We’ve got an ambiguous relationship with today’s rosy-hued holiday. If you choose to partake without requisite romantic partner, express self-love by treating yourself to books! There’s nothing dreamier than cozying up with a reading list inspired by former Asymptote contributor and (according to Susan Sontag) “master of the apocalypse” Hungarian László Krasznahorkai. If a trip down memory lane with the likes of Kafka, Krudy, and Bernhard doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, don’t fret: you could catch up on Norwegian memoirist Karl Ove Knaussgaard’s musings anticipating the English-language release of the third installment to his epic autobiographical novel, My Struggle (and read a sneak peek here). Austrian author Stefan Zweig’s work has been largely overlooked, but that may change soon thanks to hipster filmmaker Wes Anderson’s upcoming The Grand Budapest Hotel. If none of these options sound sufficiently enticing, go on a literary date with nostalgia: before he was a big-name writer, Japanese author Haruki Murakami was proprietor of a swanky jazz club. READ MORE…
Posts filed under 'roundup'
Weekly news Roundup, 14th February 2014: NASA fiction, Vietnamese pioneering, The (funny) Hummus
A look at some of the most important literary news this past week
Weekly News Roundup, 7th February 2014: Sochi scandals, Library changes, Humans and their hometowns
A look at some of the most important literary news this past week
The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi blast off in just a few short hours—but despite transcontinental fanfare, Russia’s severe censorship and anti-homosexuality laws have already (rather predictably) overshadowed this year’s Games. Over 200 authors have signed a petition with the international PEN Center, including the likes of Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, and Günter Grass, in an open letter condemning Putin’s recently passed gay propaganda and blasphemy laws. In Guernica, an interview with investigative journalist Masha Gessen on Russia’s shrinking public space and the “personal catastrophe” of self-imposed exile. Masha Gessen edited OR Books’ recently published Gay Propaganda: Russian love Stories, putting faces to those affected by the oppression (read excerpts here). Amid political controversy, the PEN Center brings light to an often-overlooked element of contemporary Russia: what’s the literary scene like today? We’ll give you a primer: check out three contemporary Russian women poets or ten wonderful Russian novels you probably haven’t read yet.
It’s time for Asymptote’s monthly community news roundup, featuring our fantastic editors’ latest accomplishments. Learn what Croatian novel to read this weekend, what to do Friday night in Philadelphia, where to catch a play set in neo-Elizabethan Appalachia, and who is Asymptote’s Guest Artist for the April issue… READ MORE…
Weekly News Roundup, 24th January 2014: Overrating American literature, Libraries in flux, Ironical semicolons
A look at some of the most important literary news this past week
Xiaolu Guo’s got a bone to pick with American publishers. At a panel called “the Global Novel” at the Jaipur International Literary Festival, she (now-famously) remarked, “American literature is massively overrated,” and it was this week’s grumble heard ‘round the literary world. She has got some very good points—here’s the discussion in full—but that’s not the whole story. Via Three Percent, a rant in response. READ MORE…