Khaled Khalifa profile
In the Daily Star Jana El Hassan has a profile of Syrian Novelist Khaled Khalifa on breaking the barrier of fear -- and: Renowned for dismantling Syria's politics and society in his fiction,...
View ArticleThe Parsagon Review
A relatively new online journal, The Parsagon Review -- 'The Paragon of Persian Literature, Culture and Art' -- looks fairly promising, and is a welcome addition to the literary information...
View ArticleThe Perfect Wave review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Heinrich Päs' The Perfect Wave: With Neutrinos at the Boundary of Space and Time, just out from Harvard University Press.
View ArticleRobert A. Dahl (1915-2014)
Political scientist Robert A. Dahl has died, at 98; see, for example, obituaries in The New York Times and The Washington Post. My review of his How Democratic is the American...
View ArticleSapir Prize
They've announced the winner of this year's Sapir Prize (בפרס ספיר), and it goes to Noa Yedlin (נעה ידלין) for בעלת הבית; see also, for example, Beth Kissileff's report at the Forward's weblog...
View Article'Booktrack'
This nutty idea actually seems to have been around for a while already, but for some reason is getting more attention again -- maybe a last hurrah before it sinks into deserved oblivion ? -- as...
View ArticleDigital Loeb Classical Library®
While I still haven't fully embraced e-reading, I certainly appreciate some of the advantages of e-books (and easy access to them). I love the print version Loeb Classical Library® series from...
View ArticleLiterary criticism in ... Zimbabwe
In The Standard Tinashe Mushakavanhu argues: 'There is something fundamentally wrong with literary journalism in Zimbabwe', in Treason against literature. It certainly sounds like the...
View ArticleBook trailers in ... India
I do rather enjoy movie trailers, but I still can't quite wrap my mind around the whole book trailer-concept. Sure, that recent Shteyngart/Franco trailer was amusing enough, but it wouldn't...
View ArticleQuesadillas review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Juan Pablo Villalobos' Quesadillas, published in the UK last year by And Other Stories, and now available in the US from Farrar,...
View ArticleGeorge Packer on Amazon
In The New Yorker George Packer takes a long look at Amazon, wondering: 'Amazon is good for customers. But is it good for books ?' in Cheap Words. One clarification: Packer writes: When...
View ArticleIPAF shortlist
They've announced the shortlist for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction. The winner will be announced 29 April.
View ArticleFolio Prize shortlist
The new-fangled Folio Prize have announced their shortlist. Limited to English-written fiction published in the UK in the past year (hence the inclusion of...
View Article'Translation Prizes'
Tomorrow they're handing out the Translation Prizes -- six this year (it varies, as some of the prizes are only biennial or triennial)), in an event organized by the Society of Authors and...
View ArticleRussian writing in/on the Caucasus
At Russian Beyond the Headlines Phoebe Taplin looks at Literature on the front lines: Russian writers in the Caucasus conflicts. Of some interest -- but more interesting, surely, would...
View ArticleHatchet Job of the Year Award
They've announced the winner of the 2014 Hatchet Job of the Year Award (though not yet at the official site, last I checked): as, for example, Alison Flood reports in The Guardian, Hatchet Job...
View ArticleThe Hindus (not) in India
Wendy Doniger's The Hindus: An Alternative History isn't a brand new book, but it is back in the news as, shamefully, Penguin India have given up the fight and given in to some locals who claim...
View ArticleEurope in Sepia review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Dubravka Ugrešić's Europe in Sepia, just out in English from Open Letter.
View ArticleThe Hindus fallout
I mentioned Penguin India's shocking decision to recall and pulp Wendy Doniger's The Hindus: An Alternative History yesterday, and it's good to see that there's been a decent amount of media...
View ArticleThe downside of prize-winning ?
Via Phys Org I'm pointed to Balázs Kovács and Amanda Sharkey's forthcoming paper in the March issue of Administrative Science Quarterly examining: The Paradox of Publicity: How Awards Can...
View Article