A
novel based on facts about an underground
prison in the deserts of Morocco has won the
International Impac Dublin Literary Award
2004. Written by Tahar Ben Jalloun, the
novel titled This Blinding Absence of
Light tells the harrowing tale of a man
who has spent 20 years in prison. T. Ben
Jalloun has won the award that is worth
100,000 Euros and is the richest prize for a
single work of literature. Across the world,
162 libraries in 47 countries made the
nominations. Blinding Absence won
from an international shortlist of ten.
The English translation of the work done by
Linda Coverdale won the award. The book was
originally written in French and the prize
money will be divided between the writer and
the translator.
Ben Jelloun, who was born in 1944 in Fez,
Morocco, migrated to France in 1961.
James Joyce honoured
On June 16 hundreds turned out to honour
James Joyce in Dublin. Starting off with a
traditional Bloomsbury breakfast, fans of
Joyce and his novel Ulysses joined
the Irish president Mary McAleese to
celebrate the event. Actors acted out scenes
from the novel but for one person the day
was to be a lengthy trek. Philip Joyce, a
grand nephew of the acclaimed writer, walked
160 miles over five days to attend the event
and raise money for charity. "I decided to
do it rather than stand around looking
pretty. It is a little bit different and
they are more than welcome to anything I can
do," he explained. Asked if he could write
he said, "I do write a small bit but I'd
better keep up the day job."
Dublin has planned more than 80 official
events to mark the 100th anniversary of
Bloomsbury in Dublin.
And the Orange goes to...
Andrea Levy has won the 2004 Orange Prize
for her novel Small Island. The book
is about a Jamaican couple who arrive in
England after the Second World War. A
resident of north London, Levy won the
£30,000 award, which recognizes women
writers. The prize caught her by surprise "I
was shocked - I didn't think this would
happen," she said. "It was a fantastic
shortlist with fantastic authors."
Other nominees included Gillian Slovo,
Margaret Atwood, Rose Tremain and Shirley
Hazzard.
Levy admits that the novel is
semi-autobiographical and is about her
parents who arrived in Britain in 1948.
"It's very much part of my personal
history," Levy said, "so I very much wanted
to go back and have a look at what
immigration means, not only for the people
that come but for the people who are here."
Tolstoy tops book list
Oprah Winfrey has done it again. This time
she has helped Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna
Karenina to top the US bestseller list
by featuring it in her popular book club
which is renowned for guaranteeing success
on the bestseller list.
Winfrey told readers not to "be scared" by
the book's 837-page length and they weren't
especially after Winfrey described it as
"one of the greatest love stories of our
time".
This classic novel first published in 1875
is about a married Russian society woman who
has a passionate affair. The newest
translation has been published by Penguin
who are having to keep up with the sky
rocketing demand. They have ordered a print
run of 961,030 to meet demand for the book
DeWitt lost and found
The author of the acclaimed The Last
Samurai was found in good condition by
Niagara Falls by the police after being
reported missing. Helen DeWitt, 46, was last
seen near her home in Staten Island after
which no one heard from her and a search was
undertaken by the police. She was finally
tracked down by the Niagara Falls police
department and taken to a hospital for
evaluation.
Her critically acclaimed debut novel, The
Last Samurai, tells the story of a
single mother and her son, Ludo, who reads
ancient Greek at age four and obsessively
watches the classic Japanese film "The Seven
Samurai".
Author going blind
Australian writer Colleen McCullough has
said she is going blind. McCullough 67,
author of The Thorn Birds among other
novels, said in a television interview that
she won't be able to write more books. She
added, "Every book from now, I have to think
maybe that's the last one." The writer has
had a past brush with cancer but says this
is more frightening "With cancer you either
live or you die. That, in a funny way, is
more bearable than to be told you're going
to lose your most important sense, which is
your sight. So much of me is tied up in
writing and reading. It's my life. It's what
I love to do most."
A smoker, McCullough said she would not stop
smoking even though it is known to
accelerate her condition, "The words are in
the cigarettes," she said. Speaking of
dictating her future novels McCullough says
she detests the idea. "I've always despised
writers who dictate. For me that's sloppy
Barbara Cartland stuff."
Bill Bryson wins
American travel writer Bill Bryson has won
the prestigious 2004 Aventis Prize for
popular science books. The work called A
Short History of Nearly Everything is an
exploration of science targeted specifically
for someone who found school lessons "boring
and mystifying".
