London, the New Capital of Middle Eastern and North African Arts, Culture, Music, and Literature, by Malu Halasa

Culture Street mural for Grenfell Tower, with poem by Ben Okri, North Kensington, London, image courtesy of IranWire and #PaintTheChange. London-based writer Malu Halasa canvasses the Middle Eastern and North African culture scene in London, where even in lockdown, there’s still much to experience. London makes travelers think of high tea and empire. For those of us who live here and have a passion for and write about the Middle East, London has emerged, more than New York or Paris, as a capital of Arab and Iranian culture outside the region. London has emerged, more than New York or Paris, as a capital of Arab and Iranian culture outside the region. It was not always like this. In the 1990s, relatively few Middle East–related events took place in London. Yet in the past twenty years that I’ve lived here, London has been transformed. The change started taking place in the 2000s. In part, political events, 9/11, and, ten years later, the 2011 Arab Spring or Awakening, as well as the wars in between and after 2011, prompted writers, journalists, and activists to forgo the usual conversation about winners and losers of regional conflicts. Instead, we began to look to creative expression from these countries and in the diaspora for a different kind of understanding and engagement. It was an approach that continued the conversations many of us were having with the people and voices that came onto the streets and in the squares... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'

[ World Literature Today | 2021-04-19 19:22:28 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "London, the New Capital of Middle Eastern and North African Arts, Culture, Music, and Literature, by Malu Halasa"


Book Review: ‘Desperately Seeking Something,’ by Susan Seidelman

In the memoir “Desperately Seeking Something,” Susan Seidelman’s life is as full of twists, charm and happy endings as one of her iconic movies. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-07-23 09:00:50 UTC ]
More news stories like this


HarperAlley Expands into Adult Graphic Novels, Manga, and Manhwa

The graphic novel imprint at HarperCollins, which launched in 2020 with a focus on the children's market, will expand into the adult graphic novel, manga, and manhwa spaces. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-23 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


War, Trauma, and Human Courage: A Conversation with Zhang Ling, by Yan Lu

War, Trauma, and Human Courage: A Conversation with Zhang Ling, by Yan Lu Interviews [email protected] Mon, 07/22/2024 - 16:20 Zhang Ling is the author of ten novels, including A Single Swallow (trans. Shelly Bryant) and Where Waters Meet, the... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2024-07-22 21:20:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this


What to read this week: The Light Eaters, Paranoid Gardens and I Was a Teenage Slasher

Recent releases in fiction, nonfiction and comics that caught our attention. I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones Stephen Graham Jones is something of an expert on slashers. The author has tackled the genre in a slew of his novels (most notably in the Indian Lake Trilogy, with its... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2024-07-20 13:30:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Always Here Bookstore Shows Up for LGBTQ Readers

Always Here Bookstore, a pop-up in Portland, Ore., aims to be a literary oasis for queer, trans, Latinx, and neurodivergent people of all ages. While they search for a bricks-and-mortar home, co-owners Rafael Hart and John Hart want Always Here to be a go-to source for books with LGBTQ authors... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Goodreads reviews of JD Vance’s ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ are stuck in limbo amid news that Trump picked the author to be his VP

If you had a sudden urge to review the 2016 memoir for some reason, you might be out of luck right now. Yesterday, former president Donald Trump announced his running mate for the 2024 election: Senator JD Vance of Ohio. Vance, a onetime fierce critic of Trump, is a relative newcomer to... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2024-07-16 12:25:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


'Hillbilly Elegy': JD Vance's rise to vice presidential candidate began with a bestselling memoir

At the heart of JD Vance’s journey from venture capitalist to vice presidential candidate is a memoir he first thought of in law school, “Hillbilly Elegy.” Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2024-07-16 01:50:32 UTC ]
More news stories like this


What the All-American Delusion of the Polygraph Says About Our Relationship to Fact and Fiction

A few weeks before the release of my first book, a memoir about my mother’s murder, I had to take a polygraph exam. The two things were not in fact related, but that was easy to forget once I found myself strapped in a chair in a windowless room on the fourth floor of a […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-07-15 08:56:51 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Margaret Juhae Lee on How Secrets Fuel Memoir Writing

Write-minded: Weekly Inspiration for Writers is currently in its fourth year. We are a weekly podcast for writers craving a unique blend of inspiration and real talk about the ups and downs of the writing life. Hosted by Brooke Warner of She Writes and Grant Faulkner of National Novel Writing... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-07-15 08:01:27 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Author Challenges ChatGPT to Writer a Better Beach Read

A bestselling author takes on the bots, Penguin Random House acquires a comics publisher, an epic bookstore roadtrip, and more. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2024-07-11 15:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Death to Books

‘In her concern for making a tidy death, my mum overlooked that other kind of mess which is grief, and guilt, and confusion.’ Memoir by Luke Allan. The post Death to Books appeared first on Granta. Continue reading at Granta

[ Granta | 2024-07-11 12:54:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Random House Is Buying Boom! Studios

The Random House Publishing Group has signed an agreement, expected to close later this summer, to acquire comic book and graphic novel publisher Boom! Studios. Boom! will become part of Random House Worlds. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-10 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Inside Tapas Entertainment’s Plans for Webtoons, Web Novels, and Publishing

With the debut of Webtoon on the U.S. stock market dominating comics world headlines last month, South Korea’s other webcomic and webnovel giant, Kakao Entertainment, and its Tapas platform are eyeing ambitions of their own. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-10 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


23rd Street Books Hits the Road at Macmillan

The grown-up sister imprint of Macmillan’s eclectic graphic novel powerhouse, First Second Books, will launch next year with graphic novels from Gene Luen Yang, Damon Wayans Jr., Saul Williams, Ben Hatke, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-10 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


A Healthy Comic Book Obsession

It's time: the graphic novel adaptation of First Test by Tamora Pierce is here!! Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2024-07-09 15:30:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Lin-Manuel Miranda's next musical is based on a New York cult classic

Lin-Manuel Miranda is wrapping up the recording of a concept album for a new musical co-written by playwright Eisa Davis, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The album will be based on the 1979 movie "The Warriors," whose sympathetic depictions of gang members and gritty... Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2024-07-09 10:03:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Hobby Lobby inks massive Tribeca lease

The Oklahoma-based arts-and-crafts retailer known for its ownership's conservative political leanings is coming soon to Manhattan.Hobby Lobby, which opened its first chain in the city on Staten Island in March, has now signed one of the largest leases in Manhattan so far this year, inking a deal... Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2024-07-09 09:48:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Gotta Have Tea with Your Treason

Who hasn't wanted to run away to open a bookstore + tea shop and live a comfortable little life? Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2024-07-08 15:45:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Always Running: Luis J. Rodríguez’s memoir of gang days in LA is as relevant today as it was 30 years ago

Many of the book’s themes, including structural racism, inequalities and poverty are as topical now as 30 years ago. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2024-07-08 15:26:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Customer Traffic Improving at Books-A-Million, Half Price Books

Data from Placer.ai shows that, while both bookstore chains have had some successes in increasing customer traffic, their gains in 2024 trail that of Barnes & Noble. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-08 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this