With the Sharjah International Book Fair underway in the United Arab Emirates you could be forgiven for thinking there was only one bookish event happening in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) arena right now. The just finished Khartoum International Book Fair, for example, passed almost completely unnoticed in Sudan, while the still on-going Algiers Read More …
Back in the last century when I was a kid I won my fair share of writing prizes for my back-then handwritten essays and stories. The prizes were much appreciated – a book token, a cinema ticket, etc – but not quite in the same class as the trophy for winning Nigeria’s 2018 Channels Book Read More …
South Africa, Canada , the USA, the UK and Nigeria are on the travel map today as we start the day global today in what you may or may not consider the USA: Puerto Rico. If we outside the US and Caribbean think of Puerto Rico at all it is probably in relation to the Read More …
The winner of the Prix Albert Londres 2018 will be announced in Istanbul on October 22. Yes, a French literary prize awarded in Turkey. The award is the creation of the daughter of the celebrated French author Florise Martinet-Londres, and the awards ceremony this year, writes Actualitté’s Antoine Oury, has a strong symbolic significance. A delegation Read More …
Here’s a summary of TNPS posts from the past seven days. Sao Paulo’s Avenida Paulista bookstore closes – Fnac Brazil now has just one bookstore standing Setswana? Indonesian? Can you tell the difference? Nor can Microsoft A mermaid wearing a bra among the books banned in Kuwait, but protests are gathering momentum Big Bad Wolf Read More …
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) has picked Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur to succeed Sharjah as World Book Capital in 2020. The title is currently held by Athens, which will concede the title to the UAE’s Sharjah for 2019. In a statement Unesco said Malaysia’s capital was selected because of the city’s strong Read More …
The longlist for the 2018 National Book Award for Translated Literature has been announced. Négar Djavadi, Disoriental, translated by Tina Kover (Europa Editions) Roque Larraquy, Comemadre, translated by Heather Cleary (Coffee House Press) Dunya Mikhail, The Beekeeper: Rescuing the Stolen Women of Iraq, translated by Max Weiss and Dunya Mikhail (New Directions Publishing) Perumal Murugan, Read More …
As reported here yesterday, a CreateSpace self-published title made it through to the shortlist for the prestigious French literary award the Prix Renaudot. Amazon’s CreateSpace goes out with a bang – cracks shortlist for prestigious French literary award Today comes news some French bookstore owners are now boycotting not just the CreateSpace title but the Read More …
Here’s a summary of TNPS posts from the past seven days. UK’s Bradford Lit Fest and USA’s Washington National Book Fest see record attendance Sharjah Publishing City sponsors Nigerian literature award Ireland: “A buoyant time for publishing. One of today’s most vibrant book markets.” Sweden-based Arabic-language audiobook firm Kitab Sawti attracts new investment Peru exempts Read More …
The Oceanos 2018 Portuguese Language Literature Awards semi-finalists were announced this past week, but it’s not a full representation of the Portuguese-speaking world, with semi-finalist only from from Brazil, Portugal, Mozambique and Cape Verde. The Oceanos finalists will be announced late October, but the semi-finalist line up. for the first time since the award launched in Read More …
