Finding a Good Story in Every Corner: A Conversation with José Eduardo Agualusa, by Anderson Tepper Interviews [email protected] Mon, 07/24/2023 - 15:01 © Rosa CunhaOver the past fifteen years, I’ve had the pleasure of crossing paths with the peripatetic Angolan author José Eduardo Agualusa on several occasions. In 2008 we were in conversation at the Brooklyn Book Festival—my first as a moderator—to celebrate the release of his novel The Book of Chameleons, which won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. Eight years later, at an event at Community Bookstore in Brooklyn, we met again to talk about A General Theory of Oblivion, winner of the International Dublin Literary Award and shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize. This month, Agualusa will publish a new collection of stories, A Practical Guide to Levitation. Like his last two books, it is published by Archipelago Books; and like all his English-language works, it is translated by Daniel Hahn. What a joy, for me, to reencounter Agualusa’s fictional universe—a world of talking lizards and enchanted trees, exiles and eccentrics—and, even more, to reconnect over email with the writer himself. We spoke of Borges, baobabs, truth and fabulation, among other things. Anderson Tepper: José Eduardo, so good to be in touch again after a long time. How are you and where are you? How have you coped with the difficult past couple years of the pandemic and all else? José... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2023-07-24 20:01:34 UTC ]
CNN’s election-count coverage ended as it began: with Wolf Blitzer all excited. “After four long, tense days, we’ve reached a historic moment in this election,” he said. “We can now project the winner of the presidential race.” One thrumming musical interlude later, the network reported that... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review
[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-11-09 12:59:12 UTC ]
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Dujiangyan Zhongshuge is the latest bookstore designed by X+Living, and it’s stunning. The very best books transport you to another world, and the most magical bookstores help make that a reality. Chinese bookseller Zhongshuge is renowned for its stunning bookstores, and its latest outpost, in... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2020-11-02 08:00:34 UTC ]
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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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The late French author Romain Gary is the only writer to have won France’s most prestigious literary award under two names: he received the Prix Goncourt for The Roots of Heaven (Les Racines du ciel; 1956) under his birth name and, more than 20 years later, “Émile Ajar” won the prize for The... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-10-29 17:36:47 UTC ]
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As Europe goes back into pandemic lockdown French bookstores are making the case to remain open, despite the fact bars and restaurants will be closing. Citing fears of increasing “cultural isolation” bookstore associations are joining with publishers to demand classification as essential... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-10-29 16:15:27 UTC ]
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With Halloween fast-approaching, I feel the need (along with every other person on the book internet) to remind you that one of the scariest things imaginable might happen: your local indie bookstore might close. Their fate is in your hands. Go on and pick up one (or two or three) of these new... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-10-27 13:16:05 UTC ]
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Jimmy Fallon, local authors and devoted regulars are rallying to help Once Upon a Time in Montrose — the country's oldest kids' bookstore — survive the pandemic that has destroyed so many small businesses. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-10-27 12:00:02 UTC ]
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Today, Graywolf Press announced that Anna Burns’ Milkman has been selected as the winner of the International Dublin Literary Award. The Award, now celebrating its 25th year, is the world’s largest annual prize for a single work of fiction published in English. The prize comes with a whopping... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-10-22 15:20:06 UTC ]
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In this David-versus-Goliath battle, mom-and-pop bookstores wrapped themselves in Amazon's familiar brown cardboard as a protest against the retail giant and a plea to shop local. The Instagram-ready stunt, with Amazon lookalike boxes covered in sick literary burns and topical quips, came... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2020-10-19 20:06:41 UTC ]
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How does one browse in a dark bookstore? Picture row upon row of faced-out books lit like tiny billboards floating in an inky black room, small candle lit café tables as little islands of light between hundreds of glowing covers… That’s basically the scene at Wuguan Bookstore in Kaohsiung,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-10-19 15:08:32 UTC ]
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Independent booksellers are desperate for customers to return, and not just for an online reading. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-10-15 09:00:28 UTC ]
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Today, Longwood University announced that Aleksander Hemon has been named the winner of the 2020 John Dos Passos Prize for Literature. The prize is Longwood University’s premier literary award—the largest literary award of any Virginia college or university; it aims to honor “an underappreciated... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-10-13 17:31:47 UTC ]
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Books Beneath the Bridge: Greenlight Poetry Salon Monday, October 12, 7pm EDT For the eighth season of Books Beneath the Bridge, a literature series hosted by the Brooklyn Bridge Park, Greenlight Bookstore will be hosting a virtual edition of their quarterly Poetry Salon, hosted and curated by... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-10-12 10:00:38 UTC ]
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W.W. Norton's Liveright imprint publicity director Peter Miller moonlights as a bookstore owner in Brooklyn—and he's working with Books Through Bars to get books into the hands of the imprisoned. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-10-09 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Vroman's Bookstore is just one of many independent bookstores in danger of closing as a result of the pandemic. It's not too late to save them. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-10-05 10:00:03 UTC ]
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Book Club, an indie on Manhattan's Lower East Side, was only open for a few months before the pandemic hit. Since then, its owners have gotten creative, and are raising the store’s profile. Here's how. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-10-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Essay To mark the upcoming 2020 Neustadt Lit Fest and the announcement of the 2021 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature, here is an excerpt featuring the children’s and young adult books selection from 100 Essential Books by Iranian Writers,... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-09-30 13:21:42 UTC ]
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Autumn means changing leaves, apple-based baked goods, decorative gourds, pumpkin spice lattes—and an avalanche of literary award longlists. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the must-read National Book Award nominees you’re now realizing you didn’t read, why not base your TBR pile off of... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2020-09-25 11:00:06 UTC ]
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My correspondence with K-Ming Chang began with fan mail. I had recently read her flash fiction story Gloria in Split Lip—a knife-sharp story about queerness, shame, and faith—and instantly devoured the rest of her fiction and her poetry, moved by the possibilities in her writing. A Kundiman... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-24 08:48:00 UTC ]
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Well, beautiful might not exactly be the word—perhaps disquietingly arresting? Chinese architecture firm x+living seems to be channeling the synaptic afterimages of Borges’s brain in their dizzying design for a bookstore in the city of Dujiangyan, in the southwest of China. The almost manic use... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-23 13:51:18 UTC ]
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