a thread for showcasing new works and plays.

News about literature, authors, etc.

Fans Upset over new Bridget Jones novel:

http://entertainment.time.com/2013/10/07/bridget-jones-exclusive-how-helen-fielding-broke-the-news-about-mark-darcy-to-colin-firth/

Jane Austen to be face of the Bank of England £10 note

Author Jane Austen is to feature on the next £10 note, the Bank of England says, avoiding a long-term absence of women represented on banknotes.

The Pride and Prejudice author will be the next face of the note, replacing Charles Darwin, probably in 2017.

Chancellor George Osborne tweeted the move showed "sense and sensibility".

In April, the Bank prompted a high-profile campaign against the prospect of having no female characters, besides the Queen, on the UK's currency.

It had announced that Sir Winston Churchill would be put on the £5 note from 2016, replacing social reformer Elizabeth Fry.

The latest announcement means that women could be absent from newly issued banknotes for up to a year, although the Elizabeth Fry £5 note will still be in circulation.

'In the wings'
On Twitter, Mr Osborne wrote: "[Incoming Bank of England governor] Mark Carney's choice of Jane Austen as face of £10 note is great. After understandable row over lack of women, shows sense and sensibility."

Banknotes are regularly redesigned, in order to maintain security and prevent forgeries.


Denmark has six different note denominations, half of which showed famous Danish women (Karen Blixen, Anna Ancher and Johanne Luise Heiberg)
US banknotes mostly celebrate former presidents and signatories to 1776 declaration of independence, all of whom are men
The Queen appears on more denominations than anyone else - she features on currency in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK
The most recent new design from the Bank of England to enter circulation was the £50 note. This features Matthew Boulton and James Watt, who were most celebrated for bringing the steam engine into the textile manufacturing process.

The decision to replace Elizabeth Fry on the £5 note prompted protests and discussions about female representation on banknotes, but Jane Austen was thought to have already been part of the Bank's plans for the next new note.

Sir Mervyn King, in his last public appearance as governor of the Bank, said the author was "quietly waiting in the wings" to replace Darwin.

Mr Carney started discussions about female representation on banknotes on his first day in office.


Mark Carney discusses women on banknotes and in the Bank of England
The Bank said in a statement that it was "never the Bank's intention" that none of the four characters on banknotes would be a woman.

"Jane Austen certainly merits a place in the select group of historical figures to appear on our banknotes. Her novels have an enduring and universal appeal and she is recognised as one of the greatest writers in English literature," Mr Carney said.

He also announced a review of the selection process for future banknote characters. Jane Austen will be the 17th historical figure to appear on Bank of England notes. The review will be completed by the end of the year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23424289

For Better Social Skills, Scientists Recommend a Little Chekhov

That is the conclusion of a study published Thursday in the journal Science. It found that after reading literary fiction, as opposed to popular fiction or serious nonfiction, people performed better on tests measuring empathy, social perception and emotional intelligence — skills that come in especially handy when you are trying to read someone’s body language or gauge what they might be thinking.


Reading selections in the study.

The researchers say the reason is that literary fiction often leaves more to the imagination, encouraging readers to make inferences about characters and be sensitive to emotional nuance and complexity.

“This is why I love science,” Louise Erdrich, whose novel “The Round House” was used in one of the experiments, wrote in an e-mail. The researchers, she said, “found a way to prove true the intangible benefits of literary fiction.”



The researchers, social psychologists at the New School for Social Research in New York City, recruited their subjects through that über-purveyor of reading material, Amazon.com.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/03/i-know-how-youre-feeling-i-read-chekhov/

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Tade Ipadeola wins 2013 Nigeria Prize for Literature

The race for the 2013 edition of the prestigious Nigeria Prize for Literature, sponsored by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), which kicked off February, 2013, came to a positive conclusion Wednesday with The Sahara Testament authored by Tade Ipadeola, emerging winner.
The Ibadan based legal practitioner and poet,Tade Ipadeola who was born in 1970 has published three volumes of poetry-A Time of Signs (2000) and The Rain Fardel (2005). His short stories and essays have also been published in diverse media. In 2009, he won the Delphic Laurel in Poetry with his poem “Songbird” in Jeju, South Korea.

His third volume of poetry which is the Award winning collection of poetry, The Sahara Testaments-a sequence of 1000 quatrains on the nuances of the Sahara, is his latest work. The book was published by Hornbill House of the Arts, Lagos.

The Panel of Judges led by its Chairman, Prof. Romanus Egudu adjudged The Sahara Testament the winning entry for the biggest literary prize in Africa which comes with $100,000 cash prize because “it is a remarkable epic covering the terrain and people of Africa from the very dawn of creation, through the present, to the future.



Reacting to his win, an excited Tade Ipadeola said “this is joyful news, joyful news.

This is the biggest prize in Africa and it is surreal. I am grateful.”

It will be recalled that out of the 201 entries initially received for the prize which were first whittled down to the long list of 11, two female poets, debutante Iquo Diana Eke and veteran Promise Ogochukwu were on the list. There was also a strong showing from writers in the diaspora like Afam Akeh, Obi Nwakanma and Amatoritsero Ede.

Last year’s prize was won by Belgium based Chika Unigwe for her novel On Black Sisters Street making her the first foreign based Nigerian writer to win the prize.

With Ipadeola’s feat, the controversies of 2009 when the Panel of Judges decided that non of the contenders was worthy of the Prize for Poetry, have been laid to rest. As it is customary, Ipadeola will be presented to the public at a date which will be announced by NLNG.

