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The Literary Caravan vs The Rain
Posted Wednesday March 31st 2010
by Nikesh ShuklaWe’re headed to the Devon seaside for the Easter weekend. We’re looking forward to heading out of London’s concrete metropolis for some sun, seaside and smoke mackerel pate courtesy of Woozie’s Deli in the village. Except, there’s an arctic blast headed this way and the heavy April showers are currently settling in for the whole of the weekend. Caravan-confined, I’ve been racking my brain for activities for us 6 bookish types to do, trapped together in that metal box.
1) Caravan reading group: on top of the hill, with a sheer cliff but a walk away, with the rain pitter-pattering on top of the van, with the mist descending, what better way than to have a reading group, but a reading group with a twist. I thought, that in this potentially creepy setting, we could all read a chilling murder mystery, maybe some Agatha Christie (along the lines of And Then There Were None) or some Holmes (what’s that howling outside? Is it the Hound?). When we all get to the final chapter, we can put the book down and maybe play a game of guess the murderer- put all our theories into the circle and discuss, before reading the…
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2010 Y-Poetry International Writing Competition and Cultural Festival, Antwerp
Posted Friday March 19th 2010
by Carol DixonThe winning entries for the Y-Poetry International Poetry Competition and Cultural Festival, which took place in Antwerp on 12 March 2010 have been announced.
The theme for the poetry competition this year was ‘The City’ and the tri-lingual poetry anthology used by the poet educators during their writing workshops to inspire the young people’s own creativity featured one of Maura Dooley’s poems in the English Literature section, titled 'I’m a stranger here myself/Ik ben hier zelf ook vreemd/Ich bin hier selbst fremd' – listed alongside works by Wordsworth, Larkin, T.S. Elliot, W.N. Herbert and Colette Bryce.
The coordination of the London strand of this 4-city initiative began back in November 2009 as the result of an initial link with the Poetry and Young People project brokered by the British Council. Over the past 3 months, around 800 young people aged 15-17 years, from schools in Amsterdam, Antwerp, Berlin and London, received a series of innovative poetry writing workshops from internationally famous poet educators Ineke Holzhaus and Jacques Brooijmans (both tri-lingual in Dutch, German and English). 24 finalists (6 from each city) were selected from this pool of entrants to attend the Y-Poetry Finale in Antwerp – hosted by… -
New Translated Fiction blog
Posted Thursday March 18th 2010
by Nikesh ShuklaIf you're interested at all in translated fiction, then I'm sure you've seen our Translated Fiction site. We've started a blog over there, featuring articles about international fiction themes and genres, the art of translation itself and all things international writing.
Be sure to head there now and check out our first blog from budding translator Catherine Mansfield, on learning to translated from Portugese.
If you're interested in contributing to the Translated Fiction blog, get in contact
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March Monthly Staff Picks
Posted Tuesday March 16th 2010
by Nikesh ShuklaThis month Booktrust staff recommend everything from Welsh coming-of-age tales to short stories by Flaubert.
Angharad: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
The book is made up of six separate but interwoven narratives that span four centuries. The first is the journal of Adam Ewing, a notary in the distant nineteenth century, who is adrift in the Pacific and surveying the impact of colonialism. The second is a series of letters by a young, caddish composer in the 1930s, from where we jump to 1960s America and the mystery of Luisa Rey. Next, we find ourselves in the 22nd century where ‘fabricants’ serve food and strive to become ‘sentient’ human beings. Zachry’s tale of a post-apocalyptic world is a fascinating glimpse of a world where brand names replace nouns and storytelling has survived science.
A wonderfully written book, it is easy to get absorbed into the lives of the different characters and it’s fascinating the way Mitchell artfully links the different narratives in a myriad of subtle ways.
Roland: The Sorrows of an American by Siri Hustvedt
An interesting book that throws together the tensions provoked within a family on the death of a father… -
Dodgem Logic... a new 'zine from Alan Moore
Posted Monday March 15th 2010
by Nikesh ShuklaFans of Alan Moore and the city of Northampton will be pleased to know that he has a new ‘zine out called Dodgem Logic. Alan Moore is, as I’m sure you’re only too aware, the mind between genius works like V for Vendetta, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the Batman story The Killing Joke (that influenced the film The Dark Knight), and a little heard-of project about superheroes in Cold War paranoia called The Watchmen.
Dodgem Logic is a scatological ‘zine in Moore’s preferred style of surreal mysticism, coupled with humour and scathing political allegory. It also celebrates his love for his hometown of Northampton. The first issue comes with a CD featuring choice Northampton bands. The pages are filled with music reviews, fashion tips, recipes, health advice, gardening (of the guerrilla variety) all with a subversive edge.
Moore’s status as magus of the British writing community/chief avenger of the comic book genre means he commands a high status of input from writers and comics. Issue one has an impassioned celebration of Twitter and its connectivity from sitcom guru Graham Linehan, a beautiful and slightly sombre (but still funny) comic strip about love from the immensely talented Josie Long…
