Of Tibetans’ Disenchantment, Reclamation, and New Literacy Space: In Conversation with Tenzin Dickie, by Shelly Bhoil

Interviews Shelly Bhoil Tenzin Dickie is a Tibetan writer and translator and editor of The Treasury of Lives, a biographical encyclopedia of Tibet, Inner Asia, and the Himalayan region. Her edited anthology, Old Demons, New Deities: 21 Short Stories from Tibet, was published in 2017 by OR Books. She holds an MFA in fiction and literary translation from Columbia and a BA in English literature from Harvard. She is currently a Fulbright fellow in Kathmandu. Shelly Bhoil: You explain in the introduction to Old Demons, New Deities that fiction begins with desire, and desire is a non-Buddhist ideal that was demonized in old Tibet, which led to the delay of the organic evolution of Tibetan fiction. Can we say that the coming out of this first-ever collection of Tibetan stories in English signifies Tibetans’ disenchantment with religion? Tenzin Dickie: I do think that’s fair to say. Most Tibetan writers used to write about religion, about Buddhist philosophy and metaphysics and epistemology. They all pretty much came out of the monastic tradition and wrote about things that tradition cared about, which was emptiness and cessation of suffering and enlightenment and not love, honor, betrayal, redemption, and loss. The epic of Gesar and the Sixth Dalai Lama Tsangyang Gyatso’s love poetry were the great exceptions. Otherwise, these were books about getting to nirvana and not about making an accommodation in samsara. It was only later that the... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'

[ World Literature Today | 2019-06-25 14:25:59 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "Of Tibetans’ Disenchantment, Reclamation, and New Literacy Space: In Conversation with Tenzin Dickie, by Shelly Bhoil"


10 of the Best Ballads in English Literature

Traditionally, a ballad was a song that was designed to be danced to, as the etymology of the word, Provençal balada meaning ‘dance, song to dance to’, ultimately from late Latin ballare. The great British ballads – and we say ‘British’ because many of them were Scottish rather than English... Continue reading at Interesting Literature

[ Interesting Literature | 2020-06-14 14:00:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Manilla signs memoir exploring womanhood and choice in Trump's America

Bonnier Books UK has acquired Christa Parravani’s "harrowing and beautifully written" memoir Loved and Wanted: A Memoir of Choice, Children, and Womanhood for its new literary imprint Manilla Press. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-11 17:12:09 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Personal Space: Sejal Shah on Growing Up Indian in Non-Indian Places

On this episode of Personal Space: The Memoir Show, Sari Botton interviews Sejal Shah, author of the memoir-in-essays This is One Way to Dance, published by the University of Georgia Press. Shah’s essays, many of which are about race, place, and belonging, were written over a span of 20 years,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-06-10 19:00:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Literature on Lockdown 8: #BlackLivesMatter

The sadness, exhaustion, anger and frustration that have been expressed by Black people across social media this week have, of course, been felt for centuries.But, by living so much through our screens right now, observing video footage, scrolling through reposted statements and infographics,... Continue reading at British Council global

[ British Council global | 2020-06-05 16:46:27 UTC ]
More news stories like this


This Week's Bestsellers: June 8, 2020

‘How to Be an Antiracist’ and other books addressing systemic racism return to our bestseller lists. Plus musician Mikel Jollett debuts with the memoir ‘Hollywood Park,’ and science journalist James Nestor discusses the importance of ‘Breath.’ Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-06-05 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Deals: Week of June 8, 2020

Among the notable deals last week were the sale of a memoir from a PBS NewsHour correspondent, a novel about a woman who gives birth to an owl, and international bestseller Michel Faber’s latest novel. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-06-05 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Late-Night Revelations in “The Shapeless Unease,” a Memoir of Insomnia

Katy Waldman reviews “The Shapeless Unease,” by Samantha Harvey, a memoir about the author’s yearlong battle with chronic insomnia. Continue reading at New Yorker