In attendance at the conference were Vice Chairman of the Advisory Board, Dr. Jerry Agada, Chairman of the Panel of Judges, Professor Romanus Egudu who were supported by other members of the advisory board and judges; Professors Elugbe, Ogundipe Molara Leslie and Dr. Andrew Aba as well as Professor Kofi Anyidoho who served as this year’s International consultant to the advisory board. Kaine Agary, winner of the Prize in 2008, was also in attendance.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/10/tade-ipadeola-wins-2013-nigeria-prize-literature/#sthash.prJJgLLj.dpuf

past winners of NLNG prize for Literature



2013 Tade Ipadeola, The Sahara Testaments

2012 Chika Unigwe, On Black Sisters' Street

2011 Adeleke Adeyemi (Mai Nasara), The Missing Clock

2010 Esiaba Irobi, Cemetery Road

2009 None

2008 Kaine Agary, Yellow Yellow

2007 Mabel Segun, Readers' Theatre: Twelve Plays for Young People

2007 Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, My Cousin Sammy

2006 Ahmed Yerima, Hard Ground

2005 Gabriel Okara, The Dreamer: His Vision

2005 Ezenwa Ohaeto, Chants of a Minstrel

2004 None


wiki

Jane Austen tops humour league for Oxford dictionary compiler

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." Can the often-quoted opening of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, first published 200 years ago, still be considered the funniest one-liner in the English language?


Yes, if you're Gyles Brandreth, editor of the fifth edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations, whose top 10 list of favourites also include, "If not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled," from PG Wodehouse's 1938 novel The Code of the Woosters, and broadcaster Stephen Fry's observation on modern life that "The email of the species is deadlier than the mail."

Brandreth's editorship of the dictionary of wit, which he assumes from the late Ned Sherrin, author and broadcaster, is notably establishment in flavour. His number one joke of the 21st century turns out to be a one-liner by the mayor of London, Boris Johnson: "My policy on cake is still pro having it and pro eating it!" Modern-day favourites also include a one-liner from Prince William, a man not usually known for his humorous quips, on his wedding: "We're supposed to have just a small family affair."

Johnson is rising up the ranks of funny politicians: with 13 entries in the dictionary he outwits Margaret Thatcher (11) and Harold Macmillan (9) to become the third-most amusing British politician, behind Winston Churchill (32) and Benjamin Disraeli (28). David Cameron and George Osborne do not feature.

By counting up the most-quoted witticisms, Brandreth and the Oxford dictionaries team have crowned Oscar Wilde the most-quoted humorist of all, with 92 entries. The playwright and poet is much quoted for such lines as, "To lose one parent, Mr Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness," from his 1895 play The Importance of Being Earnest.

"These are the people whose lines, written or spoken, have stood the test of time," Brandreth said. "They are the all-time greats. Some are notable for their original humour, some for their pertinent wit and wry observation. Wilde is leagues ahead of the rest of the pack. He is without doubt the most quoted and quotable of them all."

Dorothy Parker leads the list of the top five wittiest women, with 43 entries, ahead of Mae West, among whose best lines is: "Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before." Margaret Thatcher is the fifth most-quoted woman, and the fourth most-quoted politician. "Margaret Thatcher was not noted for her sense of humour, but she is in the top five because she said some memorable things, such as this oft-quoted line: 'If you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.'"

The seven most-quoted writers are male and among these only Woody Allen is still alive.

Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming

I was in China in 2007, at the first party-approved science fiction and fantasy convention in Chinese history. And at one point I took a top official aside and asked him Why? SF had been disapproved of for a long time. What had changed?

It's simple, he told me. The Chinese were brilliant at making things if other people brought them the plans. But they did not innovate and they did not invent. They did not imagine. So they sent a delegation to the US, to Apple, to Microsoft, to Google, and they asked the people there who were inventing the future about themselves. And they found that all of them had read science fiction when they were boys or girls.

Fiction can show you a different world. It can take you somewhere you've never been. Once you've visited other worlds, like those who ate fairy fruit, you can never be entirely content with the world that you grew up in. Discontent is a good thing: discontented people can modify and improve their worlds, leave them better, leave them different.

And while we're on the subject, I'd like to say a few words about escapism. I hear the term bandied about as if it's a bad thing. As if "escapist" fiction is a cheap opiate used by the muddled and the foolish and the deluded, and the only fiction that is worthy, for adults or for children, is mimetic fiction, mirroring the worst of the world the reader finds herself in.

If you were trapped in an impossible situation, in an unpleasant place, with people who meant you ill, and someone offered you a temporary escape, why wouldn't you take it? And escapist fiction is just that: fiction that opens a door, shows the sunlight outside, gives you a place to go where you are in control, are with people you want to be with(and books are real places, make no mistake about that); and more importantly, during your escape, books can also give you knowledge about the world and your predicament, give you weapons, give you armour: real things you can take back into your prison. Skills and knowledge and tools you can use to escape for real.


According to a recent study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, England is the "only country where the oldest age group has higher proficiency in both literacy and numeracy than the youngest group, after other factors, such as gender, socio-economic backgrounds and type of occupations are taken into account".

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/15/neil-gaiman-future-libraries-reading-daydreaming

Man Booker Prize To Allow American Authors

LONDON — The Americans are coming to storm Britain's literary citadel.

Organizers of the Booker Prize announced Wednesday that from next year authors from the U.S. – and around the world – will be eligible to win the prestigious fiction award.

Prize trustees said that starting in 2014, the prize will be open to all novels written in English and published in Britain, regardless of the author's nationality.

Founded in 1969, the Booker has previously been open only to writers from Britain, Ireland and the 54-nation Commonwealth of former British colonies.

That has not kept the award – officially known as the Man Booker Prize after its sponsor, financial services firm Man Group PLC – from becoming one of the world's best-known literary accolades, one that carries both prestige and commercial clout. Past winners include V.S. Naipaul, Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, Ian McEwan and Hilary Mantel.

Jonathan Taylor, chairman of the prize trustees, said the expanded prize "will recognize, celebrate and embrace authors writing in English, whether from Chicago, Sheffield or Shanghai."

"We are embracing the freedom of English in all its vigor, its vitality, its versatility and its glory wherever it may be," he said. "We are abandoning the constraints of geography and national boundaries."

Organizers said they had considered setting up a separate U.S. prize, but rejected the idea for fear of "jeopardizing or diluting" the existing award.

Books will continue to be submitted by British publishers and reviewed by a panel of judges.


The changes don't affect the Man Booker International Prize, a lifetime achievement award handed out every two years and open to writers from around the world.

