Stories about Literature from May, 2007
Jamaica: Thank You, Miss Lou
“Miss Lou in her life and poetry had many things to teach us. And she taught in a way that only the best teachers can—without us knowing.” Geoffrey Philp pays...
Brazilian Express Loves (and jealousy) around the world
The Brazilian blogosphere entered in alert a few weeks ago when the major publish house Companhia das Letras (PT) announced a huge literary project. Idealized by Rodrigo Teixeira, the project called Express Loves (Amores Expressos) wants to take 16 writers to 16 cities around the world for a one month trip. Shanghai, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, Lisbon, Berlin, Cairo, Saint Petersburg and São Paulo are some among those chosen cities. At the end, each one of them must write a love history tied with those cities. All in 90 days.
Bahrain: Burning Books is Depressing
Bint Battuta from Bahrain is distressed that books are being burned in the US because readers are on the decline. “I can think of so many schools, libraries, and community...
Bahrain: The ‘two seas’ are now a concrete jungle
From 'blog wars' to work ethics, the Bahraini blogosphere is bubbling with new ideas and excitement. Ayesha Saldanha sheds more light on discussions taking place this week about Bahrain's jungle of concrete, compensation for the victims of the capsized Al Dana dhow, the historic Bab Al Bahrain (Bahrain Gateway) and much more.
Jamaica: Calabash Literary Festival
Both Antilles and Caribbean Free Radio report from the 2007 Calabash Literary Festival in Jamaica.
Francophone Morocco: Politics, Power, and Money
"If you don’t do politics, politics will do what it wants with you." Or, do politics make any sense in Morocco? Hamza Daoui checks in on this week's blogging to see what the Francophone Moroccan bloggers have to say.
New Book Examines Causes of the D.R. of Congo's Political Instability
Congopage offers a brief review of a new book by Gilbert Dzassabi, a lieutenant-colonel of the Congolese Air Force (Congo-Brazzaville) who studied in Russia and later in France, where he...
Sri Lanka: S. Bose(1975 – 2007), Poet, Editor & Writer
The following poem was written by S. Bose, a writer-poet (Tamil) from Vavuniya, Sri Lanka and was translated by a friend of mine for Global Voices Online readers. Chandrabose Sudhakar...
Bangla Blogs: Breaking Taboos and a Debate
The Bangla blogging platform Bandh Bhanger Awaaj is buzzing with discussions, debates, memes and literatures. Hundreds of bloggers and thousands of readers are keeping this space lively. It is generating...
Barbados: Conversations about Culture
“…In countries that have no culture or are afraid they may have no culture, there is a Minister of Culture.” Jamaica Kincaid's essay on Antigua hits home for Barbadian blogger...
Africa: Blog This Poem!
The African blogosphere is rapidly expanding, bringing more voices online in the form of commentaries, opinions, analyses, rants...and poetry. Blogs have created a new space for African poets to share their creative and imaginative works with a wider audience. Today, I will introduce you to a few poems written by African bloggers.
Morocco: Fighting ignorance, injustice, and irrationality
Giving one's child a special first name should be an inalienable right, not a lengthy bureaucratic process. Hamza Daoui covers a debate stirring up over this very issue, as well as the upcoming Moroccan elections and the timeless subject of ignorance.
Syria: An Interview with Abu Fares
Abu Fares is a real Tartoussi (from Tartous) as he likes to describe himself and is one of the most genuinely admired bloggers on the Syrian blogsphere. Yazan Badran interviews him as he marks his blog's first anniversary.
Brazil: The Once and Future(?) King
There are two kings in Brazil. Pelé, the world famous football star, and Roberto Carlos, a great icon of Brazilian popular music (MPB). The singer and songwriter acquired fame as the main figure of the 60’s musical movement known as Jovem Guarda — Young Guard — in opposition to the ‘old guard’ of Brazilian music. But late last year, the launch of an unauthorized biography has made this King go to war. Confirming the Brazilian saying that “once King, you’ll never loose the majesty”, Roberto Carlos has recently succeeded in a legal settlement with the writer — historian Paulo César de Araújo — and his publisher where all the unsold books will be called back to him, and the book will never again be published. But then… there is the Internet.
Jamaica: Power of Poetry
“…I rejoice because Clifton reminds me always of why writing poetry is important and why it is good to believe this.” Geoffrey Philp quotes Kwame Dawes’ meditation on James Dickey,...
Trinidad & Tobago: Naipaul's Rules for Writing
Want to improve your writing? Antilles features “V.S. Naipaul's Rules for Beginners”.
Africa: my dad reached over and slapped me across the face…
Dear Seun: “What happened next shocked me, my dad reached over and slapped me across the face. “Liar”, he shouted. “Am I raising a prostitute and a liar? You know...
Nigeria: Naija Bloggers – The Book
A call to Nigerian bloggers to be part of a book called, Naija Bloggers Vol. 1: “This is a call to all Nigerian bloggers worldwide to become a part of...
More on Representation in Morocco
“Sometimes, a scarf is just a scarf, it's not a symbol for a country,” says Laila Lalami, recounting a reading she recently did of her book, Hope and Other Dangerous...
Talking to Jamaican litblogger Geoffrey Philp
The Jamaican writer Geoffrey Philp has published five books of poems, a collection of short stories called Uncle Obadiah and the Alien, and a novel, Benjamin, My Son. He lives...
Morocco: How to Best Represent One's Country
With the increasing popularity of blogging comes a debate about how to represent one's country, or in many cases, the country in which one is currently living. This week, Jillian York takes a look at the current discussion in the Moroccan blogosphere about how to best portray Morocco.
