What a week it has been in literature! Have you spent the best part of last week submerged in our new July 2016 issue? If you haven’t, now might be a time to take a break, take a breath, and plunge into The Dive.
Also, July 28 is being celebrated as a Day of Creativity for Ashraf Fayadh, the Palestinian poet imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for writing that allegedly spreads atheism. Artists from around the world are using blogs, videos, social media, and other creative measures to support Fayadh.
Going south, Granta magazine featured an essay by Pwaangulongii Dauod from his upcoming novel, Africa’s Future Has No Space for Stupid Black Men. Further west, there’s a literary outburst in the United Kingdom concerning the Brexit. The Quietus has a convenient list of books and pieces about that. Another literary listicle from this week includes 8 Latin American authors who influenced the great and popular Junot Díaz. We won’t list anymore listicles, we promise!
In anniversaries, the Pakistan Academy of Letters turned 40 in June. Read more about their longstanding history and support of writers here. Going further east, if you have been curious about spotting one too many translations of premodern Chinese poetry of late, this Los Angeles Review of Books essay explains their sudden popularity. And if you actually noticed that spike, you will certainly want to read The New Yorker‘s essay about the remarkable forgotten life of H. T. Tsiang (he wrote the first ever novel on Chinatown by a Chinese American), an excerpt from Hua Hsu’s quirky novel, A Floating Chinaman.
We believe that’s enough essays on top of Asymptote’s exciting new issue to keep this weekend busy! Tune into this column next Friday for the most recent updates from the literary world. We will make sure you don’t miss any more important listicles.