Among the six finalists for the 50,000 pound ($78,000) prize this year are several writers with strong U.S. ties, including Jhumpa Lahiri and Ruth Ozeki.

The winner will be announced at a ceremony in London on Oct. 15.

The Booker frequently attracts heated debate, and the expansion received mixed reviews from the literary world. Writer and broadcaster Melvin Bragg told the Sunday Times that it would mean "the Booker will now lose its distinctiveness. It's rather like a British company being taken over by some worldwide conglomerate."

But Irish writer John Banville, who won the prize in 2005 for "The Sea," told the BBC it was an excellent idea.

"But God help the rest of us," he added, "because American fiction is very strong indeed."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/18/booker-prize-american-authors-_n_3948167.html?utm_hp_ref=literary-prizes

National Book Awards Longlist 2013: Young People's Literature Nominees

NEW YORK — Kate DiCamillo and David Levithan were among the 10 authors who made the first-ever long-list of finalists for the National Book Awards, part of a new nominating process that prize organizers hope will lead to increased attention and sales.

DiCamillo and Levithan were nominees in the Young People's Literature category, announced Monday by the National Book Foundation, which presents the awards. Over the next three days, 10 finalists will be announced for each of the remaining three competitive categories – poetry, nonfiction and fiction. On Oct. 16, the nominees will be narrowed to five for each category. The winners, each of whom receive $10,000, will be revealed at a Nov. 20 dinner and ceremony in New York City.

Earlier this month, the book foundation announced that E.L. Doctorow and Maya Angelou would receive honorary awards.

Publishers, some of whom sit on the book foundation's board and contribute thousands of dollars for tables at the ceremony, have worried in recent years that judges – especially fiction judges – have been overlooking such high-profile books as Jonathan Franzen's "Freedom" in favor of more obscure releases. Anxious for the National Book Awards to match, or least approach, the commercial power of Britain's Man Booker Prize, the board added long-lists and expanded the pool of judges. The awards had long been voted on by panels of fellow writers, but judges this year also come from the bookselling, journalism and library communities.

The young people's category features several nominees who have won prizes before, including three former National Book Award nominees and two winners of the Newbery Medal. One finalist, Gene Luen Yang's "Boxers & Saints," is a two-volume graphic novel. In 2006, his "American Born Chinese" became the first graphic novel to receive a National Book Award nomination.



DiCamillo, best known for her Newbery-winning "The Tale of Despereaux," was nominated for "Flora & Ulysses." Kadohata, a Newbery winner for "Kira-Kira," was cited for "The Thing About Luck." Levithan, a popular author and a vice president and editorial director at Scholastic Inc., was a finalist for "Two Boys Kissing."

The other nominees included Kathi Appelt's "The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp," Lisa Graff's "A Tangle of Knots," Alaya Dawn Johnson's "The Summer Prince" and Tom McNeal's "Far Far Away." Also on the long-list: Meg Rosoff's "Picture Me Gone" and Anne Ursu's "The Real Boy."

McNeal's wife, Laura McNeal, was a finalist in 2010 for "Dark Water."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/16/national-book-awards-longlist-_n_3934433.html?utm_hp_ref=literary-prizes

Andrew Carnegie Medal Winners 2013: Literary Medals Awarded To Richard Ford, Timothy Egan

NEW YORK — Richard Ford and Timothy Egan, winners of literary medals presented by the American Library Association, both credit libraries for making their work possible.

Ford and Egan are this year's recipients of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence for the best works of fiction and nonfiction. Ford was cited for the novel "Canada," narrated by the teen son of bank robbers. Egan won for "Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher," a biography of photographer Edward Curtis, who compiled an encyclopedic archive of North American Indians.

Egan, a prize-winning author and reporter for The New York Times, noted in a recent interview that libraries were a vital part of his research for the Curtis book. Curtis, who died in 1952, had compiled a 20-volume set of his Indian photographs. Few copies exist today, but Egan managed to look through the pictures at the University of Washington library in Seattle.

"It was really magical," said Egan, winner of the National Book Award in 2006 for "The Worst Hard Time," a history of those lived through the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. "You have to put on these white gloves and look very carefully through this glowing, magical achievement. Libraries, in many ways, are the keepers of our stories."

Ford, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, recalled that he grew up down the street from a Carnegie library in Jackson, Miss.

"I got an introduction there to what books were, why books were important," said Ford, who now regularly donates books to the library near his home in Maine.

Ford and Egan each will receive $5,000, and finalists each receive $1,500. In fiction, they were Junot Diaz for "This Is How You Lose Her" and Louise Erdrich for "The Round House." In nonfiction: David Quammen for "Spillover" and Jill Lepore for "The Mansion of Happiness." The Carengie medals were established in 2012 and are funded through a grant by the Carnegie Corporation.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/01/andrew-carnegie-medal-winners-_n_3528425.html?utm_hp_ref=literary-prizes

Prize For American Fiction Announced By Library Of Congress. Don DeLillo Wins

NEW YORK — Don DeLillo has won the first Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction.

Widely acknowledged as a master chronicler of American dread and secrecy, DeLillo was praised in a statement by the library Thursday for his narratives "into the sociopolitical and moral life" of the United States. DeLillo's novels include "Underworld," "Libra" and "White Noise."

The 76-year-old DeLillo will be presented with the award in September during the library's annual National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/26/prize-for-american-fiction-_n_3161660.html?utm_hp_ref=literary-prizes

David M. Rubenstein Prize: Library Of Congress To Fund Literacy Awards With $1.5M Gift from Billionaire

WASHINGTON — Billionaire investor David Rubenstein is giving the Library of Congress $1.5 million to fund three new literacy awards.

Rubenstein of Bethesda, Md., is co-founder of the Carlyle Group private equity firm. He is a major philanthropist and in 2010 gave the library $5 million to support the National Book Festival.

Rubenstein announced his latest gift Thursday at the first International Summit of the Book, which includes national libraries from Britain, Russia, Spain, Peru and South Africa. Rubenstein says spending time at public libraries while growing up helped open doors for him.

