· December, 2007

Stories about Literature from December, 2007

Ethiopia: Queen of Sheba, Now Available in French

  30 December 2007

Francophone music blog Roots and Culture interviews Samuel Malher, a religious scholar from Strasbourg who has written the first unabridged French translation of the Kebra Negast, a sacred Ethiopian text. It describes the heritage of the Ethiopian monarchs, who trace their lineage to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, and how the Ethiopians became God's new chosen people when the Ark of the Covenant was taken from Israel to Ethiopia.

Romania: Dracula

  26 December 2007

Csíkszereda Musings re-reads Bram Stoker's ‘Dracula’ and writes about his surprising ethnic origins as well as Romania's flourishing Dracula-centered tourism industry.

Armenia: Robinson Crusoe in Kurdish

  20 December 2007

Kurdistan and Hayastan — Hand in Hand posts a scan of the front page of the Kurdish translation of Daniel Dafoe's classic book, Robinson Crusoe. The book was translated and published in the Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish in 1936.

Russia: Lyudmila Ulitskaya

  20 December 2007

Russian Blog writes about Lyudmila Ulitskaya's latest – and, possibly, her last – novel, “Daniel Stein, translator”: “After being such a prolific writer for many years, and after the huge work she put into her last effort, she of course deserves a break. Anyone who has read this masterpiece would...

Bahrain: A tenfold increase in population?!

  15 December 2007

This time the roundup from Bahrain covers three weeks. We have frustration on every front, unfortunately: frustration with being surrounded by apathy and ignorance, with being a teenager, and with a ludicrous criminal charge. One blogger is considering leaving the Gulf for a better life back in India, another admits he rarely reads, and a number of others are debating the merits of secularism.

Barbados: BIM Magazine

  12 December 2007

Gallimaufry is “really excited to hear…about the relaunch of Bim magazine”, a publication that was instrumental in the development of West Indian literature.

Jamaica: Christmas Poem

  10 December 2007

“It's time; time to wash away the smoke of the year's turmoil, to put aside profits, gains, losses–the familiar ache that brings tears in the bathroom mirror–it’s time”: Geoffrey Philp posts a Christmas poem.