Striding the Borderlands: Charles Ferdinand Ramuz’s Great Fear on the Mountain, by Alice-Catherine Carls

Striding the Borderlands: Charles Ferdinand Ramuz’s Great Fear on the Mountain, by Alice-Catherine Carls Book Reviews [email protected] Thu, 09/05/2024 - 14:03 Caroline Cingria, C. F. Ramuz, pastel (1903) / Images courtesy of Noël CordonierLumen Obscurum Light and darkness are a major part of the global human experience; their contrast is a foundation of life and has always been the source of meditations and rituals. In Genesis, the creation of night and day separated order from chaos. Absolute light and darkness exist at the two extreme ends of a prism. St. Teresa of Ávila and St. John of the Cross defined both as the presence/absence of God. The brain responds to light and darkness. The Latin poet Virgil coined the term lumen obscurum (dark light), which the French playwright Pierre Corneille phrased as obscure clarté and the Polish poet Joanna Pollakówna as avare clarté.[1] The Polish poet Aleksander Wat and the German artist Anselm Kiefer titled one of their works Lumen obscurum. In his newly translated 1926 novel, Great Fear on the Mountain (Archipelago, 2024), Swiss-French writer Charles Ferdinand Ramuz (1878–1947) uses the term obscure lumière—rendered by translator Bill Johnston as “dim light.” Merging light and darkness indicates a tension between seeing and not seeing, feeling and not feeling, knowing and not knowing. It indicates a pause during which fate hangs in the balance. It contains a vortex similar to the... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'

[ World Literature Today | 2024-09-05 19:03:58 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "Striding the Borderlands: Charles Ferdinand Ramuz’s Great Fear on the Mountain, by Alice-Catherine Carls"


The Guardian view on the Women’s prize for nonfiction: shining a light where it’s badly needed | Editorial

Having a separate award was good for female novelists. Now a medical author is blazing a trail with a true storyFemale nonfiction writers are paid less on average, receive fewer reviews and win fewer prizes than men. Unsurprisingly, this means that women sell fewer books. So far this year, more... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2025-06-15 16:25:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this


A Home Health Aide With Feathers

The following story was chosen by Ottessa Moshfegh as the winner of the 2025 Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize. The prize is awarded annually by Selected Shorts and a guest author judge. This story will be performed by an actor this spring. To hear more great short stories performed... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2025-05-28 11:10:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


‘My legal work sows the seeds of my stories’: International Booker prize winner Banu Mushtaq

The author and activist, who was subject to a fatwa in 2000, has won the prestigious prize for translated fiction for her short stories about the lives of Muslim women. She and her translator Deepa Bhasthi explain how Heart Lamp’s themes ‘are universal’• ‘Radical translation’ of Heart Lamp by... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2025-05-23 12:00:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this


7 queer African works of art: new directions in books, films and fashion

Seven queer African creative works you should know about, from short stories to music videos. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2025-05-15 13:05:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Nahid Rachlin, Novelist Who Explored the Iranian Psyche, Dies at 85

One of the first Iranian novelists to write in English, she examined the clash between East and West. Her debut novel, “Foreigner,” provided insight into pre-revolutionary Iran. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2025-05-14 17:24:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Here are the guest editors (and covers) for the Best American Series 2025.

The Best American Series is a literary institution. But just in case you’re stumbling upon it for the first time: Each book in the annual series showcases of best short fiction and nonfiction in a given year, from short stories to essays, science and nature writing, to food writing. Each... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2025-05-14 13:00:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Karen E. Bender on Channeling Contemporary Anxieties Through Speculative Fiction

My last Lit Hub conversation with Karen E. Bender was in 2018, just before her collection The New Order was published. She mentioned that she read John Cheever’s short stories in graduate school: “Cheever’s sentences just made my brain light up. He packs more into a paragraph—about love,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2025-05-13 08:58:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Clea Young: Allow Yourself Fallow Periods To Recharge

In this interview, author Clea Young discusses the difference in inspiration between a novel and short stories with her new collection, Welcome to the Neighbourhood. The post Clea Young: Allow Yourself Fallow Periods To Recharge appeared first on Writer's Digest. Continue reading at Writer's Digest

[ Writer's Digest | 2025-05-07 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Writer Who Understood Aloneness

Mavis Gallant’s short stories are about people, especially women, who prefer to live on the social margins. I cherish one of them most of all. Continue reading at The Atlantic

[ The Atlantic | 2025-05-03 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Playing with words: why novelists are becoming video game writers – and vice-versa

While the novel remains a high-status cultural form, video game writing is still seen as a throwaway art – despite some of the biggest names in fiction being involvedI’ve been working in games for a little more than 15 years, and the main thing I’d say about it at this point is that it’s a... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2025-04-30 08:00:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Overlooked No More: Ethel Lina White, Master of Suspense Who Inspired Hitchcock

A powerhouse of the genre, she published around 100 short stories and 17 novels, one of which was adapted into the acclaimed film “The Lady Vanishes.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2025-04-17 22:03:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Slovenia’s Evolution: Digitization Drives a Market’s Rights Contours

Rising markets for ebooks and audiobooks are opening new rights opportunities in the 2023 Frankfurt guest of honor, Slovenia. The post Slovenia’s Evolution: Digitization Drives a Market’s Rights Contours appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2025-04-16 21:55:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Mario Vargas Llosa dies at 89: Nobel laureate from Peru was the last of 'El Boom' novelists

Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel literature laureate and a giant of Latin American letters for decades, has died, his son said Sunday. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2025-04-14 02:33:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Spring’s great reads have sprung! Here are April’s 10 best.

April’s 10 best books range from short stories set in LA to a climate-change novel to a reappraisal of the American Revolution and its effects on other countries. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2025-04-11 10:00:14 UTC ]
More news stories like this


These YA Novelists Celebrate Queer, Fat Characters

Crystal Maldonado, Julie Murphy, and other authors discuss the importance of joyful representation. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-04-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Who Needs Intimacy?

Influential novelists are imagining what women’s lives might look like without the demands of partners and children. Continue reading at The Atlantic

[ The Atlantic | 2025-04-04 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this