Stories about Literature from May, 2007
Iran:Free Places for Lebanese Publishers
Ghomar Asheghnaeh[Fa] has published several interesting photos of International Book Fair in Tehran. The blogger says some Lebanese publishers were offered free places by Iranian authorities.He adds in this Book Fair there were no place to sit down or rest.
Jamaica, Barbados: Kamau Brathwaite's Birthday
Geoffrey Philp honours Barbadian writer Kamau Brathwaite on his birthday: “We have done this tribute because in your poems and life, you have given us an example of how a life should be lived–on its own terms.”
Jamaica: How to Become a Poet/Problogger
Want to become a major poet or problogger? Jamaican literary guru Geoffrey Philp shares a few tips on how to do just that.
Trinidad & Tobago: The Enigma of V.S. Naipaul
Recently, Nobel-prize-winning author Sir VS Naipaul paid a visit to Trinidad and Tobago, the country of his birth, the place from which he migrated as a young man to England, where he has lived ever since. He was in Trinidad as a guest of the University of the West Indies for a week of celebrations (April 16 to 20) in honour of the 75th year of his birth.
Jamaica: Dennis Scott
Geoffrey Philp examines Jamaican poet Dennis Scott's Epitaph, in which “the speaker examines the difficulty of writing about historical events by using the language of composition to describe the physical and emotional effects of slavery.”
Bangladesh: Laily, the first graphic novel
black and gray in conversation with Sharier Khan, about Bangladesh's first graphic novel. “Being the youngest of four brothers—my elder brothers used to tell me how Hanna-Barbara made cartoons. Upon learning about how different frames created the illusion of a movie, I acquired tissue papers (they seemed so ‘foreign’ back...
Arabeyes: Muslim Evangelists; Somali Poets; Death on Amman's Roads and More
Today's round up of Arabic language blogs takes us to the United Arab Emirates, where a Muslim blogger gets an email from Africa urging him to embrace Islam and then to Somalia, where we get to learn a bit about Somalian poets. We also make stops in Jordan, where the...
Angola: Two Angolan Authors Awarded with International Literature Prizes
High Browse Online announces that Angolan journalist and author Jose Eduardo Agualusa won the 2007 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for his novel, The Book of Chameleons. The Portuguese novel is translated into English by Daniel Hahn. Jose and Daniel will be sharing the prize of £10,000. The winner was announced...
Bahrain: Incense-wafting Journalism
This week in Bahrain bloggers have been preoccupied with topics including sycophancy, the welfare of foreign labourers, and the culture of alcohol consumption. Follow the arrows to see how Ayesha Saladana sums up some of the best conversations taking place in the Bahraini blogosphere.
Former Soviet Union: “Petropolis” Review
J. Otto Pohl reviews Anya Ulinich's debut novel, Petropolis:
Caribbean: A Deep, Almost Visceral Love
“If one recurring theme seems to run through the works, it is probably a deep, almost visceral love for the landscapes of the Caribbean, a fierce and nostalgic longing for the place which many regard as home.” Antilles weblog quotes James Ferguson on The Oxford Book of Caribbean Verse.
Jamaica: New Caribbean Literary Blog
“These are very interesting times,” writes Jamaican Geoffrey Philp, as he reports on a new blog by the Caribbean Review of Books.
Jamaica: McNeill Poem
Geoffrey Philp was happy to receive a photograph of the late Jamaican poet Roy Anthony McNeill and posts a poem and podcast in his honour.
Trinidad & Tobago: The Naipaul Circus
On V.S. Naipaul's visit to Trinidad in honour of his 75th birthday year, Jeremy Taylor wonders, “Why did he fall for it…given his well-known disdain for his once-native land? It can only be that he enjoys performing. I hate this idea of the writer as a sort of circus, being...