When Dogs Could Talk: Among Words in a State of Grace, by N. Scott Momaday Essay [email protected] Mon, 01/29/2024 - 21:29 Illustration by Marla Johnson“When Dogs Could Talk“ appeared in WLT’s landmark 2007 issue devoted to endangered languages, guest-edited by Sydneyann Binion and David Shook, who were linguistics majors at the University of Oklahoma at the time. We reprint it here in Dr. Momaday’s memory. My friend, the late Vine Deloria Jr., once chided me for remarking too often a time when dogs could talk. I had to admit that he was probably right. I had discovered that Kiowa elders used this formula to indicate something that had happened far back in time. This or that happened a long time ago when dogs could talk. It seems to me a charming and appropriate expression. It is the kind of thing that reveals more and more of itself in the fullness of time. That, by the way, is a mystery which distinguishes the oral tradition, and it is a foundation of language itself. Language seems always to exceed itself, and certainly it exceeds our grasp of it. We know that a certain province of experience is ineffable, that there are limits to what language can express. But the fact is, we have no inkling of what those limits might be. Lewis Thomas has told us that we are at the beginning of language. I suspect that to be true. One evening some years ago, when my eldest daughter was two or three years old, she came to me and asked,... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2024-01-30 03:29:38 UTC ]
News tagged with:
#silence carries
#lowest note
#excellent voice
#deepest sense
#november day
#profound performances
#garry wills
#highly resolve
#intensely creative
#deepest belief
#navajo prayer
#night chant
#bright prisms
#olive groves
#jemez springs
#printed word
The bestselling author spots a big flaw in a right-wing conspiracy theory about the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Continue reading at The Huffington Post
[ The Huffington Post | 2022-01-05 09:01:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#bestselling author
Feeling nostalgic? Try ‘The Chronicles of Prydain.’ For something more modern, there’s ‘The Midnight Bargain. And so many more. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-01-03 23:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#science fiction
#midnight bargain
I’ve had the grand pleasure of meeting Julia Alvarez twice. The first meeting was figurative: I met her through her writing. I was in middle school, searching for a silent reading book in my classroom library. There, on the shelf of books that seemed less shelf than treasure chest, was a novel... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-12-14 09:49:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#reading book
#classroom library
#middle school
#julia alvarez
Welbeck Flame has acquired The Asparagus Bunch, a "fresh, irreverent" children’s novel by debut author Jessica Scott Whyte, secured in a two-book deal. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-12 18:19:43 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#debut author
#welbeck flame
On a special episode of the podcast, taped live, editors from The New York Times Book Review discuss this year’s outstanding fiction and nonfiction. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-12-03 21:05:02 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#times book
#outstanding fiction
#taped live
#special episode
Novelists and short-story writers have created some classic narratives about man’s best friend, the dog. But what are the very best stories and novels about dogs? Where should we begin in assessing the classic, canonical literature that features dogs? From Homer’s Odyssey onwards – where the... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2021-12-03 15:00:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#short stories
#novelists
A posthumously published story collection by the best-selling author of “The Shadow of the Wind” blends the familiar with a new perspective. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-12-01 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#best-selling author
Mirion Malle (This Is How I Disappear) and Sophie Yanow (The Contradictions) spoke to one another as part of D+Q Live, a fall event series by the graphic novel publisher Drawn & Quarterly. The occasion was Malle’s second English-language release and first work of fiction, This Is How I... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-11-29 09:54:22 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#graphic novel
#english-language release
#mental health
Cambridge Dictionary has announced "perseverance" as its Word of the Year 2021, after a spike of searches as NASA’s Perseverance Rover made its final descent to Mars in February. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-11-17 09:39:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Jeremy Dauber's 'American Comics: A History' is a lively historical survey of the American comics medium across 150 years of literary and commercial development. The book will be published this month. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-11-17 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#jeremy dauber
#american comics
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 ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#literary prize
At a time when American book publishing is exploring its place in the nation's political fray, the controversial '1619 Project' is coming out as a book. The post In the United States: ‘The 1619 Project’ Books Arrive Amid Heated Debate appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-11-09 13:43:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book publishing
Biblical scholar J. Richard Middleton discusses a "gritty spirituality" in which believers grapple with God. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-11-05 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#biblical scholar
'Our children’s book business now accounts for more than half our annual sales,' says Sourcebooks' Kay Birkner as the company buys BES Publishing. The post In the United States: Sourcebooks Acquires BES Publishing appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-11-04 18:59:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#children’s book
#annual sales
#book business
‘Winter Recipes From the Collective’ is delicate and spare — beautiful even in its starkness. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-11-04 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#louise gluck
Coward’s passion for theater, from its grubbiest particulars to its headiest heights, is the thread that binds together a slightly miscellaneous collection. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-10-30 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Does listening to an audiobook while working hinder or enhance productivity? Let’s discuss. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-10-30 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#audiobook
Merriam-Webster announced the newly added words on its website, saying “Just as the language never stops evolving, the dictionary never stops expanding.” Continue reading at The Huffington Post
[ The Huffington Post | 2021-10-29 15:43:47 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Two leaders in the fields of investment and finance took questions from book industry journalists in this year's Frankfurt Studio program. The post Frankfurter Buchmesse’s CEO Talk: Acquisitions and Creativity appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-10-21 07:40:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book industry
#ceo talk
#frankfurter buchmesse
#creativity appeared
Spike Trotman, comics creator, writer, and founder of Iron Circus Comics, has led the way in using crowdfunding as part of a scalable publishing business model that can support unique titles within the comics shop and trade book markets. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-10-20 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#publishing business
#trade book
#spike trotman