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 ]
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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Antony Shugaar's tranlsation of 1962 Italian picture book 'Telephone Tales' by Gianni Rodari and Valerio Vidali wins ALA's 2021 Batchelder Award. The post Italy’s ‘Telephone Tales’ Wins the 2021 Batchelder Translation Award appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-01-27 20:49:31 UTC ]
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More than twenty years ago, walking into a foreign bookstore in Tokyo, the first thing I noted was a slightly musty yet soothing scent. It came from the paper used for these books and magazines, which had been shipped from overseas—the paper either thicker or thinner, and certainly rougher, than... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-27 09:48:22 UTC ]
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In “Nicky & Vera,” Peter Sís tells the story of Nicholas Winton, who rescued 669 children from Czechoslovakia as World War II loomed. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-01-27 06:39:32 UTC ]
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Malorie Blackman, author of the bestselling Noughts & Crosses series, and Dapo Adeola, illustrator of the Waterstones Book Prize winning picture book Look Up!, are collaborating on a picture book: We’re Going to Find the Monster. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-25 23:42:24 UTC ]
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How one bookseller found herself idiotsplaining a certain bookstore bathroom predicament to the legendary musician Lou Reed. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-01-25 11:34:00 UTC ]
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Before I spotted Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia on the shelves of a Borders bookstore near my Pennsylvania college, I had never seen a book about a Saudi woman before. Princess, according to its book jacket, which featured a fully veiled woman in high heels, was... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-25 09:48:19 UTC ]
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It’s rare to see Raven Leilani’s Luster next to Doctor De Soto, William Steig’s children’s book about a mouse that performs dental surgery—but this is par for the course at Oh Hello Again, Seattle’s newest bookshop. Oh Hello Again, rather than shelving books by genre and author, categorizes... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-22 16:19:24 UTC ]
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Children's indie Nosy Crow is mounting an open call for submissions from writers of colour to broaden its picture books list. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-21 11:03:39 UTC ]
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LEOPOLD VON SACHER-MASOCH was the original kinky bastard. A 19th-century Viennese nobleman, he wrote the controversial 1870 novella Venus in Furs, which explored his fetish for pain and abasement, and inadvertently helped coin the term “masochism.” The Masochist, Slovenian poet Katja Perat’s... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2021-01-19 18:00:58 UTC ]
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Virago is publishing the first novel in two decades from Gayl Jones, Palmares, set in 17th-century colonial Brazil on Portuguese plantations and in the last fugitive slave settlement. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-17 23:38:33 UTC ]
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Some pleasant news! In honor of “Peace Train”s 50th anniversary, Yusuf/Cat Stevens has announced that the illustrated children’s book Peace Train, using the lyrics of the famous song, will be published May 11th via HarperCollins. It will be followed by a picture book adaptation of Stevens’ song... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-13 17:36:37 UTC ]
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Sarah Ferguson says historical tale Her Heart for a Compass is inspired by experiences in her own lifeThe Duchess of York has landed a book deal with the romantic fiction publisher Mills & Boon, revealing that she “drew on many parallels from my life” for the historical tale.Sarah... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-01-13 10:13:08 UTC ]
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Notorious fake journalist and target of deadly vegan milkshakes Andy Ngo has a new book coming out called “something something Antifa is under your bed” or some shit; after a small protest yesterday at Powell’s Bookstore in Portland, Oregon (where Ngo is from), the store—which is one of the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-12 15:29:06 UTC ]
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I consider myself Argentine. I tell people it is not only part of my origin story but my identity. My first novel is titled Hades, Argentina, and to my friends I’m sure that seems fitting, the natural summation of my life and literary ambitions so far. But the truth is I had never been to […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-12 09:48:41 UTC ]
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"It's really special that, with a book about female friendship, we have genuinely become friends through doing it,” says Lauren Ace. She is talking about illustrator Jenny Løvlie, and the pair’s début picture book The Girls, which was published in 2018 and went on to win Illustrated Book of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-08 01:57:49 UTC ]
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Eley Williams’s first novel follows characters living in London more than a century apart who toil to compile the same ill-fated dictionary. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-01-05 10:00:02 UTC ]
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When my wife and I were expecting our first child, a friend described it as “the ultimate deadline.” Many writers I’ve known since have determined to finish their books before a baby arrives. Some do, of course, but the deadline wasn’t so ultimate in my own case. I was five years into my first... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-05 09:49:10 UTC ]
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Hachette Children’s Group is partnering with Commonword, the largest writing development organisation based in Manchester, in a bid to find more northern Black, Asian and minority ethnic writers currently under-represented in publishing, particularly in picture book writing. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-28 15:57:06 UTC ]
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