Beginning the weekly roundup is often, well, awkward. But I’d like to think my overtures are not quite as cringe-inducing as these ten worst openers in (English-language) literature.
On that note, if you feel like clicking away from this post to go do something more “productive,” don’t abandon your procrastination so quickly—it turns out the oft-reviled quality of procrastination isn’t so bad for you after all. Speaking of putting things off, while I personally didn’t study for the math portion of my GRE, I passed with (relatively) flying colors. Wonder why, but habits of polyglottism may have something to do with it.
At this point, Nobel Literature Prize speculation is practically unavoidable. According to Ladbrokes, the chances are good for Japanese phenomenon Haruki Murakami—though Kenyan poet-author Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong’o and Norwegian Jon Fosse aren’t far behind. Also on the betting table? American folk hero Bob Dylan, who, though famous for his inventiveness, appears in a startling place among Swedish scientists, who sneak his lyrics into their decidedly stodgy scientific articles.
The French-language Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie has awarded its highest honor (five-continent wide!) to Algerian novelist Kamel Daoud, for the book Meursault, contre-enquête (or Meursault, Counter-inquiry), who has received another prizewinning nod from the Prix François Mauriac. (Recognize that name in the title? Another Algerian by the name of Albert Camus should jog your memory). And speaking of prizes—here’s one we really can get behind. After a Words Without Borders blog post and a hashtag, a prize for women in translation, announced by superstar translator Katy Derbyshire, looms on the horizon. Let’s hope it inspires some more good turns.
While authors debate digital monolith Google’s proposed Free Library, the search engine-turned-master-of-the-online-world has outpaced its former peer, the Yahoo Directory, which is slated to shut down by the end of 2014. Sometimes, the classics do stick around, though in different form, as is the case with Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s epic Crime and Punishment—now also a Broadway musical, hitting the Moscow stage at long last.
You may have heard about the French bookstore and reading lounge Albertine opening in New York City—but in the meantime, the oldest and one of the most venerated bookshops in Paris, Librairie Delamain, faces closure because of declining profits.
Finally, for readers (and writers) on the adventurous side: take a look at Under the Volcano, a small writing residency in Mexico.
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