A giant of African literature whose best works existed between the political and the personal, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o was warm, funny and friendly – and liked to bet on my pool gamesAmong the African writers who emerged in the middle of the 20th century, the most political undoubtedly was Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o. Born in Kenya while it was still under British rule he was anti-colonialist, a communist, anti-dictatorial, and an almost militant proponent for African languages being used for African literature.His best works exist at the interface between the political and the personal. His first book of essays, Homecoming, is at once engaging and polemical. His early novels Weep Not, Child and A Grain of Wheat look at the impact of colonialism and the Mau Mau rebellion on individual lives. He was strangely at his best with the personal and the intimate, but his reputation grew more from his political stances – first against the British government, then against the dictatorship in Kenya in the 70s. He was jailed not for a thundering political text but for a play in Kikuyu called I Will Marry When I Want. In prison he wrote his memoir on toilet paper. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2025-05-30 16:36:34 UTC ]
Academic philosophers tend to have a narrow view of what is valuable philosophical work. Hiring, tenure, promotion and prestige depend mainly on one's ability to produce journal articles in a particular theoretical, abstract style, mostly in reaction to a small group of canonical and 20th century... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2015-07-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Why must writers from Africa always bear the burden of representing their continent? They should be granted artistic freedom, as other authors areAfrican literature, as it’s called, is enjoying a bit of a moment, with the western media regularly heralding splashes, rebirths, dawns. When I... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gallimard has been home to many of the most prestigious writers in French literature throughout the 20th century, including Marcel Proust, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, and 2008 Nobel laureate Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Faber has signed a "major" biography of Irish independence leader, Éamon de Valera. World rights to Éamon de Valera: A Will to Power by Ronan Fanning were signed from Jonathan Williams at the Jonathan Williams Literary Agency in Dublin. Fanning is professor emeritus of modern history at... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Twitter reactions to news of a follow-up to To Kill a Mockingbird including one from a BBC editor flub one rather important detail: its author is femaleNever mind terrible book covers for female authors – this is, frankly, small potatoes in the world of gender and literature. Because even if... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the NYTimes, Felicia R. Lee asks if the 'new wave of African writers' with an international appeal are drawing attention away from African-American voices. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-07-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gallimard has been home to many of the most prestigious writers in French literature throughout the 20th century. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rowling wrote her book, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," when she was a single mother, receiving government benefits. She's now asking the government to step up support for Britain's poor.Without help from the British government, there might never have been a Harry Potter. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-09-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A report from the University of Illinois shows that copyright laws have squashed the market for books from the middle of the 20th century. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-08-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gallimard has been home to many of the most prestigious writers in French literature throughout the 20th century, including Marcel Proust, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, and 2008 Nobel laureate Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-07-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bookseller Association c.e.o Tim Godfray has renewed his calls to the British government to take... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum have appealed to the British government to rethink statutory regulation that threatens more than 300 years of press freedom in the UK. In a letter to Prim ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Weidenfeld & Nicolson has acquired at auction a new non-fiction book offering an alternative... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The death of novelist Chinua Achebe has been confirmed. A statement from The Wylie Agency... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The late American publisher Barney Rosset led the charge to push back against literary puritanism, championing writers like Henry Miller and William S. Burroughs.Barney Rosset, who died Tuesday at the age of 89, was the most important American publisher of the 20th century. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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