Stories about Literature from January, 2012
Bangladesh: Protest Against Criminalization For Archiving A Banned Book
Hana at Unheard Voice highlights a petition by twenty human rights activists, academics and members of the Bangladeshi civil society in which they protest the arrest of a Head Teacher for having a copy of Taslima Nasreen’s ‘Lajja’ in the school’s library.
India: Tiny Travel Tales Contest
Clay, the travel and holiday blog of Club Mahindra, is organizing a short story contest on travel. The last date of submission of posts is February 5, 2012.
India: Jaipur Literature Fest Fashion
Jaipur Literature Festival, the largest literary festival in Asia-Pacific, has recently ended. Wearabout blog posts some pictures of festival fashion among the eclectic mix of men from all over; artists, poets, writers, intellectuals, pseudo-intellectuals, serious journalists, idlers, socialites etc.
Russia: The Fake Political Twitter Account Phenomenon
Online anonymity provides perfect conditions for human creativity and humor. In the Russian context this manifests as Twitter accounts belonging either to dead politicians or those that deliberately avoid publicity.
Russia: Mafia State Review
Kelly Hignett of The View East reviews Luke Harding's Russia-critical book Mafia State on his dire experiences as a foreign correspondent in Russia.
Greece: Cretan Masterpiece “Erotokritos” Translated into Turkish
Stella Tsolakidou of the Greek Reporter website writes about the recent publication of the Cretan literature masterpiece “Erotokritos” in Turkish. Erotokritos is a 17th century epic romance, and has been translated by Professor Hakki Bilgehan, a Turkish microbiology professor, and published by the Foundation of Lausanne Treaty Emigrants [Turkish].
Lebanon: Snow Haiku
As snow falls on Lebanon's mountains, Haiku from Lebanon posts its latest: “The tender snow Has wiped away The weeping willow's tears”
Philippines: Revolutionary heritage
The Museo de Santisima Trinidad curator reviews Angela Stuart-Santiago’s Revolutionary Routes: Five Stories of Incarceration, Exile, Murder and Betrayal in Tayabas Province, 1891-1980. The book is a history of her family and the revolutionary struggles against the Spanish, American, and Japanese colonizers up to the early years of the Philippine...
Ukraine: Gasprinsky Crimean Tatar Library
Back in Nov. 2011, Peace Corps volunteer Barb Wieser guest-blogged about her work at the Ismail Gasprinsky Crimean Tatar Library in Simferopol, Crimea, at Uncataloged Museum blog.
Dominican Republic: Farewell to El Goyo & Sención
Repeating Islands acknowledges the deaths of “outstanding Cuban dancer, singer and percussionist Gregorio Hernández” and Dominican writer Viriato Sención, whose “work was marked by its commitment to historical truth and cultural engagement.”
Philippines: Filipina Amazons
Vina Lanzona's new history book, Amazons of the Huk Rebellion, tells the many stories of Filipina women involved in the Huk Rebellion from the 1940s up to the 1950s. This is reviewed online at The PCIJ Blog.
Costa Rica: Carmen Naranjo, Writer and Politician, Dies
Carmen Naranjo died on January 4, 2012. In her political and cultural work Naranjo fought for the equality of women and the spreading of knowledge to the wider public. She was a key author that helped change the direction of Costa Rican literature to reflect the realities on an emergent urban society with new rules and views of the future.
Chile: Would Cheaper Books Promote More Reading?
Enzo Abbagliati blogs [es] about a recurring discussion in Chile: removing or decreasing the IVA (value added tax) on books to promote more reading.
