Banned books, Günter Grass’s death, and more

News, Reviews, and Interviews

Nobel laureate Günter Grass passed away in Lübeck, Germany, at the age of eighty-seven. We have a tribute to Grass written by longtime WLTcontributor Theodore Ziolkowski, who talks about Grass’s effect on the German literary scene and his unmistakable literary voice. The Tin Drum was included in our top 40 list of 20th century books, celebrating the first 75 years of World Literature Today (1927-2001).

Electric Literature’s recommended reading this week is We Are The Olfanauts by WLT contributor Deji Bryce Olukotun. The work is an excerpt from a new anthology of fiction titled Watchlist: 32 Stories by Persons of Interest.

In this new interview from Words without Borders, Nathalie Handal and current WLT contributor Mohsen Emadi discuss Emadi's ties to Tehran as a writer, the nuances he gleans from this city, and what authors he recommends. 

Every year the American Library Association releases a list of the most-challenged books from the previous year. This year’s list includes The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, and more.

In this blog post on the DNA India website, Marisha Karwa analyzes the current state of translation in India, and she praises translators as literature’s unsung heroes.

Fun Finds and Inspiration

The New Yorker examines how to rehabilitate your love for literature even when it features outdated social values. 

Slate showcases a new app that turns popular lines from books, songs, movies, and famous people into GIF quotes.

Examining the relationship between reader and author, this article from the New York Times highlights Jean-Paul Sartre’s essay, “What is Literature?”