The library will create the David M. Rubenstein Prize to honor a groundbreaking contribution in advancing literacy. It's also creating an American Prize and an International Prize to honor projects that combat disinterest in reading.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/06/david-m-rubenstein-prize_n_2252859.html?utm_hp_ref=literary-prizes

Sharjah Sheikha says Arabic literature is key to identity

SHARJAH // Original Arabic literature is the key to maintaining cultural identity in the Middle East, says a royal advocate for children's books.



Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, daughter of the Ruler of Sharjah, is the founder of a Dh1 million literary prize.

"The Arabic language is a key element of the national Arab identity and is central to raising children who are proud of their Arab roots," Sheikha Bodour said.

"Reading helps develop awareness among children not only of their own language, but also of their culture and their heritage. In addition, books highlight important issues that children face while growing up."

In 2009, she established the Etisalat Prize for Arabic Children's Literature, one of the most valuable book awards in the world, to raise standards and improve quality in Middle East publishing.


Nominated books must be original Arabic-language works, rather than translated, and their content must conform to the values, traditions and customs of Arab communities.

Half of the Dh1m prize money goes to the publisher of the winning book and the rest is shared by the author and illustrator.

The scheme is run by the UAE section of the International Board on Books for Young People, of which Sheikha Bodour is president.

"Only home-grown books can address the issues faced by Arab children accurately and fairly, as they take place in a setting that they understand and can identify with," she said

Isobel Abulhoul, the director of the annual Emirates Airline Festival of Literature in Dubai, said an absence of Arabic literature would leave Arab children searching for identity.

"One of the most important issues in today's world for everyone is identity, and one of the key elements of identity has to be your mother tongue," she said. "Without having home-grown books for children in their mother tongue they will feel alienated and lost.

"People can write books about this part of the world but unless they are themselves native speakers of Arabic, unless it is a region where they have grown up and imbibed the culture and history through the air they breathe, they don't actually get it, they don't understand it.

"That is why the Etisalat Prize is hugely important."

Dr Abdulla Al Karam, the chairman of the board of directors and director general of Dubai's Knowledge and Human Development Authority, said: "There is strong evidence that no matter what language is used, a love of reading improves a child's performance in a whole range of subjects.

"Children need access to books they want to read."

Ten books have been nominated for this year's prize, and the winner will be announced at the 30th Sharjah International Book Fair next month.

"This year's long list covers a range of diverse topics, some of which are friendship, love, being kind to everyone including family, being respectful towards parents and elders, and also raising our voice in support of social causes," Sheikha Bodour said.

"I think these themes reflect the changing times as well as a growing confidence among Arab children's authors."

Last year's prize was awarded to the author and illustrator Walid Taher, and the publisher Dar El Shorouk of Egypt for Al Noqta Al Sawda (The Black Dot).

The 2009 prize went to Nabiha Muhaidali and her publisher Dar Al Hadaeq of Lebanon for a series of books called Ana Aheb (I Love).

Ms Muhaidali said the award gave her a new sense of responsibility to provide quality books for her readers.

"I now consider every book as a project for an award," she said, speaking on the sidelines of last year's fair. "We have to be careful with every element as a publisher.

"Awards are passports; they take you forward but you need to be aware of the example you're creating."

http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/sharjah-sheikha-says-arabic-literature-is-key-to-identity

Author's fun new books aimed at Emirati kids

March 5, 2012

Children's books often introduce young readers to moral, social and educational issues, teaching them the differences between right and wrong. Maitha Al Khayyat's children's stories are books with a difference: they directly relate to issues and situations encountered by young Emiratis.


Her first book, I Love my Dad's Long Beard, has been published in both English and Arabic and is dedicated to those fathers in the UAE who sport facial hair.

"I was with my children who were missing their dad as he was away for a few weeks with work, and I asked them, what do you miss about him? They told me he has a beard and you don't - and that gave me an idea," said Al Khayyat.

Her son Omar was 5 years old at the time. He told his mother that when he hugged his dad, his beard tickled him and smelled nice, which is not something that she had.

"I thought it could be a lovely story, so I sat down and researched different beards and professions in the UAE, and wrote a verse for each daddy," she said.

Her second book, My Own Special Way (Tareeqati Al Khassa), was also inspired by her family. Her young female character longs to wear the hijab like her older sisters, but needs to find her own special way to do so.

Al Khayyat is the eldest of four sisters and her youngest sister, she said, "is a rebel".

"We wanted to encourage her to wear the hijab and we couldn't find a way of inviting her to it. I just read this book at a fair to some girls and it tackles things that girls and children face when they get to an age where they want to do things. My daughter doesn't know how to tie up her own hair, so I said she needs to find her own way of doing it," the author said.

My Own Special Way was published by Kalimat in 2010 and the international rights have now been acquired by the UK publishers Orion Books. It also won a prize for Best Children's Book from the International Forum on Children's Education and Development in Riyadh.

The Ras Al Khaimah-based author grew up in the UK while her father was completing a doctorate. As a child from the Middle East, Al Khayyat said she had problems making friends at her middle school in England, which inadvertently spurred her love of books.

"I had trouble with spelling so I was sent to the library a lot … there were lots of bullies and the only way to escape was to go to the library," she said, adding that her favourite Dr Seuss and Roald Dahl books took her imagination to other places when she read them.

Her own love of books is something she also likes to transmit to her young audience.

"It's a challenge for me to visit a school with children who aren't used to their parents reading to them … it's as if they're not given the chance of having anyone read to them," she said, "but every time I open a book and read it to them, they ask if I've got more books to read to them."

Having learnt English before Arabic, Al Khayyat tends to write in English, although her friends encourage her to write in Arabic.

The Emirati author is due to publish two more children's books by the end of the year: When a Camel Craves Luqaimat (the Emirati dessert) is due to be published by Kalimat, while I Love My Mum's Pretty Veil is due to be released by Zodiac Publishing.

She is also writing a graded reader in Arabic (text book), and is working on articles for a children's magazine that will be published in the near future. Although Al Khayyat's current work focuses on children's stories, she has always wanted to write longer works.

