Cultural Cross Sections Margaret Randall Children’s choir at the 2014 La Matanza Book Fair / Photo by Mauro Rico / Ministerio de Cultura de la Nación / Flickr When good engineers or scientists emigrate, they are able to continue their work. Novelists no. A good novel is nourished by the sap of one’s own culture, one’s people, and what happens in daily life.—Ricardo Jorge Machado[i] A recurring drama when I lived in Cuba throughout the 1970s was the periodic emigration of citizens from all social strata who for one reason or another felt compelled to leave their homeland. This might take place in waves, such as the Mariel exodus in May 1980 when 125,000 people boarded boats for southern Florida. Or it might be a high-profile individual: a baseball player who wanted to join the Major Leagues, a well-trained physician who believed he or she could earn more elsewhere, or a poet or novelist who was fed up with the Revolution and wanted to try their luck in another country (most often the United States). All were considered traitors and departed amidst a barrage of vituperative harassment. Heberto Padilla was one such poet. In the late 1960s he entered a collection of his work in an important literary contest. The book, Fuera del juego (Outside the game), was given first prize by an international jury. As it was perceived as being critical of the Revolution, the power structure didn’t know what to do with the decision; it eventually... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2019-07-10 21:07:28 UTC ]
Writing about pop culture and current technology is always a gamble, pitting critique of the present against longevity, a story that will still feel relevant after we’re gone. But for novelists (present company included) who were exposed to the Real World before the, um, real world, reality TV... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2023-09-27 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors have entered a war over words with OpenAI for using their books as ‘training’ feedstockBattles between human and artificial intelligence are no longer science fiction. The strikes in Hollywood led by the united guilds of actors and screenwriters have a common, intangible enemy: the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-09-23 15:03:31 UTC ]
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Peace Is What Our Hearts Seek: Kalpna Singh-Chitnis’s Love Letters to Ukraine, by Candice Louisa Daquin Book Reviews [email protected] Tue, 09/19/2023 - 16:07 In Love Letters to Ukraine from Uyava (River Paw Press, 2023), Kalpna Singh-Chitnis... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2023-09-19 21:07:47 UTC ]
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Lit Hub is pleased to announce a new books, published in cooperation with the Library of Congress and edited by the twenty-fourth Poet Laureate of the United States, a collection of poems reflecting on “our relationship to the natural world by fifty of our most celebrated contemporary writers.”... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-09-06 14:00:57 UTC ]
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The Brazilian Publishers' professional programming ahead of the Biennial International Book Fair in Rio features trading, discussion. The post Brazilian Publishers in Rio: Book Fair ‘Professional Days’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-08-25 20:51:33 UTC ]
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Phoenix Publishing and Media Group offers a bilingual selection of the avant-garde poet’s works spanning the past 40 years. (Sponsored) Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-25 04:00:00 UTC ]
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“No one needs my opinion about books.” Longtime indie bookseller Josh Cook against the cultural authoritarianism of “good taste.” | Lit Hub Criticism When folk went mainstream: On Harry Everett Smith and the cultural paradigm shift that his Anthology of American Folk Music. | Lit Hub Music... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-08-23 10:30:23 UTC ]
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By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘Happiness’ is a poem by the American writer Raymond Carver (1938-88). Carver is probably best-known for his short stories, especially the anthology favourite ‘What We Talk about When We Talk about Love’, but he was also a gifted poet, and his poetry... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2023-08-12 14:00:47 UTC ]
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Indigenous-Minority Poets from China: 15 Recordings for International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, by Ming Di Audio Poetry [email protected] Tue, 08/08/2023 - 14:48 Photo by Nicolas Winkler / Flickr To celebrate the International Day of... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2023-08-08 19:48:59 UTC ]
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In this post-Fleabag world, publishing has become obsessed with the inner turmoils of messy millennials – but isn’t it time they pulled themselves together? Meet the novelists subverting the clichesYou’ve probably come across this woman: she is unfulfilled in her career, has been abandoned by at... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-08-08 15:19:43 UTC ]
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Radio and television producer who was head of plays at the BBC and steered productions of work by Harold Pinter, Alan Plater, Ibsen, Strindberg and Athol FugardNo BBC radio or television producer in the postwar era was more admired within his profession than Michael Bakewell, who has died aged... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-08-01 16:09:15 UTC ]
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The freshly announced “Booker’s dozen” of titles longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize is making its way around the literary internet, so let’s see what the morning tides have brought in. There are four debut novelists on the list, and Irish writers nabbed a record four out of the 13 nominations... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-08-01 14:43:06 UTC ]
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Previously nominated authors Sebastian Barry, Tan Twan Eng and Paul Murray join 13-strong field including four debuts• Irish writers, debuts – and groundbreaking sci-fi: the Booker longlist in depthA longlist of 13 “original and thrilling” books offering “startling portraits of the current” are... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-08-01 08:00:00 UTC ]
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The Primetime Emmys won’t take place on September 18th, according toVariety. The publication reported on Thursday that vendors scheduled to work the event have been told the ceremony is delayed because of the writers’ and actors’ strikes that have shut down all Hollywood productions and... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-07-28 16:49:58 UTC ]
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They interrupt narrative and disrupt plot – no wonder novelists have been slow to warm to mobile phones. But a new generation is putting technology at the heart of their workWhat do you call a phone when it rings in a fictional world? “Mobile” and “cell” are old, “smartphone” is almost a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-07-22 10:00:09 UTC ]
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In a week filled with bad book business news and a down year for the children's book market, Scholastic nonetheless delivered a generally upbeat financial report for its latest fiscal year—thanks in no small part to the company's booming book fair business. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-07-20 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Ask ChatGPT about comedian Sarah Silverman’s memoir “The Bedwetter” and the artificial intelligence chatbot can come up with a detailed synopsis of every part of the book Continue reading at ABC News
[ ABC News | 2023-07-12 22:32:35 UTC ]
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Ask ChatGPT about comedian Sarah Silverman’s memoir “The Bedwetter” and the artificial intelligence chatbot can come up with a detailed synopsis of every part of the book Continue reading at ABC News
[ ABC News | 2023-07-12 22:32:31 UTC ]
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The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has announced this year's Emmy nominations and there's lots of good news for the team behind The Last of Us. HBO's massively successful series scored 24 nominations, more than any other show this year except Succession (27). The White Lotus (23) and... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-07-12 17:11:17 UTC ]
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I was surprised to read this morning that Milan Kundera, the eminent Czech novelist best known for The Unbearable Lightness of Being, died yesterday at the age of 94. Mainly because I thought he was already dead. For a generation of literary types (Gen X in particular), Kundera was the cool,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-07-12 15:34:43 UTC ]
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