Myra Garces-Bacsal here. It’s Monday, What are You Reading is a meme hosted by Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers (new host of Monday reading: Kathryn T at Book Date). I first read and featured The Pearl Diver back in 2017 at GatheringBooks when I found out about it through this compilation created by the National Library Board Singapore entitled … Continue reading #UAEReads – Monday Reading: Of Pearl Diving In The Arabian Gulf
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#UAEReads – An Interview with Her Excellency (HE) Isobel Abulhoul – Reading Champion in the UAE
A joyful conversation about books and reading with Her Excellency Isobel Abulhoul.
#UAEReads – World Book Capital: Sharjah, UAE
Myra Garces-Bacsal here. World Book Capital Author: Shaikha Bodour Al Qasimi Illustrator: Denise Damanti Languages: English and Arabic Arabic title: العاصمة العالمية للكتاب (عربي)Published by Kalimat (2020) ISBN: 9789948251668 | 978-9948-25-167-5Bought a copy of the book. Book photos taken by me. I have actually featured this title over at GatheringBooks (see my review here) two years ago. Hence, this is merely an elaboration of what … Continue reading #UAEReads – World Book Capital: Sharjah, UAE
Welcome to #UAEReads
Join us this month of March as we celebrate UAE's Reading Month.
#EndangeredAlphabets: Final Post: An Adventure, A Doughnut Hole, A New Curriculum, An Appeal
Of all my adventures around the world of writing, the most startling and revealing happened closest to my home. Googling “Linguistics Program” took me to the University of Massachusetts (Amherst), which offers an amazing range of linguistics courses, including, but not limited to: Computational Linguistics Discourse Analysis Eye-tracking Field work First Language Acquisition Historical Socio-linguistics … Continue reading #EndangeredAlphabets: Final Post: An Adventure, A Doughnut Hole, A New Curriculum, An Appeal
#WORLDKIDLITWEDNESDAY: What Makes Us Human
Described as a "poetic riddle" emphasizing the importance that language holds in our lives today, and the fragile position that it increasingly occupies, What Makes Us Human is a book filled with gentle surprises. Beginning with a time when the idea of a language was still new, to the breathtakingly beautiful spread that shows how … Continue reading #WORLDKIDLITWEDNESDAY: What Makes Us Human
#EndangeredAlphabets: Where Are We Going, Where Have We Been?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J-lQuyr0Yw&list=PLYG37Sb2buKjaMtjztHjDc5pSS1a1jorr&index=12 My month here is almost over, and I've taken you all to so many places around the world, and brought up so many ideas about the nature and purpose of writing that it's not easy to wrap everything up. So I'm going to steal from myself, and offer you the wrap-up I created for … Continue reading #EndangeredAlphabets: Where Are We Going, Where Have We Been?
#EndangeredAlphabets: How Do You Go About Reviving a Traditional Script? Case Study: Bali
"Suksma," or "Thank you," in the traditional Balinese language and script. Photo and carving by the author. Fairly often I get asked: what does it take to revive a traditional script that has been unused, or largely unused, for years? Decades? Centuries? Much less often, I actually have a clear, detailed answer. In this case, … Continue reading #EndangeredAlphabets: How Do You Go About Reviving a Traditional Script? Case Study: Bali
#EndangeredAlphabets: Impeaching the Ghosts: Writing and Magic
Batak pustaha. Image courtesy of the Incunabula Library. I was on Twitter the other day and came across a tweet from Philip Boyes of the University of Cambridge, an archaeologist and linguist working on the Bronze and Iron Age Levant. He had been researching early Chinese handwriting manuals and came across this passage: “Strangely, it … Continue reading #EndangeredAlphabets: Impeaching the Ghosts: Writing and Magic
#EndangeredAlphabets: Roman Column
Endangered Alphabets Project poster, 2020. Design by Alec Julien, carving and photo by the author. The elegant maps that illustrate the spread of writing take at best a satellite’s-eye view of what really happens when one culture adopts writing from another. It may look as though writing spreads like a good idea (and there are … Continue reading #EndangeredAlphabets: Roman Column
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 