A Roald Dahlian eco-parable for middle grade readers, The Story of the Blue Planet* takes place on a special, beautiful planet strikingly similar to earth and inhabited only by children. These Peter-Pan-esque protagonists never age and come in all shapes and sizes. Some are “even weird like the child you see in the mirror.” They can … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Weekend: The Story of the Blue Planet
Abigail by Magda Szabó, translated from the Hungarian by Len Dix Who doesn't love a boarding school novel? Especially one written by an author who actually experienced life within a similar one for herself? Hungarians love this book so much, they voted it their third most-beloved novel during the Hungarian Big Read of 2005. So … Continue reading #IntlYALitMonth: Abigail
When I was a kid, I loved to count all sorts of things, as so many children do. Because numbers are fascinating! Even the names are cool: long before there was Google, there were googols and googolplexes. In Stars and Poppy Seeds, a picture book for ages 3-7, Flora is the child of mathematicians. And … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Stars and Poppy Seeds
To be Kurdish is to be perpetually in exile. Originally a nomadic population in the mountainous region of southwest Asia, they fell victim to the nationalization movements of the post Ottoman era, their domain divided between Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Armenia and Syria. Not considered full citizens anywhere they have been considered traitors, terrorists and undesirables … Continue reading Literature of Exile: Kurdish poets Kajal Ahmad, Sherko Bekas, and Abdulla Pashew
One of the tragedies of the Armenian genocide is that there are still those who deny it happened. Beginning in 1914, the Ottoman authorities in Anatolia deported and killed over a million and a half ethnic Armenians. Although Turkey continues to deny it, the genocide against the Armenians is now generally recognized worldwide. Twenty-nine countries … Continue reading Literature of Exile: The Armenian Genocide
“It is boundlessly difficult to be a stranger. Your usual ways of behaving bear no fruit: if your habits are not fit for purpose, you might as well be a wheel off its axle, alone over and over again.” “I am a stranger at home, and I am nobody abroad.” A common trope in folklore … Continue reading Literature of Exile: Hamid Ismailov and Exile as Folktale
Iraqi Kurdistan at the turn of the twenty-first century is a territory ruled by strongmen, revolutionaries, fixers, bureaucrats, and the "Barons" who control everything from livestock and land to Kurdish cultural life. Defying the absolute power wielded by the Barons, a band of friends led by an enigmatic poet embark on an odyssey to find … Continue reading Minority Languages Translated Book Pick: I Stared at the Night of the City by Bakhtiyar Ali (Kurdish)
Like A New Sun showcases the vibrant contemporary poetry being written in indigenous Mexican languages. Featuring poets writing in Huasteca, Nahuatl, Isthmus Zapotec, Mazatec, Tsotsil, Yucatec Maya, and Zoque, this groundbreaking anthology introduces readers to six of the most dynamic indigenous Mexican poets writing today. Co-edited by Isthmus Zapotec poet Víctor Terán and translator David … Continue reading Minority Languages Translated Book Pick: Like a New Sun: New Indigenous Mexican Poetry
A brilliant new translation of Ó Cadhain’s modern Irish literature masterpiece, meant to spark debate and comparison with Alan Titley's Dirty Dust, now with bonus materials on its history, reception, interpretations, adaptations, and more In critical opinion and popular polls, Máirtín Ó Cadhain’s Graveyard Clay is invariably ranked the most important prose work in modern … Continue reading Minority Languages Translated Book Pick: Graveyard Clay by Máirtín Ó Cadhain (Irish)
Set in the politically charged climate of the Basque Country in the 1980s, Twist relates the disappearance and brutal murder of two ETA militants at the hands of the Spanish army. The novel centers on their friend and fellow activist Diego Lazkano, who, since revealing his comrades to the authorities, has been tormented by guilt. … Continue reading Minority Languages Translated Book Pick: Twist by Harkaitz Cano (Basque)
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 