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"


Have you purchased a weirdly low-quality paperback book lately? This may be why.

I work as the bookstore manager for a bookstore in the Hudson Valley and one of the things that means is that I handle not only the ordering of most of our books, but the unboxing of them as well. I get to put hands (or at least eyes) on basically every book that comes […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-10-24 14:25:11 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Sales of Boris Johnson’s memoir slump by 62% in second week

Former prime minister’s heavily promoted book, Unleashed, just hung on to No 1 bestseller spot in UKSales of Boris Johnson’s memoir, Unleashed, have slumped by 62% in its second week since publication.The heavily marketed tome, promoted in a prolonged media round by the former prime minister in... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-10-24 14:17:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Interview: Richard McGuire on His Graphic Novel “Here” and His Reading Life

Ten years ago he published the graphic novel “Here,” an instant classic depicting one room in one house over generations. Now Tom Hanks is starring in the movie. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-10-24 09:00:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Must-Read New Horror, From Light Scares to Nightmare Fuel

Whether you're in the mood for a branching-path horror novel, or even a spooky-scary memoir from a Navajo Ranger, this fall has you covered. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2024-10-23 14:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Audiobook Review: ‘Lifeform,’ by Jenny Slate

The comedian Jenny Slate reads the audiobook version of “Lifeform,” her new memoir about parenting. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-10-23 09:02:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this


This Bookstore Historian Sees Bookselling as Activism

In The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore, history professor Evan Friss explores how bookstores have shaped reading, publishing, politics, and community, beginning in the 18th century. I talked with Friss about the value of indie bookstores, the bygone dominance of Barnes & Noble,... Continue reading at The Millions

[ The Millions | 2024-10-22 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Lit Hub Daily: October 22, 2024

“What I felt was the persistent, undefinable numbness that eventually overtakes you and won’t let go.” André Aciman on struggling to find his place in Rome. | Lit Hub Memoir “The literary mind cannot be isolationist.” Read Elif Shafak’s speech from the Opening Ceremony of the Frankfurt Book... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-10-22 10:30:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this


'One Tree Hill' star Bethany Joy Lenz has finally come to terms with her cult past

In denial no longer, 'One Tree Hill' star Bethany Joy Lenz wrote 'Dinner for Vampires,' her memoir about her cult past Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-10-22 10:00:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Review: ‘Dinner for Vampires,’ by Bethany Joy Lenz

The “One Tree Hill” actor has written a memoir of the decade she spent beholden to the Big House Family — and her escape. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-10-22 09:02:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The best Bluetooth trackers for 2024

If you find your keys tend to go missing just as you need to leave the house (and particularly when you’re already late), Bluetooth tracker can help. Attach these handy fobs to your keys, wallet, jacket, purse, bag or whatever else you need to get going. Some trackers even rely on vast networks... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2024-10-22 09:00:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Lucy Yu Is Redefining What A Bookstore Can Be

Yu & Me Books, located in the heart of Manhattan's Chinatown, has become a literary haven for immigrant authors and writers of color. Continue reading at HuffPost

[ HuffPost | 2024-10-21 15:07:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Riot’s Deals of the Day for October 20, 2024

A Guide to Bookstore Customers, Award-Winning Fantasy, MId-Century Queer Romance, and More in Today's Best Book Deals Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2024-10-20 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Bob the Drag Queen has written the world’s first Harriet Tubman hip-hop novel.

Bob the Drag Queen has written a book, y’all. And this is not the standard tell-all memoir announcement now standard practice for the cross-over artist with a brand to build. Luckily for the world, the Drag Race winning superstar has written a novel. And one that looks to be, um, delightfully... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-10-18 17:27:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Deals: Week of October 21, 2024

Little, Brown lands a new novel from Women’s Prize for Fiction winner Naomi Alderman, FSG takes a memoir from World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-10-18 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Siri Hustvedt to write a book about her late husband Paul Auster

The American writer is 120 pages into a memoir about her relationship with the New York Trilogy author, entitled Ghost StoriesSiri Hustvedt has revealed that she is working on a memoir about her late husband, Paul Auster, author of the acclaimed New York Trilogy.The news was first reported in... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-10-17 14:41:02 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Netflix's The Electric State trailer shows off cartoony robots and oversized VR headsets

Netflix has released the first trailer for The Electric State, a post-apocalyptic road movie from Marvel (and Community) mainstays The Russo Brothers. The adaptation of Simon Stålenhag's 2018 graphic novel is set in a retro-futuristic version of the '90s after a robot uprising. It tells the... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2024-10-17 14:36:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Zara Chowdhary on Coming of Age During Anti-Muslim Violence in India and the U.S.

Zara Chowdhary’s The Lucky Ones is a devastating, timely memoir about survival, reclamation and what it means to exist on the margins of society and within your own familial unit. Zara speaks to us, raw and unfiltered, about growing up as a young muslim girl in Ahmedabad, India, in the aftermath... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-10-17 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Pope Francis to publish Hope, the first memoir from a sitting pontiff

Due out in January, the book deals with ‘some of the crucial moments of his papacy and some of the most controversial questions of our present times’Pope Francis has written an autobiography, publisher Penguin Random House (PRH) has announced. Hope, which will be published globally in January... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-10-16 15:07:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Entertainment and lifestyle titan Barry Diller will have memoir out next spring

Barry Diller has a memoir coming out next spring, covering a life that could fill multiple volumes Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2024-10-16 12:14:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Random House to Publish Memoir by Pope Francis

'Hope' will be published by Random House in the U.S., and simultaneously in more than 80 countries, on January 14, with Italian publisher Mondadori managing world rights. Random House is touting the book as "the first memoir written by a sitting pontiff." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-10-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this