Literary prizes, Chinese poetry, bookish hotels, and more

News, Reviews, and Interviews 

Jonathan Stalling, deputy editor in chief of our sister publication Chinese Literature Today, joins in this radio conversation on PRI to discuss Chinese poetry and whether its entering a new golden age.

Two 2012 Neustadt Prize jurors have books that made the 2015 PEN/Open Book Award longlist. Rabih Alameddine’s An Unnecessary Woman and Samrat Upadhyay’s latest novel, The City Son, have both made the list, and the shortlist will be announced in April. You can read a review of Alameddine’s An Unnecessary Woman from the September 2014 issue of WLT.

The Man Booker International Prize finalists were also announced this week, with 2014 Neustadt Prize laureate Mia Couto among the finalists. Couto was featured in the January 2015 issue of WLT.

Join us next week in Norman, OK for two events with writer and translator Zack Rogow. He will read poetry at Mainsite Gallery on Wednesday night and will give a public talk on translating Colette on Thursday.

This article on the Foreign Policy website questions the current state of Russian literature and in particular how Americans “read Russia.”

Fun Funds and Inspiration

This unusual and beautifully illustrated children’s book by writer and illustrator Yuyiu Morales and photographer Tim O’Meara celebrates Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.

Book Riot has a new list of 10 great bookish hotels that includes a room in Russia styled after Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, an Alice in Wonderland-themed hotel in the United Kingdom, and a hotel in Minnesota that boasts a Book Butler who will deliver books to your room.