Literature on Lockdown 5: #CultureConnectsUs

It’s a long-standing joke in lockdown now – among those of us quarantined, self-isolating, or lucky enough to keep working from home – that we don’t know which day it is. Or even which week. And did I shower this morning, or was it yesterday? Our immediate surroundings have been so similar for so long, we’ve lost the variation we typically use to put our memories in order.But of course plenty of changes have occurred. Most notably, in many countries the rules of lockdown have developed – relaxed in some places, tightened in others. Schools are reopening; hairdressers; bookshops. In some countries, restaurants are staying closed voluntarily, in others, at the government’s decree.It’s this difference, between legal instruction and personal choice, that is especially resonant in the current crisis. The difference between what you choose to do or not do, what you do and don’t agree with personally, versus what your government says you can do, has always existed. We make those choices every day. But they’re more pronounced now – more obvious. In New Zealand, schools have reopened, but attendance is voluntary. Parents and children are invited to look around, consider the health of themselves, their families, and their neighbours, and decide on what – or who – to put at risk.It’s this decision that literature might help us with. Poetry offers the unfiltered single perspective; novels the broad expanse of a country; short stories the tight focus on a region. Travel writing,... Continue reading at 'British Council global'

[ British Council global | 2020-05-15 14:46:20 UTC ]

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A Home Health Aide With Feathers

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[ Electric Literature | 2025-05-28 11:10:00 UTC ]
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‘My legal work sows the seeds of my stories’: International Booker prize winner Banu Mushtaq

The author and activist, who was subject to a fatwa in 2000, has won the prestigious prize for translated fiction for her short stories about the lives of Muslim women. She and her translator Deepa Bhasthi explain how Heart Lamp’s themes ‘are universal’• ‘Radical translation’ of Heart Lamp by... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2025-05-23 12:00:30 UTC ]
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What libraries are getting rid of after Trump’s order to dismantle the IMLS

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7 queer African works of art: new directions in books, films and fashion

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How to Record Personalized Audio Books for Kids with Yoto

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Here are the guest editors (and covers) for the Best American Series 2025.

The Best American Series is a literary institution. But just in case you’re stumbling upon it for the first time: Each book in the annual series showcases of best short fiction and nonfiction in a given year, from short stories to essays, science and nature writing, to food writing. Each... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

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Audible Opens AI-Narration to Selected Publishers

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Audible unveils plans to use AI voices to narrate audiobooks

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Karen E. Bender on Channeling Contemporary Anxieties Through Speculative Fiction

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Clea Young: Allow Yourself Fallow Periods To Recharge

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The Writer Who Understood Aloneness

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Overlooked No More: Ethel Lina White, Master of Suspense Who Inspired Hitchcock

A powerhouse of the genre, she published around 100 short stories and 17 novels, one of which was adapted into the acclaimed film “The Lady Vanishes.” Continue reading at The New York Times

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Read This Dark Mystery Set in Appalachia

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8 Great Mystery Series to Listen to on Audio

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Spring’s great reads have sprung! Here are April’s 10 best.

April’s 10 best books range from short stories set in LA to a climate-change novel to a reappraisal of the American Revolution and its effects on other countries. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

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Spotify Opens French and Dutch Audiobook Production

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The Power of Absence: How Loss Can Help Fuel a Creative Life

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