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"


Religion Book Deals: February 26, 2020

Zondervan nabbed a new book by Christian hip-hop artist Lecrae; Jordan Lee Dooley brings two books to WaterBrook, a memoir on autism lands at Brazos, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-02-26 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Unbound launches memoir from Coppafeel! founder Kris Hallenga

Unbound has launched memoir How to Glitter a Turd from Coppafeel! founder Kris Hallenga. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-25 23:24:09 UTC ]
More news stories like this


“Shame Was My First Drug”: A Conversation with Erin Khar

ERIN KHAR’S TENDER, at times desolate, yet boundlessly hopeful memoir Strung Out: One Last Hit and Other Lies That Nearly Killed Me is, in many ways, a love letter to her oldest son, Atticus. Startled by a story he’d heard on the news about a successful dermatologist who had died of a drug... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-02-25 20:00:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Watch Mitchell Jackson give away 125 copies of his memoir on 125th Street in Harlem.

It’s damn near inevitable—someone asking me “who do I write for?” Most times I say, I’m writing for a 20-year-old version of myself, a young man who wasn’t a reader, but who might’ve been had he been exposed to the right books; who wasn’t an intellectual, but was ever curious; who listened to... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-25 19:00:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Mirror Books pre-empts memoir of first NHS baby

Mirror Books is set to publish a memoir by Aneira Thomas, the first baby born on the NHS. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-24 20:50:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Whistleblower Has a Hidden Power

The memoir from the former Uber engineer Susan Fowler is a life story that doubles as a cultural indictment. Continue reading at The Atlantic

[ The Atlantic | 2020-02-23 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


A Bite of the Apple by Lennie Goodings – essential literary memoir

The Virago publisher is eloquent and inspiring on writing – but her memoir lacks grit and gossipLennie Goodings has had a long and highly respected career in publishing. She is chair of Virago Press, the pioneering publishing house that champions women’s writing. She’s been with Virago since the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-02-23 09:00:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Trump Is Directly Trying to Block Publication of John Bolton’s Book

The president has called his former national security adviser a traitor and says the highly anticipated memoir shouldn't be published before November. Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2020-02-22 15:12:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book review: Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener

This amusing memoir feels like a Silicon Valley version of The Devil Wears Prada. Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2020-02-21 16:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Not a Cult, a new bookstore in Los Angeles, puts authors of color at the forefront.

The door of Los Angeles’ newest bookstore is propped open on a quiet section of Hollywood Boulevard, the front window displaying books on a handmade wooden bookshelf. Inside the front room, you’ll find more books and merchandise below a neon light thought bubble and a sign that reads, “I still... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-21 15:00:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Panel Mania: ‘Banned Book Club’

Kim Hyun Sook’s irresistible memoir conveys her political and social awakening with equal measures of hilarity and terror. The post Panel Mania: ‘Banned Book Club’ appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at The Millions

[ The Millions | 2020-02-21 11:00:33 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Mikel Jollett Crafts a Heartbreaking Memoir of Staggering Growth

The author, born into the Church of Synanon cult, tells his heart-wrenching story of love and redemption in words and music. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-02-21 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


SCAD Comics Forum Shows Kids the Biz

The Savannah College of Art and Design’s sequential-art program keeps doing what it’s been doing for more than a quarter century: teaching its students how to break into the graphic novel and comics market. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-02-21 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Holocaust survivor's 'courageous' memoir to Michael Joseph

Michael Joseph is posthumously publishing the memoir of a Jewish dressmaker who survived three concentration camps. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-21 04:05:58 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Ebury signs climbing memoir from poet and novelist Mort

Ebury has signed a memoir from poet and novelist Helen Mort which it says could do for climbing what other books have done for running and wild swimming. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-20 11:08:11 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Susan Fowler’s Memoir Shows Uber Was an Even Worse Place to Work Than We Thought

The former Uber engineer paints a damning portrait of the culture Travis Kalanick built. Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2020-02-19 21:07:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Beyond Jokha al-Harthi: Women Writers from the Gulf

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... Continue reading at British Council global

[ British Council global | 2020-02-19 10:26:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Greta Thunberg family memoir coming in March

Greta Thunberg’s "raw and powerful" family story, written largely by her mother Malena Ernman, will be published by Allen Lane on 5th March. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-18 15:10:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this


R. Eric Thomas Wants to Save Your Capitalist Soul

R. Eric Thomas’ debut memoir Here for It: Or How to Save Your Soul in America challenges what it means to be “other.” Thomas delves into his experiences as a black, queer Christian—moving from his childhood in Baltimore to his struggles with private school and an Ivy League. This hilarious... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-02-18 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


I Want to Speak for Myself, Not the Whole Latinx Community

It’s hard enough for memoir writers to figure out their relationship to “truth.” Our memories are faulty, and our real lives rarely offer tightly-plotted stories or clear lessons—so is your responsibility to the reader to be scrupulously accurate, or to give them some kind of insight into... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-02-18 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this