Review by Tânia Cerqueira Please note: I am a non-Indigenous reader who grew up in Portugal, a country known for its colonial exploitation and genocide. Funeral Songs for Dying Girls by Cherie Dimaline (author of The Marrow Thieves [2017] and its sequel, Hunting by Stars [2021]) is a poignant and beautifully written story that explores the … Continue reading #IntlYALitMonth Review: Funeral Songs for Dying Girls
#EndangeredAlphabets: Succeed at Your Peril
Topographic map in the Bamum script from early 20th-century Cameroon. Image courtesy of the Incunabula Library. Creating a new script for an indigenous people during a colonial era is a two-edged sword. The desire to claim and assert one’s cultural identity may provide the driving force that sustains an author through the long, hard work … Continue reading #EndangeredAlphabets: Succeed at Your Peril
#EndangeredAlphabets: Trotting Out Camels
“Save our language” in the Zaghawa language and the Beria script, in which each letter resembles a camel branding symbol. Carved by the author. Right, let’s get this month going. Let’s head out into the fascinating world of Indigenous and minority scripts. And let’s start by talking about camels. I’m trotting out camels, so to … Continue reading #EndangeredAlphabets: Trotting Out Camels
#DegrowthLitMonth: Dark Emu
Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe Published by Magabala books Pages: 278 ISBN: 9781921248016 Release date: March 1, 2014 Dark Emu is an incredibly well-researched book which uses the diaries and notes of British colonizers to paint a very different picture of pre-colonial Australia than that which we are often told. Far from being "primitive hunter-gatherers", … Continue reading #DegrowthLitMonth: Dark Emu
#IntlYALitMonth: Sabrina & Corina: Stories
Sabrina & Corina: Stories Trigger warning: This book contains scenes of violence and sexual assault that some readers may find triggering to read. Home is where Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s debut short story collection Sabrina & Corina takes place. Home is Denver, Colorado, home is familial, generational relationships between women, but home is also being ripped apart by … Continue reading #IntlYALitMonth: Sabrina & Corina: Stories
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 