“Silence Became My Mother Tongue”: A Conversation with Sulaiman Addonia, by Anderson Tepper

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 ]

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French author Alice Zeniter has won the eye-popping €100,000 Dublin Literary Award.

The Art of Losing (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) by French novelist Alice Zeniter has won the prestigious Dublin Literary Award, a prize which comes with a handsome glass trophy and the world’s largest purse for a single novel published in English—a whopping €100,000. Nominations for the Dublin... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-05-24 16:21:57 UTC ]
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Dawnie Walton Wins the 2022 Aspen Words Literary Prize

The fifth iteration of the US$35,000 Aspen Words Literary Prize goes to journalist Dawnie Walton for 'The Final Revival of Opal and Nev.' The post Dawnie Walton Wins the 2022 Aspen Words Literary Prize appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-04-22 00:42:05 UTC ]
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Awards: Serbia’s Tišma Literary Prize: Honor Without Borders

The still-young €10,000 biennial Aleksandar Tišma International Literary Prize in Serbia is distinguished by its worldwide eligibility. The post Awards: Serbia’s Tišma Literary Prize: Honor Without Borders appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-03-02 16:58:52 UTC ]
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2022 PEN American Literary Award Winners

This year’s awards were conferred to writers and translators in eleven different categories in a ceremony hosted by comedian Seth Myers. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-03-01 20:02:25 UTC ]
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Awards: The Aspen Words Literary Prize Names Its 2022 Shortlist

One debut is among the five shortlisted titles for the US$35,000 Apsen Words Literary Awards, focused on issue-driven fiction. The post Awards: The Aspen Words Literary Prize Names Its 2022 Shortlist appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-02-26 02:26:44 UTC ]
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Nepal and Pan-Nepalese Identity: A Conversation with Samrat Upadhyay, by Koushik Goswami

Interviews For many years, better opportunities on foreign shores, political turmoil, and the Maoist insurgency in Nepal have contributed to a large-scale migration to foreign countries. Many Nepalese writers, now settled in the West, have begun writing... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2022-02-14 22:32:24 UTC ]
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De Waal and Krauss shortlisted for 2022 Wingate Literary Prize

The Wingate Literary Prize shortlist this year includes Nicole Krauss and Edmund de Waal with a mix of indie and corporate publishers in the running for the £4,000 award. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2022-01-27 00:47:48 UTC ]
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Keri Hulme, New Zealand’s First Booker Prize Winner, Dies at 74

The power Ms. Hulme drew from her Maori heritage shone through in her work, especially in “The Bone People,” which won the literary prize in 1985. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-12-29 04:47:34 UTC ]
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Survey says: the Booker is the most important literary prize in the world.

An interesting dispatch from prize world: as The Bookseller reported, a new international survey conducted by Nielsen Book shows publishers, writers, booksellers and media consider the Booker Prize the “most important” literary prize. The Booker’s status isn’t completely out of left field, but... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-12-23 20:28:47 UTC ]
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Krauss, de Waal and Puchner make Wingate Prize longlist

Edmund de Waal, Nicole Krauss and Martin Puchner are among 13 authors longlisted for the Wingate Literary Prize with their "powerful expressions of the diversity of Jewish experience". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-15 22:46:16 UTC ]
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2022 PEN America Literary Awards Longlists Announced

PEN America has announced their 2022 Literary Award longlists, with awards in 11 different categories. Here they are. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2021-12-15 17:59:20 UTC ]
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Organisers urged to keep literary festivals hybrid in new campaign

More than 50 signatories, including Bonnier Books UK c.e.o. Perminder Mann and the Society of Authors, have urged literary festival organisers to keep festivals hybrid as part of a new campaign.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-10 07:38:14 UTC ]
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Germany’s BücherFrauen Honor Mely Kiyak With Their First ‘Christine’ Prize

The new biennial BücherFrauen Literary Prize includes a €10,000 prize and is named for the Venetian-born poet and author Christine de Pizan. The post Germany’s BücherFrauen Honor Mely Kiyak With Their First ‘Christine’ Prize appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-11-15 10:24:39 UTC ]
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Sour Grapes by Dan Rhodes review – a vengeful satire on the publishing world

The comic novelist takes aim at the industry’s elitism, but his story of a farcical literary festival is dated – and overly focused on Will SelfFunny ha-ha is tricky. For every reader who cackles with laughter at an author writing “this person was making plans to micturate upon one’s pommes... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-11-12 09:00:32 UTC ]
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Aspen Institute Names Its 2022 Aspen Words Literary Prize Longlist

Now in its fifth award cycle, the $35,000 Aspen Words Literary Prize names 16 books to its 2022 longlist, with a shortlist to come February 23. The post Aspen Institute Names Its 2022 Aspen Words Literary Prize Longlist appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-11-10 20:01:06 UTC ]
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Children's book on Governor General's Literary Award short list a win for Indigenous publishing, author says

A children's book shortlisted for a 2021 Governor General's Literary Award was written by a University of Guelph associate professor who specializes in the history of Indigenous Peoples and illustrated by an Ojibway multidisciplinary artist. ... Continue reading at CBC

[ CBC | 2021-11-02 08:00:00 UTC ]
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Boubacar Boris Diop Wins Prestigious 2022 Neustadt International Prize for Literature

News and Events (c) Rama, Cc-by-sa-2.0-fr NORMAN, OKLA. – World Literature Today, the University of Oklahoma’s award-winning magazine of international literature and culture, announced late Tuesday evening that Boubacar Boris Diop is the 27th... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2021-10-26 21:56:54 UTC ]
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A new literary prize in honor of Ursula K. Le Guin will recognize “realists of a larger reality.”

Today, on what would have been Ursula K. Le Guin’s 92nd birthday, the Ursula K. Le Guin Literary Trust announced a new annual prize in honor of the beloved writer: the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction, which will be awarded for the first time in 2022 and come with a $25,000 cash prize. […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-10-21 13:30:29 UTC ]
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Female author Mola revealed to be three men at €1m prize ceremony

Carmen Mola, a female novelist who won a €1m Spanish literary prize last week, has been revealed as a pseudonym for three men. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-17 22:43:39 UTC ]
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Female Spanish thriller writer Carmen Mola revealed to be three men

Trio step out from behind pseudonym marketed as ‘Spain’s Elena Ferrante’ to accept €1m prizeA million euro literary prize has lured three Spanish men out of anonymity, to reveal that they are behind ultra-violent Spanish crime thrillers marketed as the work of “Spain’s Elena Ferrante”The men had... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-10-16 22:37:44 UTC ]
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