Featured stories about Literature
Stories about Literature
Philippine independent bookshops become targets of red-tagging
The red-tagging of Popular Bookstore and Solidaridad is the latest in a long history of state repression of dissent and critical thinking in the Philippines.
Seven African comics and graphic novels that center Black experiences are being adapted to film
While locally produced superhero comics written by Africans for Africans have been gaining fandom since the late 1980s, the popularity of African comics skyrocketed in 2016.
Mourning the death of the Bengali author and publisher who opened a door to world literature
Qazi Anwar Hussain singlehandedly popularised the mystery-thriller genre in Bengali literature, published translations of world classics and gave the Bengali readership the taste of Western, mystery and classic literature.
Fans mourn Narayan Debnath, creator of the first Bengali comic-strip superhero
On January 18, 2022, Indian comic artist and illustrator Narayan Debnath passed away at the age of 96 in a hospital in Kolkata after prolonged illness. His fans are mourning on social media.
‘Rehmat’ or ‘zehmat'? Learning to cope with the trauma from rain in a Pakistani metropolis
In Karachi, where monsoon season often means days without electricity, flooded roads and property damage, is rain truly a "rehmat" (blessing) from nature or a "zehmat" (misery) for city dwellers?
The Soviet Union existed for 70 years, but don’t expect to find it as a location in the world of comic books
Only a handful of mainstream comics published during the existence of the Soviet Union actually take place within its borders, and those that did often promoted stereotypes.
A century of Etel Adnan: a mountain who leaves behind mountains
With colourful palettes, careful strokes and moving poetry, mountains were sensual beings in Adnan's artwork, regarded in confluence with the skies and earth, erupting in volcanoes.
Afghan women: Finally a book that speaks from inside its society
A female Afghan writer has just released "The Mountains Have Witnessed: The Story of a Girl Who Dared for More", a book that tells the story of Afghan women.
‘Strollout’: Australia’s word of 2021 alludes to the slow vaccine rollout and delayed climate action
Cartoonist Veteran Peter Broelman joked, "‘The government is a bunch of heartless climate-denying rorting crooks who only look after themselves’ was too long to fit on a page."
A literary landscape in flux: Fiston Mwanza Mujila's take on Congolese and diasporic literature
According to Congolese-Austrian author Fiston Mwanza Mujila, Francophone African authors face a number of challenges, the first being the nature of the French literary scene.
Paulina Chiziane, Mozambican writer, wins the Camões Award of 2021
Paulina Chiziane, 66, was born in Manjacaze, Mozambique and studied Linguistics in Maputo. In 33 years, this is the third time that the prize has been awarded to a Mozambican author.
Dark tales from Uruguay: How mothers and grandmothers search for victims of the Cold War
The women who fought for the truth about their children who disappeared during the military dictatorship are “role models of courage,” according to author Tessa Bridal.
South Asia mourns Indian feminist icon Kamla Bhasin
Kamla Bhasin, a pioneer of the women’s rights movement in South Asia, died on September 25, 2021 in New Delhi, India. Activists remembered her on social media and mourned her death.
Literary translation from South Asia lags in international markets
Global Voices talked to Jenny Bhatt, an Indian American writer, literary translator, and book critic about her recent literary translations and South Asian literature's prospects in the international market.
After Dutch Literary Prize winner says Suriname ‘needed’ former president Bouterse, organisers cancel her award ceremony
In 2019, Dési Bouterse, who first came to power in a coup, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after he was convicted for the execution 15 dissidents in 1982.
The decline of Occitan: A failure of cultural initiatives, or abandonment by the state?
A setback for Occitan, spoken by more than half a million people in France, due to failed cultural initiatives or to the policy of the French State?
Ukrainian library reinvents itself for a New Age
A youth library in Kherson shows the way to thriving in uncertain times as an educational and literary hub for the local community and wider region.
The first woman dub poet, Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze, dies at her rural Jamaican home
Reflective of Jamaica’s storytelling tradition, her work involved repeated chanting in a narrative style.
Tintin in Bangladesh…. only in the artist's imagination!
A Bangladeshi cartoonist is drawing nostalgic memories of the European comic book "The Adventures of Tintin" through his fan art "Tintin in Bangladesh" — with a local twist.
Balloons, graffiti, sports and economic power are the latest tools of Palestinian resistance
These latest acts of resistance reflect the energy brought to the movement by young people seeking their right to self-determination and to claim the spaces in which they live.
Roland Watson-Grant, Caribbean regional winner of the 2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, tells a tale of rural Jamaica
"I think the collective Jamaican experience can be summed up in the words of Paulo Coelho: ‘We all have one foot in a fairytale, and the other in the abyss.’"