"I love reading novels and stories, and I've always fantasised about writing a novel - which might happen in the near future. Right now I've written children's picture books, but in the future I might consider chapter books and then as my experience grows, I may try writing a novel," she said.

http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/books/authors-fun-new-books-aimed-at-emirati-kids

Sharjah hosts Conference of the International Board on Books for Young People


April 17, 2013

A new, high-profile conference beginning on Sunday is drawing educators, authors and academics from the Gulf, Central Asia and North Africa to address the children’s publishing industry.



More than 40 speakers from 20 countries are expected to attend the first regional Conference of the International Board on Books for Young People (Ibby), under the theme Bringing Books and Children Together. They include Tunisia’s celebrated children’s author Mohamed Ghozzi, the Ma Waraa Al Tabiaa series creator Ahmed Khaled Tawfik and the Emirati children’s author Maitha Al Khayat, whose works include I Love My Dad’s Long Beard.

Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, a patron of the UAE Board on Books for Young People, the organisation running the event, says the region needs such a gathering – and now.

“The world today faces many diverse challenges,” she says. “Despite these challenges, life goes on and it is our responsibility as caregivers or people in positions of responsibility to prepare our children to deal with the challenges facing them. This is through making all sources of knowledge accessible to them.”

Another hope is that the conference can promote the importance of reading across the region.

“It is an excellent opportunity to promote the importance of books for children, to develop the community and bring books and children together,” says Sheikha Bodour. “Investing in reading is the best way to invest in the future of our children.”

Sessions will cover topics such as the challenges in creating community reading initiatives and examining culture and tolerance in children’s books from the region.

http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/books/sharjah-to-host-conference-of-the-international-board-on-books-for-young-people

West turns new page in thinking on Chinese literature

Harper Collins recently announced its purchase of Chinese novel Zu Jie by Xiao Bai for $60,000, for publication in English.

The noir thriller will be published in 2015 under the English name French Concession. The purchase is part of a trend signaling increased interest in Chinese literature among Western publications and readers.

China's book market is now the world's largest. The industry published 7.7 billion books in 2011, a 7.5 percent increase from 2010. Of those books, 48 sold more than one million copies. Most of those titles were written by Chinese authors for Chinese readers, but Western books translated into Chinese also feature prominently.

Western titles printed in English also have a niche; Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs sold more than 50,000 copies in China. According to Penguin China, George Orwell's 1984 was its best seller in 2011, signaling a desire for both aspiration writing and high-quality classic Western literature.

Since Chinese author Mo Yan received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2012, Western publishers and readers have become increasingly interested in Chinese literature. Penguin China recently published English translations of the popular Chinese novel The Civil Servant's Notebook by Wang Xiaofang and Sheng Keyi's Northern Girls.

In 2012, the London Book Fair invited 21 Chinese authors to participate. AmazonCrossing, a new launch from Amazon.com, published its first Chinese novel translated into English earlier this year.

However, the growth and popularity of Chinese fiction outside of China is still in its infancy. American readers have not demonstrated a huge appetite for foreign literature; in 2012, US publishers purchased 453 foreign titles, about 3 percent of all US book publications. Only 16 of those books were first published in Chinese.

Over the years, a few Chinese books have made the international bestseller lists, including Adeline Yen Mah's Falling Leaves and Jung Chang's Wild Swans. Both authors were based in the West, and wrote about their painful memories of China in a style that has been described as "scar literature." Western readers have responded most to this kind of Chinese fiction, written from a single perspective and focused on a narrative of struggle. More recently, Wei Hui's Shanghai Baby novel about hard-partying youth in the 1990s Shanghai enjoyed popularity overseas, a success that has in part been driven by its ban in China; Western editions explicitly advertise the book's verboten status at home.

Chinese fiction's slow start in the Western market has been attributed to differences in perspective and focus among Chinese writers.

Duncan Jepson, a founding member of the Asia Literary Review, believes that Wang Shuo's Playing for Thrills never caught on in the West because the author's writing style meandered, and focused less on individual characters. Western readers prefer a more specific perspective, and a linear narrative.

Western literature has also often taken for granted the reader's default view of the importance of personal freedom. The most popular Chinese novels are written in a style that reflects a significant difference in the way Chinese culture views story-telling, personal narrative and the role of the individual. For many Western readers, that gap can be hard to overcome.

Books about China from a Western perspective (written by English-speaking writers for an English-reading audience) have been popular over the last decade. But the focus on Western perspectives on China - as opposed to Chinese perspectives on their own country - is limiting, Jepson believes.

A number of publishing companies and publications are doing their best to translate the best of what Chinese literature has to offer. Penguin China has published around four Chinese titles in English each year since its founding in 2005.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2013-08/03/content_16868180.htm

YANG MU WINS 2013 NEWMAN PRIZE FOR CHINESE LITERATURE

NORMAN, OK - The Taiwanese poet Yang Mu (楊牧) has been chosen by an international jury as the winner of the third Newman Prize for Chinese Literature. Sponsored by the University of Oklahoma’s Institute for U.S.-China Issues, Newman Prize is awarded biennially in recognition of outstanding achievement in prose or poetry that best captures the human condition, and is conferred solely on the basis of literary merit. Any living author writing in Chinese is eligible. A jury of five distinguished literary experts nominated the five candidates last summer and selected the winner in a transparent voting process on 5 October 2012.

Mr. Yang Mu will receive USD 10,000, and a commemorative plaque and medallion at an award ceremony and academic symposium at the University of Oklahoma on March 7, 2013. The event will be hosted by Peter Hays Gries, director of the Institute for US-China Issues, which seeks to advance mutual trust in US-China relations.

“The five jurists nominated five exceptionally talented poets,” said director Gries. “So they had a very difficult choice. It is a credit to Yang Mu’s extraordinary literary achievement that he emerged the winner after four rounds of positive elimination voting.”

The Newman Prize honors Harold J. and Ruth Newman, whose generous endowment of a chair at the University of Oklahoma enabled the creation of the OU Institute for US-China Issues. The University of Oklahoma is also home to Chinese Literature Today, World Literature Today, and the Neustadt International Prize for Literature. A special section of Chinese Literature Today will be dedicated to Yang Mu’s work in summer 2013.

