When Jokha al-Harthi and Marilyn Booth won the Man Booker International Prize last year, for Booth’s translation of Sayyidat al-Qamr (Celestial Bodies), many hurried to note that al-Harthi was the “first Omani woman writer” to have a book in English translation.While true, this may give the mistaken impression that there is something new about women's writing from the Gulf. But women on the peninsula have been composing sophisticated literature for centuries. Al-Khansa (575-645 AD), who was born and died on the Arabian Peninsula, is said to have been told by an admiring male writer that she was “the greatest poet among those with breasts.” Al-Khansa is said to have replied, archly: “I am the greatest poet among those with testicles, too.” Her work can be read, in vibrant translation, in James Montgomery’s Loss Sings.Prominent poet-filmmaker Nujoom Ghanem, in a 2016 interview that focused on her literary ancestors, had a similar barb: “The majority of poets in our world are male, but quantity does not make quality.” Yet among the younger generation of writers, women often dominate. In Yemen, the UAE, Kuwait, and elsewhere, emerging women writers have been flooding into writing workshops and literary seminars. Each Gulf country could have its own list of 10 women writers. Here are just a few to seek out:Raja Alem (Saudi) – Alem was the first woman to co-win the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF), for her classic Mecca novel The Doves’ Necklace (translated by Adam... Continue reading at 'British Council global'
[ British Council global | 2020-02-19 10:26:57 UTC ]
‘Gentle, honest’ book, written by Anna Friend in response to her seven-year-old son’s worries, wins five-figure deal with ScholasticA self-published children’s picture book that was written to help the author’s son deal with being kept home from school during lockdown has been snapped up by a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-02-20 07:00:25 UTC ]
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It’s been almost a year since the industry made the switch from being predominantly office based to working from home and essentially living at work. Frankfurt meetings went from being in a packed rights centre or brightly coloured stall to being completely online via Zoom. London Book Fair... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-19 05:25:42 UTC ]
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READING PATRICIA LOCKWOOD’S first novel feels a lot like having your brain poisoned by the internet — or at least like having that particular contemporary condition understood. No One Is Talking About This is a searing entry into the rapidly emerging pantheon of digital culture literature, told... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2021-02-16 16:00:53 UTC ]
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The Seventy-Five Pages, out next month, contains germinal versions of episodes developed in In Search of Lost Time and opens ‘the primitive Proustian crypt’For everyone who decided to bite the madeleine and read all 3,000-odd pages of Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time during lockdown,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-02-16 15:21:36 UTC ]
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Self-care and non-fiction subscription box business Wildwoman has launched its own online bookstore to help cope with the pandemic's effects on business. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-16 04:31:10 UTC ]
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Chicago’s only Black woman-owned bookstore opened in the summer of 2019. Over the past two years, Semicolon has served as a vital and vibrant cultural hub and gallery space. Last summer, as the coronavirus began to tear through our country and small businesses had to close their doors, Semicolon... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-02-12 16:25:48 UTC ]
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The Klaus Flugge Prize, awarded to the "most promising and exciting newcomer" in children’s picture book illustration, has longlisted 20 books from illustrators whose debuts span friendship, love, family, the natural world and tales of daring. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-11 05:20:34 UTC ]
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Simon & Schuster Children’s Books is to launch a new picture book series from author and illustrator team Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-10 19:30:20 UTC ]
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Several publishers say they may not be attending the London Book Fair this year amid concerns over the way last year's cancellation was handled and its new 2021 date in June. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-10 19:10:15 UTC ]
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On October 5, this timeline will be blessed/cursed by Jonathan Franzen’s first novel since 2015: Crossroads, or, if you’re not abbreviating, Crossroads: A Novel: A Key to All Mythologies, Volume 1. It’s the first novel of a trilogy, A Key to All Mythologies, which, yes, nods to the doomed... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-02-10 17:59:29 UTC ]
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Clara Villarosa, the founder of two iconic bookstores, the Hue-Man Experience in Denver and the Hue-Man Experience Bookstore & Cafe in New York City, will curate BIPOC books for the Tattered Cover Bookstore. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-02-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Is there anything better than (safe, socially distanced, double masked, sanitized) browsing at your local indie? I was having the crumbiest day the other day, and I passed by my local bookstore (the Greenlight on Flatbush, if you know it) as I was running errands. Well, I couldn’t not go in.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-02-09 13:30:25 UTC ]
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Books published by Walker, Nosy Crow and Egmont have been shortlisted for this year's Derby Children's Picture Book Award. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-08 17:10:34 UTC ]
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Yesterday’s slate of Super Bowl commercials can be divided into two heavily-overlapping camps: cringey pop-culture nostalgia garbage fronted by stars you hoped were better than that, and expensive “unify the divided country through capitalism” garbage fronted by stars you hoped were better than... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-02-08 16:56:30 UTC ]
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HarperNorth has snared its first fiction acquisition, a gritty gangland thriller by Karen Woods. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-08 01:06:27 UTC ]
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At Philadelphia’s Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books, bookstore manager Evisa Gallman sees a long future for herself in bookselling. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-02-05 05:00:00 UTC ]
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After 27 years, Jeff Bezos, the entrepreneur who turned an online bookstore into one of the most powerful companies in the world, announced his plans to step down as Amazon CEO. In an email to employees on Tuesday, Bezos said the transition will come in Q3, at which point he will become... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2021-02-02 21:43:59 UTC ]
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On February 2, 1922, Sylvia Beach, through her legendary bookstore and occasional imprint Shakespeare and Company, published the entirety of James Joyce’s modernist novel, Ulysses. (It was also Joyce’s 40th birthday.) Two years later, she sought to have at least some of it recorded in Joyce’s... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-02-02 15:29:36 UTC ]
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Some fun news (thank goodness!): China’s first 3D-printed bookstore has just been built in Shanghai and is scheduled to open to the public at the end of January. With a floor area of thirty square meters, it can accommodate fifteen readers at a time. The bookstore is in Wisdom Bay Innovation... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-28 16:35:33 UTC ]
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Given that we’re all justifiably afraid about the breath of others right now, it’s a weird time to be dating. While the warmer months at least offered the possibility of outdoor meetings, now it’s winter and, like all other things, dating has become an exercise in futility and endless Zoom... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-28 15:42:07 UTC ]
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