The Naked Eye
My cinema was a “Ma,” she wrapped me in her mucous membranes. She shielded me from the sun, from the force of visibility. Life was being played out on the screen, a life before death. People fought there, or else slept together. They cried and sweated, and the screen remained dry. The cinema, its stage, had no depth, ...
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The Class
The Class is a novel about the everyday life of a Paris public school literature teacher who thinks that his current position is a bit useless. The teacher who narrates this book paints not only a picture of his depressing life but of those other educators who are in the same position. Through weighty dialogue, Begaudeau also ...
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Wiki for Reading Series
Carrie Olivia Adams just announced a new online tool that could be of great use to authors/publicists/translators interested in finding places to present their work: I am excited to announce a new updatable, searchable Wiki for curated reading series and independent bookstores eager to host events throughout the country ...
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Interpretive Perspective and Translation
Every summer, in honor of the Helen and Kurt Wolff Prize, the Goethe-Institut in Chicago also hosts the Helen and Kurt Wolff Translation Symposium. This year’s symposium is Interpretive Perspective and Translation and should be really interesting. I’m moderating a panel with Krishna Winston, Breon Mitchell, and ...
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Caine Prize for African Writing Finalists
The finalists for this year’s Caine Prize for African Writing (given to a short story from an African writer published in English) were announced earlier this week. Here are the five shortlisted pieces, with links to pdf versions of some of the stories: Mamle Kabu (Ghana) The End of Skill from Dreams, Miracles and ...
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A Romanian Bookstore in Manhattan
Last year, the first foreign-language edition of the Book Review launched in Romania. Now, in another unexpected bit of cultural turnabout, Midtown Manhattan has gotten what must be its only Romanian bookstore. (ed: look for one of Open Letter’s board members in the photo) Well, sort of. From now until July ...
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Bookishness: The New Fate of Reading in the Digital Age
Where: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 3222 Angell Hall 9:30-10:00: Coffee and Refreshments 10-12:00: Panel on New Reading Practices and Literacies in a Digital Age 2:00-4:00: Forum on New Institutions for the Digital Age At the current moment of ever-accelerating technological change, it’s particularly ...
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