The five nominated poets under consideration were: Yang Mu (楊牧), Hsia Yu (夏宇), Yang Lian (杨炼), Zhai Yongming (翟永明), and Ouyang Jianghe (欧阳江河). The third Newman Prize jury consisted of five internationally recognized jurors based in the U.S., U.K., Mainland China, and Germany. It was coordinated by Jonathan Stalling (University of Oklahoma). The jurors were (in alphabetical order): Jennifer Feeley (University of Iowa), Michel Hockx (SOAS, University of London), Wolfgang Kubin (University of Bonn), Michelle Yeh (University of California, Davis), and Zhang Qinghua (Beijing Normal University).

The list of nominees was filled with luminaries of the mainland Chinese and Taiwanese literary scenes. Stylistically and formally, each poet displays a high level of originality, ranging from dense lyricism to colloquial narratives, from variations on the sonnet to poetic cycles, from philosophical musings to deconstructive energy. Thematically, the nominees represent remarkable breadth and depth. The judges considered the vision of poetry as beauty and truth; radical challenges to the limit of signification; intricate relations between language and exile; expressions of the female psyche; and critical reflections on a fast-changing China.


The diversity and strength of the nominations posed a great challenge for the jury. Yet Yang Mu emerged as the consensus winner after four rounds of positive elimination voting. Born in 1940 in Hualian on the east coast of Taiwan, Yang Mu has produced an extraordinary corpus of poetry and prose over the past five decades. After graduating from college, he attended the University of Iowa, where he received an MFA. He went on to earn a PhD in comparative literature from the University of California at Berkeley. He has taught at the University of Washington in Seattle for many years, and as a visiting professor at Princeton and National Taiwan University, among others. He has also served as the dean of humanities at National Dong Hwa University in his hometown Hualian, and as the founding director of the Institute of Literature and Philosophy at Academia Sinica, Taiwan. Yang Mu started writing poetry in 1956 and has published 14 original books of poetry to date, most of which are gathered in the three volume Collected Works of Yang Mu.

“Yang Mu,” Michelle Yeh comments, “is an innovator, a supreme craftsman. His deep engagement in world literature, cultures, and history has given his work a versatility and profundity that is unparalleled among Chinese poets today, perhaps even in the entire history of modern Chinese poetry. He has created a language that is densely lyrical and charged with a diction that runs the spectrum from the colloquial to the archaic, a syntax that is supple and complex, and a tone that ranges from playfulness to passion, and to despair. He moves easily from the world of tangibles to the world of abstraction, with images rich and precise. His poetic world is cosmopolitan and global on the one hand, and decidedly native and local on the other. Some of his most powerful poems reveal an unwavering love for and identity with Taiwan. Yang Mu has inspired several generations of poets in the Chinese-speaking world. He has produced a body of work brilliant and impressive in its range: reticent, controlled, yet musical, adventuresome, and linguistically surprising line-by-line. The reader thinks with him, inside the poem and inside his mind and emotions, and emerges more aware of the world and what it means to be human.”

Mainland Chinese novelists Mo Yan (莫言) and Han Shaogong (韩少功) won the 2009 and 2011 Newman Prizes for Chinese Literature respectively.

http://www.ou.edu/uschina/newman/winners.html

Nigeria: Abuja Writer's Forum Hosts Isa, Iyimoga for October Event

Two budding Amazons, Hajo Isa and Stella Iyimoga, working in poetry and film will feature at the October 26 Guest Writer Session of the Abuja Writers Forum (AWF).

Ms Hajo Isa is a poet and author of the much acclaimed anthology of poems titled Shadow Fall 2012). Hailed for their poetic originality and lyricism. She is one of the three featured at the Abuja literary Society's Emerging Voices Rising stars debut series in 2010. She is a budding contemporary poet, with a raw, quirky and simple style with a rich eclectic mix of language and feeling.

Hajo who hails from Zuru Local Government Area of Kebbi State, was born in Lagos and is the first of four children born to Colonel A.K Isa and Ladi Dazieni Isa (nee Namah). She spent her childhood growing up in Lagos, Jos, Enugu and Kaduna. She had her secondary school education at Federal Government College Jos, where she developed a love for literature. She then went on to study law at the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and Nigerian Law School, Bwari, Abuja.

Hajo is also a photographer and a trustee of the Ladi Dazieni Isa foundation set up in honour of her mother. Hajo is also an entrepreneur and Manager of Aitadi Nigerian Limited producers and marketers of Shea Butter based Beauty Products. She is an avid literary and art enthusiast, and is a member of some literary associations in Abuja including the Abuja Literary Society, Association of Nigerian Authors, Abuja Chapter and the Abuja Writers Forum.

Many of Hajo's poems are published in national and international online blogs, literal magazines and anthologies and she will be reading from her latest collection of poems, Dancing Tongues. .

Ananga Stella Iyimoga hails from Nassarawa State but was born and bred in Jos. She attended St Louis College, Jos, and took her first degree in English at the University of Jos. However, given her passion for the art of filmmaking, she enrolled at the New York Film Academy.

Ananga has written, produced, directed and edited four short films and a music video. They are: "Your Passport, Please", "Fatal Mistake", "For Love or Country", "Same Difference" (work in progress) and a music video for KASA, a Kenyan musician.

Being a total filmmaker, she has occupied various crew positions for different productions e.g DOP, sound mixer/boom operator, gaffer and has also acted in two of her short films, "Your Passport, Please" and "For love or Country" and one other film titled "The Marriage of the Ladybird" by Hassan Khusshaim in Abu Dhabi.

She has been script supervisor for an independently produced short film titled "The Traveller" by Ag Musaab. It was screened at the 2011 Cannes film festival. She recently directed a 13 Episode documentary for Tertiary Education Trust fund (TETFUND) which is currently airing on NTA Network. Her dream is to make movies with high production value that can be enjoyed and appreciated globally.

She would be screening her short film, "For Love or Country", which tells the story of Bala, a Nigerian, a Medical Doctor based in the UAE who is frustrated with Nigeria and intends to settle in the UAE. He proposes to his girlfriend Kemi also a Nigerian studying in the UAE, but she has plans to return to Nigeria to make a contribution to its development and wishes Bala would do the same.

