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"


Good news: there are more bookstores in the US this year than last.

Today in good news, the American Booksellers Association announced that membership is at its highest level in 20 years. Per reporting by Hillel Italie at the Associated Press: The ABA added 173 members last year, and now has 2,185 bookstore businesses and 2,599 locations. Three years after the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-05-22 15:55:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this


‘Damn, that fool can write’: how Martin Amis made everyone up their game

He exploded into the tweedy world of literature, a young, pouting and outrageously brash crusader for prose. Our writer remembers her encounters with the novelist, whose smarts and chutzpah confounded his peers‘You’ll be reading me every now and then at least until about 2080, weather... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-05-22 05:00:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this


U.S. Book Show 2023: Midtown Scholar, Emily Bates Named PW Bookstore, Rep of the Year

In a virtual awards show, 'PW' editorial director Jim Milliot named Midtown Scholar in Harrisburg, Pa., the Bookstore of the Year and PRH's Emily Bates the Sales Rep of the Year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Martin Amis, acclaimed British novelist and London scenester of '80s and '90s, dies at 73

Martin Amis, best known for a scathing, dazzling trilogy of novels on money-saturated '80s London and the memoir "Experience," died Friday at 73. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-05-20 20:05:38 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Martin Amis, era-defining British novelist, dies aged 73

The celebrated author of Money and London Fields, whose works defined the 80s and 90s literary scene, died of oesophageal cancer on Friday at his home in FloridaMartin Amis, the influential author of era-defining novels including Money and London Fields, and the memoir Experience, has died at... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-05-20 18:53:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Deals: Week of May 22, 2023

Park Row bets on a debut novel about love and death, actor Ione Skye sells a memoir to Gallery, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Review: ‘Easily Slip Into Another World,’ by Henry Threadgill

Henry Threadgill’s memoir unfolds from his maddening wartime experience to his boundary-pushing musical career. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-05-19 02:17:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Panel Mania: Grand Slam Romance by Ollie Hicks and Emma Oosterhouse

'Grand Slam Romance' by Ollie Hicks and Emma Oosterhous is a very funny graphic novel capturing the outrageous antics–romantic and athletic–of a queer and very magical softball rivalry. An 11-page excerpt. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Review: ‘Easily Slip Into Another World,’ by Henry Threadgill

Henry Threadgill’s memoir unfolds from his maddening wartime experience to his boundary-pushing musical career. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-05-15 09:00:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Pulitzer Winners

Hua Hsu, author of the memoir “Stay True,” and Hernan Diaz, author of the novel “Trust,” discuss their books and their reactions to winning the Pulitzer Prize. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-05-12 20:24:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this


How To Write About Your Mother

Mother’s Day was never a real holiday to my mother—more about marketing than raising me. No white carnations or special dinners for her. But that my memoir about her, Irma: The Education of a Mother’s Son, was published just before this Mother’s Day would make her smile. Likewise, that I have... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-05-12 13:21:24 UTC ]
More news stories like this


8 Books About the Lives of Single Mothers

When I first became a single mother, I hid it from everyone, including myself. In my new book, The Leaving Season: A Memoir in Essays, I track the evolution of my relationship with motherhood, starting as a reluctant mother of two in a married household and ultimately ending as a single mother... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-05-12 11:10:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


U.S. Book Show 2023: Harvey’s Tales

Sara Hoerdeman, the American Academy of Pediatrics marketing manager for consumer products, didn’t just nominate Harvey’s Tales in Geneva, Ill., to be PW’s 2023 Bookstore of the Year: she wrote a 500-word love letter extolling the virtues of the five-year-old indie, located in an upscale suburb... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


U.S. Book Show 2023: Midtown Scholar

Throughout 2023, the Midtown Scholar Bookstore is celebrating 20 years as a bricks-and-mortar destination in Harrisburg, Pa. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


West Baltimore native sees his parents’ interracial relationship as ‘testimony to the power of ordinary people to remake America’

CNN reporter and West Baltimore native John Blake wishes he could give a copy of his new memoir to his mother for Mother's Day. Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2023-05-11 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Clancy Martin’s Writerly Repetitions

In “How Not to Kill Yourself,” a memoir on suicide, the author returns to the obsessions and self-obliterations that have recurred in his fiction and essays. Continue reading at New Yorker

[ New Yorker | 2023-05-10 19:01:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Taylor Swift effect: why a mystery book is rocketing up US charts – despite no one knowing anything about it

Wild speculation over a book known as ‘4C Untitled Flatiron Nonfiction Summer 2023’ has seen excited Swifties placing pre-orders. The bad news? It is likely not by herThe formula to a bestselling book is a mystery publishers have wrestled with for centuries. Now they may finally have their... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-05-10 03:53:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Lit Hub Daily: May 9, 2023

“Even though every atom in my body told me opening a shop would be an economic failure, I’d hoped it would save us.” Kelly McMasters on starting a bookstore to save her marriage. | Lit Hub Memoir 21 new books out today: Shakespeare! Eurovision! Revenge! | The Hub This month’s Lit Hub Asks: 5... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-05-09 10:30:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Tracing the Evolution of Celebrity Memoirs, from Charles Lindbergh to Will Smith

Today, celebrities tell their stories in memoirs as a duty forced on them by their agents and their fans. They can publish them to supplement a thriving career or to give a declining career a boost with the allure of finally-let-it-all-hang-out details. Sometimes a memoir launches a career all... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-05-09 08:53:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Kelly McMasters on Starting a Bookstore to Save Her Marriage

The first time I sliced open a box of books in my new bookshop, I breathed in deeply. The pulpy starch of the paper caught in the back of my throat, while the faint chemical sting of the new ink burned high in my nostrils. I imagined a world where this smell was a constant […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-05-09 08:53:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this