Stories about Literature from September, 2007
Trinidad & Tobago: Talking with Filmmaker Frances-Anne Solomon
Trinidad-born Frances-Anne Solomon is a blogger and award winning filmmaker who has just completed her most recent project, A Winter Tale. Set in the violent downtown Toronto community of Parkdale, the story begins with the gathering of a black men’s support group, which was formed after a bullet meant for...
Bahrain: Halfway There!
From Bahrain this week: a mid-Ramadan celebration, great happiness to be at university, a description of some dating practices, and a packet of rice that just doesn't make sense!
Trinidad & Tobago: Book Picks
“V.S. Naipaul's latest book, A Writer’s People, was published this month and lands on the top of my book-pile”: Tattoo posts a list of great reads.
China and Taiwan: Lust, Caution
Lee Ang's latest movie is about to release. K. M. Lawson from Frog in a well writes the debates and historical background of the movie. ESWN also posts a translation of a Taiwan cultural critics Lung Ying tai's reading of the movie story.
Jamaica: Nobel Prize Picks
“It goes without saying that the list of writers that haven’t won will always be more impressive than those who have, but that’s matter more of volume than taste”: Marlon James puts forward his picks for this year's Nobel Prize in Literature.
Cambodia: Blogging from Siem Reap
Cambodian blogger and Global Voices Author Tharum Bun talks to fellow blogger Vireak from Seam Reap. Tharum asks Vireak about his motivations for starting and maintaining his blog. Vireak shares his unique ideas on the blogging scene in Cambodia.
Lebanon: Calling for the boycott of a book
Arch.Memory at Lebanese Blogger Forum is calling for the boycott of the bestselling book “1000 Places To See Before You Die” because it has a “gaping omission that is simply shameful and unacceptable. It lists no sites worth seeing in Lebanon, a country that contains 6 of the UNESCO World...
Jamaica: Extravagant Books?
Jamaican Geoffrey Philp wonders whether V.S Naipaul was right about book-buying in the Caribbean being considered “an extravagance” and asks his readers to weigh in on the subject.
Bahamas: Bootleggers
“Nassau as we know it today is largely a creation of the revenue earned from bootlegging”: Larry Smith at Bahama Pundit revisits the days of the rum runners.
Nepal: Writers and reading culture
Wagle Street Journal on the reading culture in Nepal and writers becoming celebrities.
Jamaica: Why Winkler Writes
“Personally, I think our triumph in having produced two Nobel laureates in literature owes something to the barrenness of our literary tradition”: Geoffrey Philp features Jamaican author Anthony C. Winkler as he talks about why he writes.
Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago: Maharaj's New Novel
“I was more interested in the ambivalence that many West Indians feel about the canefields, a reminder of more oppressive times and also a means to a livelihood”: Geoffrey Philp's Blogspot features Trinidad-born author Rabindranath Maharaj as he discusses his new novel.
Ramadan Kareem From Kuwait
Ramadan Kareem from Kuwait as bloggers talk about museums, small businesses, conservation and the emergence of the new Kuwaiti superstar. Abdullatif AlOmar has more in this round up from Kuwaiti blogs this week.
Jamaica: Reverse Colonisation
Marlon James blogs about what he calls his “colonisation in reverse”, and why he felt he needed to leave Jamaica: “I love my country but I’ve never missed it, perhaps because I have never forgotten the reasons I left.”
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Book Launch
“Here in St Vincent, unlike the larger islands there is not a huge amount of printed material put out by our citizens.” Abeni attends a book launch in honour of a late local author.
Niger: The Yellowcake Conspiracy
The Yellowcake Conspiracy is an African spy thriller for 11 to 14 year-old boys: “The Yellowcake Conspiracy is about a group of malcontent Tuareg fighters mounting a ‘second rebellion’ in Niger under the leadership of a man known only as ‘the Teacher’ (the first rebellion ended back in 1995).”
Russia, U.S.: “Batman by Dostoyevsky”
The Accidental Russophile links to the “Batman by Dostoyevsky” comics, reproduced at Brian Hughes’ Again With The Comics: “This marriage of Classic Russian Literature and the Caped Crusader of Gotham also serves as further proof, if any were needed, that everything is better with Batman.” Judging by the comments, though,...
Trinidad & Tobago: New Art Space
On the heels of the recent closing of Trinidad's contemporary art centre CCA7, The Caribbean Beat Blog is pleased that an alternative space for “the Anglophone Caribbean's most energetic and eclectic art scene” is emerging.
Jamaica, St. Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago: Moral vs. Ethical Writing
Geoffrey Philp refers to the work of V.S. Naipaul and Derek Walcott to explore the idea of moral versus ethical writing.
Dominica: Remembering an Icon
Living Dominica remembers Dominican political and cultural icon Phyllis Shand Allfrey.
Kannada: Bow to the Cynara within!
Tina writes meditatively about a“Cynara that exists within us”. She is referring to the poem Non Sum Qualis Eram Bonae Sub Regno Cynarae by Ernest Dowson. Last night, ah, yesternight, betwixt her lips and mine There fell thy shadow, Cynara! thy breath was shed Upon my soul between the kisses...