By Agustina Bazterrica, Translated from Spanish by Sarah Moses In a world where a virus makes it impossible to eat animal meat, this dystopian novel explores a world in which humans are factory-farmed for meat and where cannibalism is the norm. It is gripping and disturbing, exploring the way in which seemingly "good" people justify … Continue reading #Veganuary: Tender is the Flesh
#WorldKidLit Wednesday: The End
What if the world actually ended with a bang and not with a whimper? (Pace, T.S. Eliot.) And what if you knew the end was coming? How would you spend your final days? That’s the premise in The End, an award-winning upper YA novel by Swedish author Mats Strandberg. When the story begins, scientists have … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: The End
#INTLYALITMONTH: Noughts & Crosses
Written by Malorie Blackman ISBN: 978-1-5344-9742-9 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Noughts & Crosses is one of those books that takes a while to wrap around your head because there’s so much to unpack! This is a story of love in a very different dystopian world trying to keep these two lovers apart. Sephy and Callum … Continue reading #INTLYALITMONTH: Noughts & Crosses
Speculative Fiction in Translation: The Queue
The Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz translated from the Arabic by Elisabeth Jaquette Melville House May 24, 2016 224 pages There aren’t any spaceships or spirits in The Queue; no mutant alien viruses or Martian colonies, either. And yet, it is speculative fiction, because Basma Abdel Aziz has taken the reality of Egypt’s oppressive security … Continue reading Speculative Fiction in Translation: The Queue
‘Hiroshima Child’ a poem by Nazim Hikmet
'Hiroshima Child' I come and stand at every door But none can hear my silent tread I knock and yet remain unseen For I am dead for I am dead I'm only seven though I died In Hiroshima long ago I'm seven now as I was then When children die they do not grow My … Continue reading ‘Hiroshima Child’ a poem by Nazim Hikmet
Translating Dystopia: An Excerpt from Yasser Abdel Hafez’s ‘The Book of Safety’
"I’ve no experience with children, but generally speaking, shouldn’t they seem joyous and uninhibited?"
An Excerpt from Mohamed Rabie’s Prize-winning Dystopia ‘Otared’
“Price of entry is one unopened packet of cigarettes. No weapons here. If you’re carrying a weapon, chuck it down that hole, now. No talking to the pedestrians and no looking at their faces. If you’re carrying a mask, then put it on; otherwise cover your face with a scarf or a sheet of newspaper."
New Egyptian Literary Voices: Dystopias, Thrillers, Graphic Novels, and Future Histories
Look for excerpts of two of these novels forthcoming next week on GLLI!
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 