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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Free e-book: Hidden Words Hidden Worlds

Contemporary Short Stories from MyanmarIn 2017 the British Council produced an anthology of short stories from Myanmar.    In 2012 the British Council sought to take advantage of new freedoms in literature and travel through a programme of workshops. The aim of the five-year literature... Continue reading at British Council global

[ British Council global | 2019-09-10 08:55:33 UTC ]
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Jhumpa Lahiri on Editing an Anthology of Italian Fiction

The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories edited by Jhumpa Lahiri, is available now. * What was the genesis of this anthology? Three years ago, I began teaching creative writing at Princeton. I had just returned from Italy, where I had lived in Rome with my family for three years. During that... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-09-10 08:46:32 UTC ]
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8 Creepy Short Stories to Keep You Up at Night

These are some of the best creepy short stories that I've assigned (or WOULD assign) to keep my students intrigued (and terrified). Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2019-08-14 10:34:44 UTC ]
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6 Short Stories for Fans of BLACK MIRROR

Keep the technology-inspired horror and thrill going with six short stories for fans of BLACK MIRROR--just don't read them on your ereader! Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2019-08-08 10:35:58 UTC ]
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Picador bags short stories and novel from Mary South

Picador has bagged a satirical short story collection and novel from US writer Mary South. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-07 00:40:34 UTC ]
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Finally, some Proust short enough to finish. (New novellas discovered!)

French publisher Editions de Fallois has announced that it will publish a collection of novellas and short stories by Marcel Proust, who you might remember from his very long, seven-volume À la recherche du temps perdu (In Search of Lost Time). Smithsonian.com reports: Agence... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-08-06 19:34:36 UTC ]
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Writing to Uganda: A Conversation with Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, by Matthew Davis

Interviews Matthew Davis Ugandan novelist and short-story writer Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi’s first novel, Kintu, won the Kwani Manuscript Project in 2013 and was longlisted for the Etisalat Prize in 2014. She was awarded the 2014 Commonwealth... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2019-08-06 13:42:31 UTC ]
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Panel Mania: ‘Drawing Power: Women’s Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment, and Survival’

Featuring a foreword by Roxane Gay, the comic anthology is a powerful and instructive collection of short stories by 60 female artists. The post Panel Mania: ‘Drawing Power: Women’s Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment, and Survival’ appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at The Millions

[ The Millions | 2019-08-02 10:00:17 UTC ]
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There’s a newly translated John Steinbeck story about a chef and his cat.

Long before funny cat content flooded every single corner of the internet, John Steinbeck, legendary dog person, was writing it for Le Figaro, proving once again that France gets all the good stuff before we do. Steinbeck wrote “The Amiable Fleas,” or “Les puces sympathiques,” in 1954 for Le... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-07-31 15:44:48 UTC ]
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The Best Short Stories about Christmas Everyone Should Read

The best Christmas stories This is a somewhat unseasonal post for us, appearing in July as it is. But we’ve recently turned our thoughts towards Christmas literature for a whole host of reasons, so thought we’d offer ten of the greatest short stories about Christmas. These are stories set around […] Continue reading at Interesting Literature

[ Interesting Literature | 2019-07-27 14:00:59 UTC ]
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Why Are So Many Women Rewriting Fairy Tales?

Peg Alford Pursell’s second book, A Girl Goes Into the Forest, contains a collection of 67 short stories exploring moments in the lives of women. Pursell’s first book, Show Her a Flower, a Bird, a Shadow, was recognized as a 2017 Indies finalist and a finalist and honorable mention in fiction... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-07-25 11:00:57 UTC ]
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Their Daughters Were Having Cats Instead of Children

A new collection of Bette Howland's short stories restores a powerful voice to the canon. The post Their Daughters Were Having Cats Instead of Children appeared first on Guernica. Continue reading at Guernica

[ Guernica | 2019-07-22 11:00:20 UTC ]
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Dispatches from the Future of a New China

TRANSLATED BY KEN LIU, Broken Stars is a welcome second collection of 16 Chinese speculative fiction short stories and three short essays recounting the genre’s recent cultural and academic prominence. The volume gives voice to an eclectic group, serving as a who’s who of SF authors, critics,... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-07-20 19:00:31 UTC ]
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Women Writing Taiwan, by Amy Lantrip

Book Reviews Amy Lantrip   Photo by Ethan Chiang / Flickr Contemporary Taiwanese Women Writers: An Anthology (Cambria Press, 2018) is a collection of short stories in translation featuring contemporary Taiwanese authors.[i] This compilation is diverse... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2019-07-18 14:13:08 UTC ]
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Audible launches fiction podcast featuring Johnson, McBride and Little

Audible is launching a fiction podcast featuring original short stories from writers including Daisy Johnson, Eimear McBride and Liv Little. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-10 17:17:09 UTC ]
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Filled with a New Kind of Truth: A Conversation with Samanta Schweblin

SAMANTA SCHWEBLIN’S COLLECTION of short stories Mouthful of Birds opens bleakly: When she reaches the road, Felicity understands her fate. He has not waited for her, and, as if the past were a tangible thing, she thinks she can still see the weak reddish glow of the car’s taillights fading on... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-07-10 17:00:00 UTC ]
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Of Tibetans’ Disenchantment, Reclamation, and New Literacy Space: In Conversation with Tenzin Dickie, by Shelly Bhoil

Interviews Shelly Bhoil Tenzin Dickie is a Tibetan writer and translator and editor of The Treasury of Lives, a biographical encyclopedia of Tibet, Inner Asia, and the Himalayan region. Her edited anthology, Old Demons, New Deities: 21 Short Stories from... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2019-06-25 14:25:59 UTC ]
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The stories behind big Cannes Lion winners and the riskiest advertising moves of the year

At the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Ad Age sat down with some of the brightest minds in advertising and marketing to discuss some of the bravest and most talked about ideas of this year, some of which also scored big Lions last week.  One of the most celebrated campaigns... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2019-06-24 17:00:00 UTC ]
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Picador snaps up Alzayat short story collection

Picador has acquired a collection of short stories from "really exciting talent" Dima Alzayat. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kwamé Alexander on the intersection between his children's books and poetry

Not many writers can say they’ve transitioned from love poems to children’s novels about anthropormorphic jazz musicians like “Duck Ellington.” Poet, educator, New York Times bestselling author Kwamé Alexander has done it all. His newest work, “The Undefeated,” is his “love letter to black... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-04-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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