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Why Do Evil and Suffering Exist? Religion Has One Answer, Literature Another.
In the church of my childhood, we believed God’s angels battled demons in a war for our souls. This was not a metaphor. We were Pentecostals, though not strictly and not always. We weren’t picky about denomination; what mattered was belief in the redeeming blood of Christ, in the Bible literally interpreted and in God’s…
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‘Murder’s Easy. We Did Something Much Worse.’
There’s a mordant theme to this month’s column; in three of the four books, dark humor undercuts despair and sardonic wit compensates for failure. Nowhere are these traits more on display than in DEATH OF THE RED RIDER (Pushkin Vertigo, 396 pp., paperback, $16.95), the second appearance of Yulia Yakovleva’s Stalin-era detective, Vasily Zaitsev, who…
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A Trip to the French Countryside, and Through Time
Mathias Énard’s new novel, “The Annual Banquet of the Gravediggers’ Guild,” considers the jumble of life in a variety of stories and styles. THE ANNUAL BANQUET OF THE GRAVEDIGGERS’ GUILD, by Mathias Énard. Translated by Frank Wynne. To fully appreciate what Mathias Énard is up to in his new novel, “The Annual Banquet of the…
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Delaware Festival of Words inspires teens about books and publishing
Do you know a Delaware teen who loves to read, their nose always buried in a book? Or one who is always sketching the characters and worlds they’ve dreamt up? What about one who dreams of becoming a published author? On Saturday, Dec. 2, at St. George’s Technical High School, Delaware teens can spend the…
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From ‘thunks’ to mixed reality, the future of books is interactive
As it advances, technology shapes and changes how we interact with almost everything in our lives, and books are no exception. With the introduction of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the tension between the literary world and generative artificial intelligence is palpable. It feels like the future of books might be endangered or at least up in the…
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Book captures last Limerick voices of the Irish revolution
THE IRISH Civil War ended in 1923. Eighty years on, author and documentary-maker Tom Hurley wondered if there were many civilians and combatants left from across Ireland who had experienced the years 1919 to 1923, their prelude and their aftermath. What memories had they, what were their stories and how did they reflect on those…
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Why China is falling in love with Korean fiction
To gauge the popularity of contemporary Korean literature in China today, one need not look past Kim Cho-yeop’s short-story collection If We Cannot Move at the Speed of Light (2019). Published in Chinese in 2022, this year it won the Korean science fiction writer both the Chinese Nebula Award for Best Translated Work and the…
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A bookstore in New York draws attention to literary gems
BySonya Dutta Choudhury Nov 19, 2023 12:27 PM IST Share Via Copy Link The literary inspirations of authors help readers unlock a great mystery. For those participating in NaNoWriMo, there are some good lessons to learn from this Dear Reader, PREMIUM The Albertine Bookstore, Central Park, New York(Courtesy: The author) It’s Sunday morning in New…
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Non-Fiction Comic Festival teaches comic books are more than cartoons
BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Combining nonfiction with comics. While not so common… this genre of books was the focus at the Fletcher Free Library where they celebrated the second annual nonfiction comics festival. The topics covered by nonfiction comics can range from journalism to graphic medicine. Burlington Resident Romaney Granizo Mackenzie says she’s always been…
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The Arts & Trouble Literary Arts Lab Celebrates Fiction, Food, and Festivity
Professor Vu Tran speaking with author Antoine Wilson. (Jin Oishi) The Arts & Trouble Literary Arts Lab, hosted by the University’s Creative Writing Department, was a two-day festival from October 19 to October 20. The festival featured poetry and fiction readings and faculty-moderated panel discussions with authors Jeffrey Yang, Daisy Hernandez, Antoine Wilson, and Chang-rae…