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"


Jim Bouton, Author of Tell-All Baseball Memoir ‘Ball Four,’ Dies at 80

A pitcher who had modest success with the Yankees in the 1960s, Bouton revealed the seamier side of baseball in a book that was a best seller. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-07-11 02:47:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this


In memory of Michael Seidenberg, owner of Brazenhead Books.

For years, I had been hearing about a secret bookstore on the Upper East Side, run by the owner out of his apartment. I thought that you could show up only in the company of a regular attendee. (I would later learn that this was not true, that Michael was, as he liked to say […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-07-09 20:01:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Documentary Looks For Most Beautiful Bookstore and How To Read More: Critical Linking, July 9, 2019

Awesome daily roundup of the most interesting bookish links from around the web. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2019-07-09 10:30:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Michael Seidenberg, New York City Bookseller, Dies

Michael Seidenberg, the beloved owner of New York City's Brazenhead Books, has died. In his later years, Seidenberg ran the bookstore out of his apartment, attracting the city's literati and bookworms. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-07-09 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Amazon, that upstart online bookstore, turns 25 (Photos)

Since its launch 25 years ago, Amazon's reach has extended well beyond an online bookstore. And while it may seem obvious today, at the time Jeff Bezos was working to get his idea to the masses, many investors thought it would be no match for bookstore giants like Borders and Barnes &... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal

[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2019-07-08 11:14:14 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Amazon, that upstart online bookstore, turns 25 (Photos)

Since its launch 25 years ago, Amazon's reach has extended well beyond an online bookstore. And while it may seem obvious today, at the time Jeff Bezos was working to get his idea to the masses, many investors thought it would be no match for bookstore giants like Borders and Barnes and... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal

[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2019-07-08 10:53:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this


(PHOTOS) Amazon, that upstart online bookstore, turns 25: A history in photos

Since its launch 25 years ago, Amazon's reach has extended well beyond an online bookstore. And while it may seem obvious today, at the time Jeff Bezos was working to get his idea to the masses, many investors thought it would be no match for bookstore giants like Borders and Barnes and... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal

[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2019-07-08 10:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


My Bookish Upbringing

EVERY YEAR, IT SEEMS, we receive a new diagnosis regarding the viability of books in the digital age: print is dead, print is back, the bookstore is dead, bookstores are back. The nostalgia for and anxiety about print is often reactive, hinting at other anxieties about feeling lonely and... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-07-06 19:00:22 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Amazon, that upstart online bookstore, turns 25 (Photos)

Since its launch 25 years ago, Amazon's reach has extended well beyond an online bookstore. And while it may seem obvious today, at the time Jeff Bezos was working to get his idea to the masses, many investors thought it would be no match for bookstore giants like Borders and Barnes and... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal

[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2019-07-05 17:38:09 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Eat This Book: A Food-Centric Interview with Amber Scorah

“How was the church food of your youth?” and other questions for Amber Scorah on her new memoir about leaving the Jehovah's Witnesses. Continue reading at The Paris Review

[ The Paris Review | 2019-07-05 13:00:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this


David Cameron 'talks candidly' of memoir ahead of publication

Former prime minister David Cameron will “talk candidly” to mark the publication of his long-awaited autobiography, For The Record (William Collins), in a series of events. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-04 16:12:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Before Ta-Nehisi Coates: On James Alan McPherson’s “Crabcakes”

JAMES ALAN MCPHERSON’S memoir Crabcakes begins with the death of his tenant, Mrs. Channie Washington. A traditional memoir might have sketched McPherson’s upbringing: the strapped childhood in segregated Savannah, Georgia, as the son of an electrician and a maid, and his ascent to Harvard Law... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-07-04 12:30:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Bud Selig: By the Book

The former baseball commissioner, whose new memoir is “For the Good of the Game,” was a voracious childhood reader, “mostly about sports,” and especially “novels about the Brooklyn Dodgers.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-07-04 09:00:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Dani Shapiro’s bestselling memoir Inheritance to be adapted into a film

Good news, memoir fans: Variety reports that Dani Shapiro’s bestselling memoir Inheritance will be adapted into a feature by Killer Films, with Cami Delavigne (the co-writer of Blue Valentine) on board to write the script. The memoir centers on Shapiro’s discovery, after a DNA test, that the man... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-07-03 13:43:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this


People of the Books, by Alan Levenson

Book Reviews Alan Levenson Ever since early Islam, Jews have been dubbed the people of the book. The title stuck in European lands too, a deferential nod to the role of the Hebrew Bible in the Western canon, the breadth of Jewish literacy (never... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2019-07-02 20:46:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this


10 Romantic Books I Got from The Ripped Bodice Bookstore

A Rioter not only got to visit the romance bookstore of her dreams, L.A.'s The Ripped Bodice, but also got a slew of recommendations from a co-owner! Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2019-07-02 10:36:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this


SPCK bags 'gripping' Tim Farron memoir on politics and faith

SPCK has signed ex-Lib Dem leader Tim Farron’s “gripping” autobiography, detailing how he balanced being a Christian and a Liberal during his political career. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-01 12:23:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Madison Bookstore Launches #BookstoresAgainstBorders Fundraiser

A Wisconsin indie has launched a fundraising campaign to benefit for RAICES, an organization that aids immigrants detained at the U.S. border. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-07-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Things to Do While You Wait for Netflix’s Sarah Dessen Adaptations

What to do while you wait for Netflix’s Sarah Dessen Adaptations: Obviously, get thee to a bookstore and read her ... Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2019-06-29 10:31:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


From Schizophrenia to Megalomania, Three New Books on Mental Illness

A short list of books includes a personal memoir about a family’s struggle with schizophrenia, a history of psychiatry and an exploration of how tyrants think. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-06-28 22:41:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this