Interviews Photo of Sulaiman Addonia by Alexander Meeus. For me, one of the most astounding books of this past year—which may have slipped your attention due to the pandemic—was Silence Is My Mother Tongue, the second novel by Ethiopian Eritrean writer Sulaiman Addonia (@sulaimanaddonia). Published last September by Graywolf Press, the novel is just now beginning to get the recognition it deserves: it was recently shortlisted for the Firecracker Award for Independently Published Literature and is a 2021 LAMBDA Literary Award finalist. Set in a refugee camp in Sudan, the novel defies expectations—shimmering with sensual detail, it charts the daily encounters and erotic dreams of an extraordinary cast of characters, with the inseparable siblings Saba and her mute brother, Hagos, at its center. Of course, since war erupted in Ethiopia’s Tigray region this past winter, Addonia’s work has only taken on more resonance. “I have been looking at the pictures of refugees fleeing Tigray and waiting outside the United Nations refugee agency office at Hamdayet in Sudan,” Addonia wrote in a New York Times editorial in late November, “the place through which my family and I passed decades ago, on our way to a refugee camp further inland. I was struck by the eyes of young children. Their gazes retreat and shift, as if their wide eyes have already become the trenches into which they will hide their childhood.” We spoke by email—Addonia... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2021-05-18 13:43:22 UTC ]
Entering its fourth decade, the Reykjavik festival uses its 'Absent Author' series to feature the jailed Sansal. The post In Iceland: A Focus on Boualem Sansal at Reykjavik International Literary Festival appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2025-05-29 05:04:00 UTC ]
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The Portland, Ore., metro area is home to more than 60 independent bookstores of all shapes and sizes. Eleven indies will welcome Children’s Institute’s full- and half-day bus tours on June 12, while a whopping 66 indies are listed on the website of Portland Book Week, a June 6–15 literary... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-05-23 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Today, Canadian writer Michael Crummey’s “dark, enthralling novel about love and its limitations” was announced as the winner of this year’s Dublin Literary Award. Selected from a shortlist of six novels, The Adversary took home the top prize. The Dublin Literary Award only accepts nominations... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-05-22 18:09:10 UTC ]
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The International Booker Prize is the world’s most influential literary award for translated fiction, with its £50,000 prize money that ... Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-05-21 18:33:31 UTC ]
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Sixteen years after bursting onto the literary scene with his debut short story collection, The Boat (which won, or was nominated for, pretty much every major book prize in Australia), Vietnamese-Australian writer Nam Le’s first book of poetry has earned its author his second Book of the Year... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-05-21 17:46:33 UTC ]
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One of Iceland’s top literary agents is working to keep the Reykjavík International Literary Festival, which she helps produce, at the forefront of the international literary scene. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-05-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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On April 23, Aspen Words announced the winner of the 2025 Aspen Words Literary Prize, which awards $35,000 each year to “a work of fiction that illuminates a vital contemporary issue and demonstrates the transformative power of literature on thought and culture.” This year’s winner, chosen by a... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-04-24 14:11:14 UTC ]
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Helmed by David A. Robertson—two-time winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award and a member of Norway House Cree Nation—Swift Water Books will promote Indigenous talent and champion Indigenous stories. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-02-14 05:00:00 UTC ]
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At the Authors Guild Foundation’s third-annual WIT: Words, Ideas, and Thinkers Literary Festival in the Berkshires this September, acclaimed author Jamaica Kincaid spoke with journalist and editor Sandra Guzmán about her latest work, An Encyclopedia of Gardening for Colored Children, illustrated... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-01-03 09:56:55 UTC ]
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'Fiction that delves fearlessly into the most pressing social challenges of our time' is the goal of the Aspen Words Literary Prize. The post The $35,000 Aspen Words Literary Prize Names Its 2025 Longlist appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-11-18 19:19:57 UTC ]
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Stewart Collins says support for the Petworth literary festival in West Sussex is growing, and Kathryn Streatfield suggests local events are the solution for a changing festival worldLaura Barton’s piece paints an understandably downbeat picture of where we are now in the world of the literary... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-10-29 16:25:30 UTC ]
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The fourth biennial Halldór Laxness International Literary Prize is to be presented to Salman Rushdie in Reykjavik on September 13. The post Iceland: Salman Rushdie Wins Reykjavik’s Halldór Laxness Prize appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-09-04 19:41:59 UTC ]
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His memoir Mamaskatch won the Governor General's Literary Award for nonfiction in 2018 Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2024-08-30 22:42:46 UTC ]
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It’s been a rough year for the literary festival. Sparked by a campaign from Fossil Free Books (FFB), nine festivals that previously relied on support from the Baillie Gifford Foundation dropped or lost that company’s sponsorship after the firm failed to divest from fossil fuel companies and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-08-19 16:14:49 UTC ]
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