The Guest Writer Session, which started in June 2008, holds at the prestigious Nanet Suites located at the Central Business District in Abuja, and runs from 4-7pm on the last Saturday of every month. It also features side attractions of poetry performance, mini art exhibition, a raffle-draw for book, and a stirring dose of live music.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201310211789.html

Nice thread Tpia. Never knew you were a lover of literature. Why did you stop posting?

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Book Review:

How to Raise an Adult,’ by Julie Lythcott-Haims

“How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success” seems to lie at the precise crossroads of this inherently conflicted approach. Like so many others in the jittery child-rearing mob, Julie Lythcott-Haims has identified overparenting as a trap. But once you escape the trap, the goal remains the same: to mold your offspring into thriving adults. Whether a child is learning to ride a bike or doing his own laundry, he is still viewed through the limited binary lens of either triumphant or fumbling adulthood. The looming question is not “Is my child happy?” but “Is my child a future president poised to save the environment, or a future stoner poised to watch his fifth episode of ‘House of Cards’ in a row?”

Even as tales of meddling parents reach a fever pitch, Lythcott-Haims’s bleak portrait may just be the “Black Hawk Down” of helicopter parenting. Lythcott-Haims, who brings some authority to the subject as Stanford’s former dean of freshmen and undergraduate advising, has seen varieties of extreme parental interference suggesting not just a lack of common sense, but a lack of wisdom and healthy boundaries (if not personal dignity) as well. Instead of allowing kids to experiment and learn from their mistakes, parents hover where they’re not wanted or welcome, accompanying children on school trips or shadowing them on campus. Caught up in what the author calls the “college admissions arms race,” parents treat securing their children a spot at one of 20 top schools (as decreed by U.S. News and World Report’s popular but somewhat dubious rankings) as an all-or-nothing proposition. Concerned about the effects of a flawed high school transcript, parents do their children’s homework, write or heavily edit their papers, fire questions at teachers, dispute grades and hire expensive subject tutors, SAT coaches and “private admissions consultants” (26 percent of college applicants reported hiring these in 2013). Even after kids graduate, the madness continues. Lythcott-Haims offers anecdotes of parents touring graduate schools, serving as mouthpieces for their shy, passive children, and submitting résumés to potential employers, sometimes without their children’s knowledge. These behaviors do more than mold kids into dependent beings, she argues; they corral and constrict their possibilities and their imaginations. “We speak of dreams as boundless, limitless realms,” Lythcott-­Haims writes. “But in reality often we create parameters, conditions and limits within which our kids are permitted to dream — with a checklisted childhood as the path to achievement.”

And in spite of her title’s emphasis on success, Lythcott-Haims takes pains to demonstrate that overparenting doesn’t merely threaten a child’s future income; it also does enormous psychological harm. She cites a 2011 study by sociologists at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga that found a correlation, in college-student questionnaires, between helicopter parenting and medication for anxiety or depression. One researcher at a treatment center for addicts in Los Angeles found that “rates of depression and anxiety among affluent teens and young adults . . . correspond to the rates of depression and anxiety suffered by incarcerated juveniles.” Other studies suggest that overparented kids are “less open to new ideas” and take “less satisfaction in life.” For Lythcott-Haims, the message behind this research is the same: Kids need to sally forth independently without constant supervision. They need to try and even fail. And when they fail and look around for a parent to bail them out, they need to hear the words, “You must figure this out for yourself.”

The irony, of course, is that after years of lamenting the benign neglect suffered at the hands of 1970s parents who told kids to “go outside and play until dinnertime,” today’s parents are starting to second-guess the ways they’ve overcorrected such hands-off child-rearing. Indeed, Lythcott-Haims’s explicit instructions for parents read like a page straight out of a ’70s-era parenting playbook: “Value free play.”  “Work on creating space between you and your kid.”  “Don’t apologize or overexplain.” Oh, and give your kids chores — lots of chores. Halfway through the book, one almost expects to discover instructions like, “When it comes to spanking, wooden spoons are far more effective than your bare hands!” And: “Push those kids out the door and lock it. Now, crack open that pack of Virginia Slims, fix yourself a nice Tom Collins, and dig into the latest Doris Lessing novel.”

But even as “How to Raise an Adult” joins others in the same vein — from “The Overparenting Epidemic” to “You Are Not Special” to “All Joy and No Fun” — this emphasis on giving kids a little more space hasn’t seemed to have had much effect on the premature apprehension of the schoolyard: the endless, nervous chatter about the Common Core, the uneasy comparing of report cards and standardized test scores, the tireless griping about the never-ending hassles of homework, soccer season, piano lessons, art classes, dance classes and Kumon tutoring. If everyone agrees that overscheduling and multiple hours of homework a night are the enemy, shouldn’t more parents be stepping back and relaxing a little, thereby showing, by example, how to live in a nonsensically competitive world and still be happy?

Lythcott-Haims sees this inability to disengage as a side effect of the prevailing fantasy among parents that the “right” college education will secure a child’s comfy seat in the upper-middle-class tax bracket. Parents are so laser-focused on how to ensure success against a backdrop of an increasingly insecure global economy that they’re willing to trade in the joys and self-guided discoveries of a rich childhood for some promise of security in the far-off future. But it’s absurd for parents to allow this illusion that success in life depends on admission to one of a handful of elite colleges to guide their behavior from the time their kids are in preschool forward, Lythcott-­Haims asserts. A 1999 study by Stacy Berg Dale and Alan Krueger suggests that graduates of a hundred or so “moderately selective” schools “had on average the same income 20 years later as graduates of the elite colleges.” While schools may be more competitive than they were 36 years ago, when the subjects of the study were in college, this statistic (which applied to graduates of “moderately selective” schools who had also gained admission to elite schools) should at least cast a shadow of doubt on parents’ extreme fixation on top-tier colleges. There are also several alternatives to the U.S. News and World Report rankings that could shift common thinking about what constitutes an “elite” education. The “Fiske Guide to Colleges” evaluates schools based on “the quality of the experience and their price tag,” while The Alumni Factor ranks schools based on intellectual development, average income of graduates and whether alumni would choose the college again, among other factors.

