Authors as programmers, Seamus Heaney’s postage stamp, and more
News, Reviews, and Interviews
During the Edinburgh International Book Festival, author Michael Rosen asked a controversial question: what is the point of books?
To honor the country she called home during her childhood, over 3,000 books from Doris Lessing’s personal collection are making their way to a library in Zimbabwe.
Our very own editor in chief, Daniel Simon, spoke with Nathalie Handal about the literary history of Norman, Oklahoma, in her recurring feature for Words Without Borders.
One year after the world mourned his death, Seamus Heaney and his legacy will be remembered through a new postage stamp issued in Ireland.
John Freeman, the former editor of Granta and former president of the National Book Critics Circle, was recently interviewed in Publisher’s Weekly, where he talked about his great love of editing and how his newest venture, Freeman’s, pairs this love with great literature.
Why are so few South Asian translators published in the U.S.? Now you can read all four parts of Mahmud Rahman’s probing blog series for Asymptote.
A newly published e-book from the Dalkey Archive and the British Centre for Literary Translation outlines the entire translation process, from choosing a translator to final edits.
During the Edinburgh International Book Festival, 2014 Puterbaugh Fellow Andrés Neuman talks about his inspiration for writing short stories. (For more on the literature of Andrés Neuman, don’t miss the three translated poems we featured in our May-August double issue.)
For Your Calendar
Next week, join fellow authors and PEN American members in a display of literary strength against surveillance during the Brooklyn Book Festival.
We’ve announced the schedule of events for the 2014 Neustadt Festival, honoring Mia Couto this October.
Banned Books Week is just around the corner! Use the American Library Association’s event calendar to find events near you.
Save on new and upcoming titles from the University of Oklahoma Press. Add promo code “NEWBOOKS01” at checkout.
Fun Finds and Inspiration
What would it look like if famous authors programmed code? In the whimsical new book If Hemingway Wrote JavaScript author Angus Croll reimagines authors as modern-day programmers.
Beau Beausoleil, the force behind the “Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here” project, is looking for submissions of your favorite Arabic literary quotes that have been translated into English. Information on how to submit your favorites is available here.
Can poetry be used in the healing process? A new scholarly article explores how poetry can be used to help prevent and to aid in the healing process after suicide.