[ New Yorker | 2020-06-04 18:55:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Little A acquires Greene's 'Jew(ish)' memoir

Little A, an imprint of Amazon Publishing, will publish Matt Greene's memoir, Jew(ish): A Plea.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-04 01:10:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this


A Summary and Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Man of the Crowd’

‘The Man of the Crowd’ is one of the shorter short stories written by Edgar Allan Poe (who pioneered the short story form when it was still an emerging force in nineteenth-century magazines and periodicals). Written in 1840, the story is deliciously enigmatic and, in some ways, prefigures later... Continue reading at Interesting Literature

[ Interesting Literature | 2020-06-02 14:00:22 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Wayétu Moore Escapes a Civil War in Liberia. In America, She Encounters a New Kind of Danger.

“The Dragons, the Giant, the Women” is a migration memoir of separations, relocations and reunions. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-06-02 09:00:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Personal Space: Matt Ortile on Grindr, Sex, and Decolonization

On this episode of Personal Space: The Memoir Show, Sari Botton interviews Matt Ortile, author of the memoir The Groom Will Keep His Name: And Other Vows I’ve Made About Race, Resistance and Romance, published by Bold Type Books. Ortile writes about owning his identity as a gay,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-06-01 20:04:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Transworld acquires motherhood memoir from Margaret Reynolds

Transworld has bought UK and Commonwealth rights for memoir The Bright Field by Margaret Reynolds, professor of English at Queen Mary, University of London.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-01 08:56:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this


W&N to publish Moore's Hollywood memoir

W&N has acquired Miss Aluminium, a memoir by Susanna Moore describing her experiences in Hollywood in the 1970s and her own "hard-won arrival at selfhood". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-31 19:23:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this


10 of the Most Accessible Poets in English Literature

How many times have you heard someone say, ‘I don’t read poetry. I just don’t get it.’ Or perhaps, ‘Why can’t poets just come out and say what they want to say? Why say something in such a way?’ For many people, poetry is ‘difficult’. But whilst it’s true that […] The post 10 of the Most... Continue reading at Interesting Literature

[ Interesting Literature | 2020-05-30 14:00:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The True Meaning of the Phrase ‘More Honoured in the Breach than the Observance’

In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library, Dr Oliver Tearle examines a famous phrase derived from Shakespeare The old line about Hamlet, that it’s ‘too full of quotations’, wittily sums up the play’s influence on not just English literature but on the everyday language we use. Many of us... Continue reading at Interesting Literature

[ Interesting Literature | 2020-05-29 14:00:47 UTC ]
More news stories like this


I Didn’t Have a Plan: The Millions Interviews Nick Flynn

My approach to memoir writing demands a different schedule. It may be more organized. I take notes, I write in condensed bursts. I do that with poetry also, but the process is more alchemic. It’s uncontainable. It’s fluid, I can drift in another realm. The post I Didn’t Have a Plan: The Millions... Continue reading at The Millions

[ The Millions | 2020-05-29 10:00:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Religion Book Deals: May 27, 2020

Christian singer/songwriter Sandra McCracken brings her debut to B&H, Convergent signs a mother and son’s memoir about opioid addiction, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-05-27 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Why a ‘Strange and Nerdy’ Book About Eels Is Making Waves

Patrik Svensson mixed natural history with memoir for his debut, which has become a surprise best seller and award winner in his native Sweden. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-05-22 09:00:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Personal Space: Stephanie Danler Never Thought She Would Write This Memoir

On this episode of Personal Space: The Memoir Show, Sari Botton interviews Stephanie Danler, author of the 2016 bestselling novel Sweetbitter, and now the memoir Stray, just published by Knopf. In the book, Danler poignantly tackles a variety of issues, including: the destructive nature of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-05-21 17:00:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this


How indie rocker Mikel Jollett overcame the toxic events in his life

"Hollywood Park," a new memoir from the frontman for the Airborne Toxic Event, recounts his childhood in L.A.'s Synanon cult — and his recovery. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-05-20 16:33:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this