia ul Haq, a United States ally (one Pakistani general referred to Pakistan as the condom through which America entered Afghanistan), billions...
Lithuania, Russia: Book on Vilnius Ghetto; Chekhov's Stories
Music and Life – Everywhere! is reading Anton Chekhov's short stories, and also posts a comment on a book about the Vilnius Ghetto.
Cuba: New Book, “Khrushchev’s Cold War”
A new book has captured Luis M. Garcia's attention: Khrushchev’s Cold War attributes the decision to place nuclear missiles on Cuban soil at the height of the Cold War to do more with the Soviet Union wanting to be taken seriously by the U.S. and less to do with Khrushchev...
Venezuela: Poetry and Progress
Guillermo Parra comments on Rafael Arráiz Lucca's history of Venezuelan poetry, El coro de las voces solitarias. “As the last two decades have proved, Venezuela still hasn't transcended certain key problems that have plagued it since its foundation, including militarism, corruption and a deeply flawed educational system. Poetry is not...
Trinidad & Tobago: Charles, Majarah & 6 Degrees
The Caribbean Beat blog posts two interesting entries: The first admires the music of young trumpeter Etienne Charles and the writing of Niala Majarah in what Beat calls “a major new Caribbean novel”; the second examines the Six Degrees of Separation theory in a Caribbean context.
Jamaica: “Elegy for a Fallen General”
“…Like many other Chileans forced out of our country, today I regret only one thing: that we never saw you in front of a judge.” Vivianne Schnitzer's words on the death of Chilean ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet so touched Geoffrey Philp that he posted a poem, Elegy for a Fallen General.
Barbados: Men vs. Violence vs. Women
Gallimaufry quotes from Pearl Cleage's poem “Good Brother Blues” in her call for men to take an active role in ending violence against women.
Jamaica: Deborah Jack
Another Caribbean author featured at the 2006 Miami Book Fair is Deborah Jack, a multi-media artist who grew up in St. Maarten. Geoffrey Philp posts a podcast of Jack's reading of “The Rainy Season”, her first published book of poetry.
Argentina: Maria Kodama
Jeff Barry introduces Maria Kodama: “Maria Kodama, the widow of Borges María Kodama is a well-known figure among porteños but those not familiar with the life of Jorge Luis Borges, who died in 1986 at the age of 86, may be surprised to know that his widow is still very...
Malaysia: Banned Books
The Sensintrovert looks at the list of banned books in Malaysia and asks Are We Heading Towards A Third Reich?
Jamaica: Pam Mordecai
Geoffrey Philp talks about Jamaican author Pamela Mordecai, who reads excerpts of her work in a podcast from the 2006 Miami Book Fair.