Bryson received a cheque for £10,000 during
a gala dinner at the Royal Society in London
recently. Known more for his travelogues,
Bryson said that the book had been a
travelogue in many ways. "What I learned was
not all the big stuff like Isaac Newton and
Albert Einstein - it was that science is
about tens of thousands of people that do
tiny, tiny things that all accrete into a
larger body of knowledge," he explained.
"What I tried to do in the book was to
celebrate some of these people."
A Short History of Nearly Everything
focuses on intriguing aspects of science
such as the origins of the universe; the
historical discovery of the size and age of
the Earth; relativity and quantum theory;
the present and future threats to life and
the planet; and the origins and history of
life and the evolution of man.
Australian wins Britain's richest prize
Britain's richest literary prize went to an
Australian author. Anne Funder was awarded
the $59,000 2004 Samuel Johnson Prize for
Nonfiction for the book Stasiland:
Stories From Behind the Berlin Wall.
Funder is a former lawyer and TV producer
and this is her first book. In the work the
writer unearths "extraordinary tales from
the underbelly" of the former East Germany
according to the judges. The BBC sponsors
the Samuel Johnson Prize for Nonfiction.
Funder defeated American author Bill Bryson
for his bestseller, A Short History of
Nearly Everything, and Pulitzer Prize
winner Anne Applebaum's Gulag: A History
of the Soviet State, who had made the
shortlist for the prize, which celebrates
originality and diversity in contemporary
nonfiction publishing.
In her book Funder visits the man who
painted the line that became the Berlin
Wall, meets the woman accused of potentially
sparking a conflict by trying to cross the
border and gets drunk with the "Mik Jegger"
of the East.
Italian writer honoured
Spain's Prince of Asturias Prize for Letters
went to Italy's Claudio Magris, a writer who
has focused his attention on central and
eastern European themes. The jury praised
the writings of the 65-year-old by saying
"his writing embodies the best humanist
tradition and represents the cosmopolitan
image of European literature at the
beginning of the 21st century". Adding that
Magris' work represents "a borderless and
diverse Europe that is caring and open to
dialogue between cultures".
Born in 1939 Italy, Magris began writing at
age 24. His first book was The Hapsburg
Myth in Modern Austrian Literature.
Magris later worked as a novelist, essayist,
literary critic and a professor of German
literature at the University of Trieste
producing such acclaimed works as
Inferences on a Sabre, Microcosms and
Danube, which describes life and history
along one of Europe's main rivers from
Germany's Bavarian hills, through the
Balkans to the Black Sea.
There are eight Prince of Asturias prizes
which are presented annually in the fields
of sciences, humanities and public affairs
and are considered the Spanish-speaking
world's equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
The prizes include a cash award of $60,000
and a sculpture by Spanish artist Joan Miro,
and are presented by the heir to the Spanish
throne, Prince Felipe of Asturias.
Pakistani writer's first novel
Alhamra Publishing has released a new novel
titled Black Wings by Pakistani
writer Sehba Sarwar. The novel is about a
mother and daughter, Laila and Yasmeen, who
struggle to meet across generations,
cultures and secrets. The scene is set when
Laila goes to visit her daughter Yasmeen, a
divorcee who lives in Houston with her
children.
Commenting on Black Wings, leading
novelist Bapsi Sidhwa said, "With a keen eye
for sensory detail, Sehba Sarwar evokes the
ambience of Pakistan as deftly as she
portrays the life of a migrant family in
America. A charming, suspenseful and
well-structured first novel.''
Sehba Sarwar said that the novel is based on
her memories of growing up in Karachi and is
about family and separation. ''Ultimately,
the novel speaks of how family stories
become realities, especially when there's
distance." Sehba Sarwar received her
secondary educationin Karachi and went on to
earn an undergraduate degree in English at
Mount Holyoke College, USA. After returning
to Karachi she worked as assistant editor
for the eveninger Star before returning to
the US to obtain a graduate degree in public
affairs from the University of Texas at
Austin. She has lived in Houston for the
last ten years and is married to a
Mexican-American educator.
Madonna's third
Madonna is really doing well in her newfound
career as a children's author and is ready
with her third book for children. Titled
Yakov and the Seven Thieves, the book
has been written for readers aged six and
up. Madonna describes the book as "a story
about how all of us have the ability to
unlock the gates of heaven - no matter how
unworthy we think we are. For when we go
against our selfish natures, we make
miracles happen, in our lives and in the
lives of others."
This is the third in the five books the
controversial singer plans to publish. Her
fourth book, The Adventures of Abdi,
is expected around November. |
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