A Deep Bow to Mombasa (and Sea Monsters): A Conversation with Khadija Abdalla Bajaber, by Anderson Tepper

Interviews Khadija Abdalla Bajaber’s astonishing debut novel, The House of Rust, winner of the inaugural Graywolf Press Africa Prize, arrived in October as if on a magical wave, imbued with an assortment of creatures—human and animal, real and imagined—that populate the city of Mombasa and its surrounding waters. Aisha, fierce and adventurous, sets off on a boat made of bones in hopes of rescuing her fisherman father who has disappeared at sea. What she encounters on her search—and return home—will enthrall and amaze. “On the surface this is a limpid tale,” writes author A. Igoni Barrett, the prize’s judge, “but it is eddied and enriched by what lurks beneath the surface of both the sea and the prose. Everything in this story sparkles.” I spoke with Bajaber about Mombasa, sea monsters, and Aisha’s journey of self-discovery, among other things. Anderson Tepper: Congratulations, Khadija. I’m curious about the story of your book’s path to publication. Did it change much since being awarded Graywolf’s Africa Prize in 2018? Khadija Abdalla Bajaber: Thank you very much. Well, it definitely changed and grew. When I’d first finished working on the book, it ended at what is now actually the midpoint. I was quite happy with that ending at the time but was already beginning to rethink things. There were subplots I’d set up at the beginning that needed resolving. So then I started developing everything more; and toward the end, when... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'

[ World Literature Today | 2021-11-15 21:42:08 UTC ]

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Intern’s Pick, by Sydney Stutler

Intern’s Picks Andrzej Sapkowski The Last Wish Trans. Danusia Stok Sword of Destiny Trans. David French Orbit “And our destiny. It isn’t a fairy story, it’s real life. Lousy, evil, onerous . . . not sparing anyone, neither witchers, nor queens” (Sword... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2020-11-04 14:28:19 UTC ]
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Destination: New Zealand, by Madeleine Dorst

Cultural Cross Sections From the town of Kaikoura on the South Island / Photo by the author New Zealand may be best known to many as Middle Earth (and that’s not a bad rep to have), but the country has much more than just the snowcapped Pass of... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2020-11-03 17:25:10 UTC ]
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The Things They Carried is finally being adapted for film (and the cast is insane).

Since its publication in 1990, Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, a linked collection of semi-autobiographical short stories about the Vietnam War, has become a modern classic—in fact, its title story is the most frequently anthologized piece of short fiction in the last three decades, and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-03 15:27:57 UTC ]
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Riot Recommendation: 53 of the Most Outstanding Short Stories You’ve Read

We asked for your favorite short stories and got a long list! Here are 53 of the most outstanding short stories our readers have read. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-11-02 11:31:00 UTC ]
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WATCH: Tiny Nightmares: Very Short Stories of Horror

Welcome to the virtual book launch of Tiny Nightmares: Very Short Tales of Horror, brought to you by The Antibody Reading Series in collaboration with WORD Bookstore (buy from the bookstore here). Tonight’s guests include editors Lincoln Michel and Nadxieli Nieto, along with contributors Meg... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-10-29 23:30:17 UTC ]
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Riot Recommendation: What Outstanding Short Stories Have You Read?

Speak to us, oh lovers of short fiction: what are the most outstanding short stories you've read? Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-10-27 10:31:00 UTC ]
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17 Excellent Short Stories By Black Authors

These short stories by Black authors include some of the best Black short stories published, for middle graders, YA readers, and adults. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-10-16 10:37:00 UTC ]
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Korean American experience resonates in ‘The Prince of Mournful Thoughts’

The longing for connection, for belonging, is woven throughout a dozen short stories in Caroline Kim’s superlative debut collection. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-10-13 22:35:50 UTC ]
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Korean American experience resonates in ‘The Prince of Mournful Thoughts’

The longing for connection, for belonging, is woven throughout a dozen short stories in Caroline Kim’s superlative debut collection. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-10-13 22:35:50 UTC ]
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Korean American experience resonates in ‘The Prince of Mournful Thoughts’

The longing for connection, for belonging, is woven throughout a dozen short stories in Caroline Kim’s superlative debut collection. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-10-13 22:35:50 UTC ]
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How Much Does Your Job Shape Your Identity?

“You think you’ve known someone for a long time,” a character in one of Jenny Bhatt’s short stories says of her Indian colleague shortly after he’s shot dead by a white man in a bar. “Maybe he never really took to us. Never really became one of us.” Turn by turn, each of his white […] The post... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-10-13 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Are Frats and Sororities Really Just Cults?

What lengths will we go to in order to belong? To be part of something exclusive? To be part of a sisterhood or brotherhood? That’s the searing question that authors Benjamin Nugent and Genevieve Sly Crane try to answer in their books about college Greek life. Nugent’s Fraternity, a collection... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-10-02 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Pro cyclist Geraint Thomas' favourite mountain climbs to Quercus

Quercus is publishing a new book by cycling pro Geraint Thomas, Mountains According to G, described as a love letter to the sportsman's favourite climbs. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-23 06:51:27 UTC ]
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Sunday Reading: Summer Fiction

From The New Yorker’s archive: short stories by Zadie Smith, Jennifer Egan, and Stephen King. Continue reading at New Yorker

[ New Yorker | 2020-08-30 10:00:00 UTC ]
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10 Short Stories About Women’s Transformations

The Little Mermaid sacrifices her tail for a human soul. The Navajo Changing Woman grows old and is reborn with the seasons. The nymph Daphne becomes a tree to escape lovesick Apollo. Women transform because we are hungry. We transform because we’re restless, and because we’re dangerous. Women... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-08-28 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Lit Hub Daily: August 21, 2020

How to write a millennial character: Emma Jane Unsworth wades in where lesser mortals dare not go. | Lit Hub A love letter to The Catcher in the Rye: Mary O’Connell on her favorite book and its conflicted legacy. | Lit Hub Thirteen ways of looking at flash fiction: Grant Faulkner on the infinite... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-08-21 10:30:03 UTC ]
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Sunday Reading: Summer Fiction

From The New Yorker’s archive: short stories by Zadie Smith, Jennifer Egan, and Stephen King. Continue reading at New Yorker

[ New Yorker | 2020-08-16 10:00:00 UTC ]
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Lit Hub Daily: August 13, 2020

The most iconic short stories in the English language, as determined by that “weird and wiggly” hive-mind, the American cultural consciousness. | Lit Hub Jill Filipovic on how Boomers—“the generation with the least stable marriages in American history”—changed family life forever. | Lit Hub... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-08-13 10:30:25 UTC ]
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43 of the Most Iconic Short Stories in the English Language

Last year, I put together this list of the most iconic poems in the English language; it’s high time to do the same for short stories. But before we go any further, you may be asking: What does “iconic” mean in this context? Can a short story really be iconic in the way of a […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-08-13 08:50:36 UTC ]
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Chicago Brewery Crafts Beer for Hat & Beard Fall Release

A Chicago brewery is partnering with Hat and Beard Press to cross-promote craft beer and a new collection of short stories by Sam Weller by brewing an Imperial stout with a label that replicates the cover of 'Dark Black.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-08-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
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