In 2018, BBC Culture polled literary experts around the world to “nominate up to five fictional stories they felt had shaped mindsets or influenced history.” They received responses from 108 writers, critics, journalists, academics, and translators from 35 countries, who selected novels, folk tales, poetry, and dramas in 33 different languages. We ran a piece […]
Tag Archives: J M Coetzee
Trevor Noah Loves J. M. Coetzee, Zakes Mda, and Sol Plaatje
Trevor Noah is known as a comedian. Those of us living in the US know him as the host of the popular comedy show The Daily Show. But he has since become a literary figure—ever since his memoirs, titled Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, hit the stands earlier this month. Noah was […]
African Writers’ Birthday | Happy Birthday to J. M. Coetzee!
Happy Birthday to J. M. Coetzee! One of Africa’s most celebrated authors is 75 years old today. Coetzee has won the Booker Prize twice—one for Life & Times of Michael K and a second for Disgrace. In 2003, he officially became a literary A-lister with his Nobel Prize win. The really cool thing about Coetzee is […]
“A Near Perfect Story”— Review of Diane Awerbuck’s Caine Prize Story by Richard Ali
Keeping our promise to bring you reviews of all five stories shortlisted for the Caine Prize, we featured Aaron Bady’s review of Billy Kahora’s story last week. This week, it’s Nigerian novelist, Richard Ali, reviewing Diane Awerbuck’s story titled “Phosphorescence.” Awerbuck’s story was originally published in Cabin Fever, her 2011 short story collection. Read story HERE. Let […]
Achebe and Coetzee Get Cover Makeover
100 graphic designers from 28 countries teamed up to redesign the covers of 100 classic novels of all time. Of the hundred novels featured, two are African: Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Waiting for the barbarian written by South Africa’s J. M. Coetzee. The organizers say the cover redesign were made with “contemporary trends in design and illustration” […]
The Booker Prize Shortlist For 2012 Is Out
The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a highly prestigious literary award for the best novel of the year written by an author from a nation in the British commonwealth or from Ireland and Zimbabwe. 50,000 pounds is a lot of money so, of course, that’s a big part of the whole excitement surrounding the award. But […]
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