#WorldKidLit Wednesday: An Interview with Writer and Translator Eva Apelqvist

Posted on by Nanette McGuinness

Eva Apelqvist is the author of the Swedish-language skateboard mystery Mörker över skateparken (2022 Swedish Mystery Academy Award for best mystery for children and young adults),  Swede Dreams, LGBTQ FAMILIES: The Ultimate Teen Guide, and Getting Ready to Drive: A How To Guide in English, and the translator from Swedish into English of 2024 Michael L. … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: An Interview with Writer and Translator Eva Apelqvist

The Booktrekker: Chile

Posted on by giarrizzo

READ I got about four-fifths of the way through the book I’d decided to read for Chile, Isabel Allende’s epic The House of the Spirits, before it occurred to me to take a look at Allende’s biography. Alas, Allende wasn’t born in Chile, but in Peru. Since my self-imposed rules for this project require that the author … Continue reading The Booktrekker: Chile

Literature of Exile: Palestine

Posted on by crankylibrarian

Like the Kurds, to be a Palestinian is to grow up in exile, and with exile as a family heritage. During the Nakba, the catastrophe of 1948, "more than half of Palestine's native population, close to 800,000 people had been uprooted, 531 villages had been destroyed, and eleven urban neighborhoods emptied of their inhabitants (from … Continue reading Literature of Exile: Palestine

Literature of Exile: Somaliland and Nadif Mohamed

Posted on by crankylibrarian

Do butterflies and moths suffer this perplexity? This ‘how did I get here?’ and ‘who am I?’ crisis? The Somali Civil War is poorly known or understood by many Westerners. After decades of colonialism, the British and Italian-controlled Somali territories united to form the independent Republic of Somalia in 1960. However, in 1988, the military … Continue reading Literature of Exile: Somaliland and Nadif Mohamed

What have I learned after a month with older women?

Posted on by clodge2013

So that was August and this is my final post on the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative blog. I was invited by Karen Van Drie to explore older women in fiction around the world. I have published 25 posts altogether (including this one). Three were written by guests, and many of the book reviews were … Continue reading What have I learned after a month with older women?

A round up of your suggestions and mine

Posted on by clodge2013

I asked for suggestions to include in any round up of older women in fiction around the world. I especially wanted translated fiction. Readers I asked and you answered. Here five in translation and ten altogether. Brilliant! Thank you. I will add these to the list on the page on my own blog: Bookword. About … Continue reading A round up of your suggestions and mine

Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin

Posted on by clodge2013

One of the things I like about blogging is the potential for interaction offered through the internet. My guest on today’s blog post responded to my plea for contributions and suggestions especially from the Far East about older women in fiction. Barbara Witt offers us a preview of a post she will put on her … Continue reading Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin

Great Granny Webster by Caroline Blackwood

Posted on by clodge2013

This short novel is a fearsome portrait of a startling old woman. Great Granny Webster lives in Hove, Sussex, on the south coast of England. She inhabits a dark house, spending her time sitting upright in a chair, doing nothing. This has been her way of life for decades. What makes her live in this … Continue reading Great Granny Webster by Caroline Blackwood

All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West

Posted on by clodge2013

Sometimes it seems that everyone wants to tell older women how they should behave, what their role is, what their life is for. It seems that the experience of 60+ years of life is not expected to assist older women in managing their own lives. Fiction can challenge these expectations. Here is an older woman, … Continue reading All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West

Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey

Posted on by clodge2013

This is the third of my choices from the UK in the series featuring older women in fiction around the world. It is more recent than the previous selections, being published in 2014 and immediately it was winning prizes and topping charts. Maud is a very sympathetic figure, and presented with a great deal of … Continue reading Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey