UEA 50th Anniversary
The University of East Africa was a short-lived institution, founded in 1963 and then split into the University of Nairobi, University of Dar es Salaam, and Makerere University in 1970, but it...
View ArticleKorean literature in ... Poland
In The Korea Herald Claire Lee reports that Korean literature has distant outpost in Poland, as 'Marzena Stefanska discusses her love for Korean women writers, publishing Korean literature in...
View ArticleSunday Times Literary Prizes
They announced the winners of the (South African) Sunday Times Literary Prizes yesterday, with the Sunday Times Fiction Prize going to For the Mercy of Water by Karen Jayes, and the Sunday...
View ArticleThe Institute for Taxi Poetry review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Imraan Coovadia's The Institute for Taxi Poetry -- shortlisted for the (South African) Sunday Times Fiction Prize (which was...
View ArticleMinisterial consolidation in Pakistan
In Dawn Ikram Junaidi suggests there's been a Setback to literary departments in Pakistan, as the Pakistan Academy of Letters, the National Book Foundation, and numerous other departments were...
View ArticleLiterary culture in ... the UAE
In The National Ayesha Almazroui suggests Subsidise novelists to bolster literary culture of the UAE -- something one of the richest countries of the world could certainly afford. She...
View ArticleAll my Friends review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Marie NDiaye's All my Friends, now available in English from Two Lines Press.
View ArticleJuly online issues
Among the July issues of online periodicals now available are: The July issue of Words without Borders, featuring 'Iran's Postrevolution Generation' and with a section on 'Writing about...
View ArticleBookselling in ... Thailand
In The Diplomat Lisnaree Vichitsorasatra reports that Indy Thai Literature Struggles to Find Its Voice. Among the (disappointing) observations: Although there are many promising Thai...
View ArticleEntertainment Weekly's top 100 novels
Yes, it's summer silly season, and 'best of'-lists continue to be hard to resist, so I'll even link to something as arbitrary as Entertainment Weekly's recently unveiled top 100 novel-list --...
View ArticleFrankfurt Book Fair Guest of honour 2015: Indonesia
They've announced (just in German so far, apparently) that the 'Guest of honour' at the 2015 Frankfurt Book Fair will be Indonesia. (It's Brazil this year, and Finland next.) As I often...
View ArticleThe Crocodile review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Maurizio de Giovanni's The Crocodile, out now in the US in Europa editions' 'World Noir'-series (but they didn't get world...
View ArticleDalkey Archive site overhaul (and overhauls in general)
With much trepidation I have been awaiting the announced relaunch of the Archipelago Books site, which is apparently taking place on Monday, but meanwhile I've been blindsided by Dalkey Archive...
View ArticleKarl Ove Knausgaard Q & A
At The Paris Review weblog Jesse Barron has Completely Without Dignity: An Interview with Karl Ove Knausgaard -- author of My Struggle (see my reviews of Book One/A Death in the Family and Book...
View ArticleKwani? Manuscript Prize
They've announced that Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi wins Kwani? Manuscript Prize -- i.e. her novel, The Kintu Saga, did. I hope to see some of these winning manuscripts in print soon....
View ArticleBachmann Prize
They're holding the Tage der deutschsprachigen Literatur ('Days of German literature') in Klagenfurt, with the centerpiece of the Bachmann Preis (where authors read their texts out loud and are...
View ArticleRentrée littéraire preview
The French 'rentrée littéraire' -- when they dump practically all their high-profile titles on the market over the course of a few weeks starting in mid-August -- approaches, and the numbers...
View ArticleReading in ... India
In the Times of India Madhubanti De suggests Reading gets a digital makeover, insisting; "it is imperative that we take a look at the various ways in which reading practices have evolved among...
View ArticleThe Yacoubian building
Regardless of whether or not one considers it literarily successful, Alaa Al Aswany's novel, The Yacoubian Building, has clearly achieved a certain kind of iconic status -- and so too now...
View ArticleThe Corpse Washer review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Sinan Antoon's Iraq-novel, The Corpse Washer, out now in English in Yale University Press' wonderful Margellos World Republic of...
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