It has been a joy and honor to have been the Guest Editor for #WITMonth for the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative blog. I hope you have enjoyed the 26 books I have chosen as much as I have choosing them. I started this my book project two and a half years ago not knowing … Continue reading #WITMonth-that’s a wrap!
Day 24: 🇲🇰 A Spare Life
In a Nutshell: A coming-of-age epic from Two Lines Press, a publisher of translations. It is 1984 and twins, Zlata and Srebra, live in communist Yugoslavia, their bodies are conjoined at the head. The novel spans from their impoverished childhood in Skopje to 2012 Skopje with some time spent in London. I completely escaped into … Continue reading Day 24: 🇲🇰 A Spare Life
Day 23: 🇲🇺 Silence of the Chagos
In a Nutshell: What a gem of a book this is. It tells the story of Charlesia and Désiré, both from the island of Diego García. It is also about the plight of the Chagossian people, expelled from their archipelago to enable the United States to build one of their main military bases. The book … Continue reading Day 23: 🇲🇺 Silence of the Chagos
Day 22: 🇨🇴 Holiday Heart
I read this in an evening and a half. What a treat.Robayo’s prose is cutting, sardonic, precise and witty, brilliantly translated by Charlotte Coombe. In a Nutshell: Lucía and Pablo are a married couple, originally from Colombia they now live in the USA with their twins, Rosa and Tomás. We meet the family just as … Continue reading Day 22: 🇨🇴 Holiday Heart
Day 19: 🇩🇰 The Copenhagen Trilogy
The Copenhagen Trilogy consists of Childhood (1967), Youth (1967) and Dependency (1971). They were first published by Penguin in English in 2019. Book 1: Childhood In a Nutshell: Childhood is the first volume in The Copenhagen Trilogy, from one of Denmark’s most celebrated twentieth-century writers. Childhood is written in a similar vein to Elena Ferrante’s … Continue reading Day 19: 🇩🇰 The Copenhagen Trilogy
Day 18: 🇳🇴 A Modern Family by Helga Flatland
In a Nutshell: When adult siblings, Liv, Ellen and Häkon, along with their partners and children, gather in Rome to celebrate their father’s 70th birthday, their lives are thrown into disarray when their parents announce that they have decided to divorce. It is told predominantly from the perspectives of the two sisters, Ellen and Liv … Continue reading Day 18: 🇳🇴 A Modern Family by Helga Flatland
Day 16: 🇦🇫 Washing the Dust from Our Hearts: Poetry and Prose from Writers of the Afghan Women’s Writing Project
An Observation: It seems a necessary entry in my book project given the situation in Afghanistan right now. Find out more about AWWP here: https://awwproject.org/ In a Nutshell: Washing the Dust from Our Hearts: Poetry and Prose is a bilingual anthology, it was first written in English then translated as a whole into Dari (Afghan … Continue reading Day 16: 🇦🇫 Washing the Dust from Our Hearts: Poetry and Prose from Writers of the Afghan Women’s Writing Project
Day 15: 🇨🇳 Half a Lifelong Romance
In a Nutshell: Half a Lifelong Romance is set in the 1930s, the only clue of when the book is set, is a reference towards the end of the book, to the Battle of Shanghai, which started in August 1937: “the battle of Shanghai began in mid-august and the fighting was intense for three months.” … Continue reading Day 15: 🇨🇳 Half a Lifelong Romance
Day 13 🇲🇲: The Native Tourist: a Holiday Pilgrimage in Myanmar
In a Nutshell: Ma Thanegi was imprisoned for three years for her involvement in the 1988 uprisings as a personal assistant to Aung San Suu Kyi. Whilst in prison, she decided that upon release, she would take a road trip/go on a pilgrimage, by bus in Myanmar. The Native Tourist is a travelogue of sorts … Continue reading Day 13 🇲🇲: The Native Tourist: a Holiday Pilgrimage in Myanmar
Day 12: 🇲🇽 Tell Me How it Ends
In a Nutshell: Luiselli is a Mexican writer/journalist, who currently lives in New York City. Tell me How it Ends is about Luiselli’s experiences working as a volunteer for the Federal Courts in NYC. She interviews unaccompanied migrant children, she then translates and transcribes their interviews. A wonderful if sometimes harrowing read. Observations: This book … Continue reading Day 12: 🇲🇽 Tell Me How it Ends
