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"


Of course Hunter Biden is publishing a memoir in April.

Today the Associated Press reported that Hunter Biden, son of famous memoirist Joe Biden, will publish a memoir of his own on April 6. The memoir will be published with Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Beautiful Things, acquired by Gallery Books in fall 2019, focuses on Biden’s... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-02-04 16:02:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Want to read Cicely Tyson's memoir 'Just as I Am'? You'll have to wait

Award-winning actress Cicely Tyson's memoir "Just as I Am" was published two days before her death. Now it's topping the bestseller lists. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-02-04 16:00:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Michelle Obama's Becoming out in paperback and young readers edition in March

Michelle Obama's bestselling memoir Becoming will be published in paperback on 2ndMarch, alongside an edition for younger readers. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-03 06:18:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this


PRH to Issue Two New Editions of 'Becoming'

Michelle Obama’s 'Becoming' will be released in a young reader’s edition and in trade paperback on March 2; originally published in 2018, the former First Lady’s memoir became a #1 international bestseller, with sales topping more than 15 million copies worldwide. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-02-03 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Jeff Bezos to Step Down as Amazon CEO in Q3

After 27 years, Jeff Bezos, the entrepreneur who turned an online bookstore into one of the most powerful companies in the world, announced his plans to step down as Amazon CEO. In an email to employees on Tuesday, Bezos said the transition will come in Q3, at which point he will become... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2021-02-02 21:43:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Can a Comic Book Contain the Drama and Heat of Activism?

In his Graphic Content column, Ed Park looks at “The Black Panther Party,” a new history of the group, and “Come Home, Indio,” a memoir about growing up part Native American. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-02-02 17:30:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Listen to the first ever recording of James Joyce reading from Ulysses.

On February 2, 1922, Sylvia Beach, through her legendary bookstore and occasional imprint Shakespeare and Company, published the entirety of James Joyce’s modernist novel, Ulysses. (It was also Joyce’s 40th birthday.) Two years later, she sought to have at least some of it recorded in Joyce’s... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-02-02 15:29:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Aurum swoops on Bourne-Taylor’s 'heartfelt' nature memoir

Aurum, an imprint of The Quarto Group, has acquired Hannah Bourne-Taylor’s debut nature memoir, Fledgling.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-01 23:39:22 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Lit Hub Daily: February 1, 2021

“Is it the fault of the mother that her child will suffer? Or is empire, white supremacy, the denial of ongoing genocide, and the prison industrial system to blame?” Randa Jarrar on Palestinian mothers, the Virgin Mary, and the Mothers of the Movement. | Lit Hub Memoir The internet has been... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-02-01 11:30:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Pam Mandel on Discovering the True-to-Life YA Story She Was Meant to Tell: Her Own

On this episode of Personal Space: The Memoir Show, Sari Botton interviews Pam Mandel, whose book, The Same River Twice: A Memoir of Dirtbag Backpackers, Bomb Shelters, and Bad Travel, is out from Skyhorse Publishing. The book charts Mandel’s travels abroad as a young woman trying to figure out... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-29 09:48:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Take a look at China’s first 3D-printed concrete bookstore.

Some fun news (thank goodness!): China’s first 3D-printed bookstore has just been built in Shanghai and is scheduled to open to the public at the end of January. With a floor area of thirty square meters, it can accommodate fifteen readers at a time. The bookstore is in Wisdom Bay Innovation... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-28 16:35:33 UTC ]
More news stories like this


If you love books and also love, you can rent this bookstore for a COVID-friendly date night.

Given that we’re all justifiably afraid about the breath of others right now, it’s a weird time to be dating. While the warmer months at least offered the possibility of outdoor meetings, now it’s winter and, like all other things, dating has become an exercise in futility and endless Zoom... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-28 15:42:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this


In ‘Just as I Am,’ actress Cicely Tyson reflects on 96 years of a life well lived

While undoubtedly personal, Tyson’s memoir offers an accounting of how far we’ve come — and how far we still must go. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-01-27 15:38:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Embracing Imperfection: On Writing in a Second Language

More than twenty years ago, walking into a foreign bookstore in Tokyo, the first thing I noted was a slightly musty yet soothing scent. It came from the paper used for these books and magazines, which had been shipped from overseas—the paper either thicker or thinner, and certainly rougher, than... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-27 09:48:22 UTC ]
More news stories like this


22 Books That Helped Me Write the Story of My Transition

As a trans person, I spent most of my life with my head in a book imagining other lives, other bodies, and other histories. In some ways, my memoir is an amalgamation of all the books that kept me curious, kept me thinking it was worth it to keep going. Sometimes it was to dream […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-26 09:48:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this


A Bookseller’s Awkward Run-in With Lou Reed

How one bookseller found herself idiotsplaining a certain bookstore bathroom predicament to the legendary musician Lou Reed. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2021-01-25 11:34:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Writing a Saudi American Novel When No One Has Done It Before

Before I spotted Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia on the shelves of a Borders bookstore near my Pennsylvania college, I had never seen a book about a Saudi woman before. Princess, according to its book jacket, which featured a fully veiled woman in high heels, was... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-25 09:48:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Review: A family travel memoir makes a timely pitch for personal risk

Charles Wheelan's "We Came, We Saw, We Left" charts the Wheelan family's frantic global "gap year" — infections, iffy street food, tantrums and all. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-01-22 18:26:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this


This new indie bookstore categorizes books by emotion.

It’s rare to see Raven Leilani’s Luster next to Doctor De Soto, William Steig’s children’s book about a mouse that performs dental surgery—but this is par for the course at Oh Hello Again, Seattle’s newest bookshop. Oh Hello Again, rather than shelving books by genre and author, categorizes... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-22 16:19:24 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Swashbuckling Escapism of Sid Meier’s Pirates!

The legendary developer’s new memoir brought back poignant memories of one of his most famous games—and of the hours I played with my dad. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2021-01-22 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this