Stories about Literature from December, 2010
Uruguay: Discovering Uruguay Through Writer Yaravi Roig
Florence Faure writes: “Reading fiction can be an interesting way to get introduced to or know better a country. Yaravi Roig is an Uruguayan writer who lives in Piriapolis. In her books, she gives to the reader the opportunity to discover Uruguayan culture, more specifically Piriapolis and the people who...
Azerbaijan: Emin Milli's Reading list
In a note posted on Facebook, imprisoned and recently freed video blogging youth activist Emin Milli lists the books he read while in jail in Azerbaijan. Not surprisingly, the books mostly deal with a common theme — freedom and democracy.
Latin America: 2010 in Review
An 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Chile, a police strike in Ecuador and the Nobel Prize in Literature for Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa were some of the news bloggers and citizen media users reported and analyzed this year. Let's take a look at these and other stories the Latin American team covered in 2010.
Pakistan: Karachi International Book Fair
Cafe Pyala offers an alternative tour of the 6th Karachi International Book Fair.
Cuba: An Elegy for Havana
In Destino Cuba [es], Carlos Alvarez writes about his beloved Havana, the capital of Cuba.
India: Judging a Book by its Cover
Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan of Selective Amnesia wonders why different books often have very similar looking jackets.
St. Lucia: Technology & Publishing
Caribbean Book Blog says that “two major technology ventures are underway in the Caribbean and Africa and they have the potential to radically transform the book trade and knowledge transfer in both regions.”
Brazil: Literature and Prejudice against the poor
Paulo Lopes comments [pt] on controversial statements by Brazilian actress and former sex-symbol Vera Fischer. In an interview to Folha newspaper, a few days before launching the latest of ten books she has written in a year (according to blog Acerto de Contas [pt]), Fischer said she does not write...
Armenia: Facebook Storytelling
Writing for Ararat Magazine, Global Voices author Simon Maghakyan says that that one Facebook Group is attempting to use the popular social networking site to teach children Armenian history. The post wonders if this might turn out to be a revolutionary way to get them interested in such subject matters.
Peru: Red April, a Novel by Santiago Roncagliolo
In a short book review, Greg Weeks writes: “Santiago Roncagliolo's Red April: A Novel is a creepy yet engrossing mystery set in Peru in March-April 2000. It focuses on the fight against Sendero Luminoso in Ayacucho. […] From the perspective of plot, the book keeps you guessing until the end.”
Botswana: The Problem with local publishers
Lauri discusses the problem with local book publishers in Botswana: “Book publishers in Botswana work like this: They wait for the Ministry of Education to put out a tender for the books they need. The publishers then run around trying to get writers to write those books. They submit the...
Brazil: WikiLeaks and the “Electronic Intifada”
Idelber Avelar, from the blog Biscoito Fino, suggests [pt] that Orwell's 1984 is one of the best literary models to understand WikiLeaks’ global surveillance, comparing it with a two-way “Electronic Intifada“, and calls Julian Assange as the “First Global Political Prisioner of the Internet”.
Serbia: Novelists Participate in “Blog Day” Project
On Dec. 8, one of the Serbian publishing houses launched an interesting project: called Blog Day, it represents a unique example of web activism in Serbia that will be taking place four times a year. The topic of the first Blog Day was Ecology, and over 20 Serbian novelists have posted their contributions.
Sao Tome & Principe: “Africa is your Home”
Santomean sociologist Humbah Aguiar tells a story on colonialism and the repression of the African people. Part I, II and III [pt] from “Africa is your home” can be watched at his Youtube channel.
Nicaragua: Is Nicaraguan Literature Dead?
Erick Aguirre begins his post [es] asking if Nicaraguan literature is dead. He responds to his own question in an extensive post which ends with a list of 29 new Nicaraguan authors who have recently published their work.
Guyana: Notes on Caribbean Writers
The Signifyin’ Woman shares her notes from a panel discussion that she attended this past weekend on the “Challenges & Choices of Caribbean Writers”.
Caribbean: Regional Reviews
The Caribbean Review of Books has some interesting reading this week.
Venezuela: Comics Find Their Place on the Web 2.0
The comic in Venezuela is one of the genres that is generally underrated and ironically, treasured within the country's culture. In response to this, artists have formed groups to create their own space on the Web 2.0 that gathers and publishes their work.
Puerto Rico: Interview of Writer Lolita Bosch
Puerto Rican writer and blogger Marta Aponte Alsina interviews fellow Spanish writer Lolita Bosch [es] on literature, violence in Mexico, and promoting reading in prisons in Latin America.
Elie Rajaonarison, Malagasy artist, has died
Elie Rajaonarison, a Malagasy poet, has died on November 27, 2010, at the age of 59. An accomplished artist, Elie Rajaonarison tried his hand successfully at photography and film. He held degrees in anthropology and was a professor at the University of Antananarivo. He published a poetry book, Ranitra, and...