Although loosening that grip on getting kids into the “perfect” school does seem important, it’s somewhat unlikely to end the current plague of controlling, stressed-out parents and helpless, insecure children. In this anxious age, the future will always trump the present. But even if “How to Raise an Adult” gets thrown onto a growing pile of books for worried, upper-­middle-class parents and is summarily forgotten, Lythcott-Haims’s central message remains worthwhile: When parents laugh and enjoy the moment but also teach the satisfaction of hard work, when they listen closely but also give their children space to become who they are, they wind up with kids who know how to work hard, solve problems and savor the moment, too. In other words, get a life, and your child just might do the same someday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/21/books/review/how-to-raise-an-adult-by-julie-lythcott-haims.html?ref=topics&_r=0

royalsweetness:
Nice thread Tpia. Never knew you were a lover of literature. Why did you stop posting?

thanks.

not sure why I stopped posting, I think I wasnt in literature section so much. I dont come here that often.

Finalists Announced for the 24th Neustadt International Prize for Literature

An international, nine-member jury of accomplished writers have selected the shortlist for the Neustadt International Prize for Literature, with their sole criterion for nominating finalists being distinguished and continuing literary achievement. Any living author in the world writing in any genre is eligible to be nominated. This year’s Neustadt Prize nominees are from around the globe, and, notably for the first time, female authors make up the majority of the finalists. Seven of the nine 2016 finalists are women; previously, the highest number of women nominees in a single year was four.

The finalists for the 2016 Neustadt International Prize for Literature are:


•Can Xue, China
•Caryl Churchill, England
•Carolyn Forché, United States
•Aminatta Forna, Scotland/Sierra Leone
•Ann-Marie MacDonald, Canada
•Guadalupe Nettel, Mexico
•Don Paterson, Scotland
•Dubravka Ugresic, Croatia/The Netherlands
•Ghassan Zaqtan, Palestine



Jury members will convene at the annual Neustadt Festival this October at the University of Oklahoma, where they will discuss the merits of each finalist and vote for the winner. The 2016 laureate, who will be announced at the festival’s closing banquet, will receive $50,000, a replica of an eagle feather cast in silver, a certificate of recognition and the next year’s Neustadt Festival hosted in his or her honor.

The Neustadt Prize was first given in 1970 to Italian poet Giuseppe Ungaretti. Notable winners have included Nobel Prize in Literature recipients Gabriel García Márquez (1972), Czeslaw Milosz (1978), Octavio Paz (1982) and Tomas Tranströmer (1990) as well as many well-known novelists, poets and playwrights. The 2014 Neustadt laureate was Mia Couto of Mozambique, who was recently shortlisted for the highly regarded Man Booker International Prize. The Neustadt Prize is the most prestigious international literary award given in the United States, often cited as “America’s Nobel” for its reputation as a lead-up to the Swedish Academy’s annual selection.

http://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/blog/finalists-announced-24th-neustadt-international-prize-literature#.VZ3iDMLbKM8

Meshack Asare Announced as the 2015 Winner of the Prestigious NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature

Oct 2014

Asare is the first African writer to be awarded the biennial $25,000 Prize

World Literature Today, the award-winning magazine of international literature and culture, today announced Meshack Asare as the winner of the prestigious 2015 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature. Awarded in alternating years with the renowned Neustadt International Prize for Literature, the biennial NSK Prize recognizes great accomplishments in the world of children’s storytelling.

Born in Ghana and currently residing in Germany, Asare is considered one of Africa’s most influential children’s authors. His representative text cited by the NSK was the multiple award-winning picture book Kwajo and the Brassman’s Secret, an Ashanti tale about wisdom versus the temptation of riches, distributed by African Books Collective.

Meshack Asare commented that “it is such a privilege, honor, and delight to receive the distinguished NSK Neustadt Prize for my modest contribution as an African, towards Children’s Literature.”

Robert Con Davis-Undiano, World Literature Today’s executive director who oversees the prize, said, “Meshack Asare is an important children’s literature author widely read across Africa. I’m so pleased that the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature is now introducing him to the rest of the world.”

Highly respected within the literary community for its recognition of excellence, the NSK Prize goes to any writer or illustrator of children’s or young adult literature worldwide. An international jury of authors, all esteemed as children’s and young adult writers, chooses the winner. Nominations are based solely on literary merit as well as the perceived importance of an author’s or illustrator’s overall contribution to the legacy of children’s fiction.

The NSK Prize announcement was made at a Neustadt banquet on Oct. 24, 2014, that honored Mia Couto of Mozambique, winner of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature, commonly referred to as the “American Nobel,” owing to many overlaps with the world’s biggest award. This is the first time in history that the Neustadt and NSK Prizes have been awarded to authors from the same region (Africa) in consecutive years.

The NSK juror who nominated Asare, Nii Ayikwei Parkes, is of British and Ghanaian heritage. He is a performance poet and social commentator who served in 2005 as BBC Radio 3’s Associate Artist-in-Residence and in 2007 as California State University–Los Angeles’ British Council Writer-in-Residence. Currently, he is one of 39 writers under the age of 40 from sub-Saharan Africa named to be a part of the Hay Festival's esteemed “Africa39” project. Along with Asare, Parkes will be attending the Neustadt Festival at the University of Oklahoma next fall.

The NSK Prize was first given in 2003 to inaugural recipient Mildred D. Taylor. The award’s first 10 years were recently profiled in the September 2014 issue of World Literature Today. Other winners have included Brian Doyle (2005), Katherine Paterson (2007), Vera B. Williams (2009), Virginia Euwer Wolff (2011) and Naomi Shihab Nye (2013). Winners are awarded $25,000, a silver medallion, a certificate of recognition and a literary festival hosted in their honor

http://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/blog/meshack-asare-announced-2015-winner-prestigious-nsk-neustadt-prize-childrens-literature#.VZ3irsLbKM8

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