· May, 2007

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

  11 May 2007

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.”

Trinidad & Tobago: The Enigma of V.S. Naipaul

  8 May 2007

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

  8 May 2007

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

  7 May 2007

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...

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.

Caribbean: A Deep, Almost Visceral Love

  4 May 2007

“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: McNeill Poem

  1 May 2007

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

  1 May 2007

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...