Sundays used to be for lounging with the papers, now they are just as likely for lounging with iPads. So if you're lazily clicking around looking for something to read, here are a few suggestions, focussing on what's going on lit-wise in Asia.
(Inter)National Novel Writing Month
Part writing boot camp, part rollicking party, this November USA-based National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), which is actually an international event, celebrates its 18th year of encouraging novelists to get cracking, through the largest writing event in the world.
Indie spotlight: Tabby Stirling
Indie Spotlight is Siobhan Daiko's monthly column on self-publishing. This month Siobhan offers a platform to indie author Tabby Stirling.
Tabby now lives in Scotland with her husband, two children and a beagle, but she was previously an expat in Singapore. She has had several flash and short stories published in Spelk fiction, Camroc Fiction Press, Literary Orphans, Mslexia and others.
Tabby recently signed with Unbound, a UK-based literary crowdfunding publisher, for her novel Blood on the Banana Leaf. This shines a light on the maid abuse that came to her attention whilst she was living in Singapore. It explores how women cope in the most demeaning of circumstances.
Over to Tabby…
Labels: Indie spotlight, Singapore
The Sellout by Paul Beatty wins Man Booker Prize for Fiction
The Sellout by Paul Beatty has won the 2016 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. The Sellout is published by small independent publisher Oneworld, who had their first win in 2015 with Marlon James' A Brief History of Seven Killings.
Questions & answers: Alexandra Curry
About Alexandra Curry: Alexandra is a Canadian-born author of Austrian and British parentage. She has lived in Asia, including in Singapore and Taiwan, in Europe, and in Canada. Her current home is in the United States. She says: "No doubt about it, my background has been shaped by several cultures, and the way I see the world is very much informed by the way these cultures have blended together for me." She has worked as a teacher, model, banker and accountant. The Courtesan is her first novel.
Just quickly...
I'm very pleased that The Elephant Bar, a short story I wrote for Illustrated London News / Raffles Magazine is now online. Never mind the words, I LOVE the illustrations. Click here to see them! The story is set in colonial-era Siem Reap, and concerns an ingénue mixing it with a mysterious Russian photographer...
Labels: Cambodia, Just quickly
Sunday Social
Asia Literary Review and English PEN
English PEN in association with the Asia Literary Review has just announced a terrific opportunity for translators and writers in East and South-East Asia - a new translation project and award, PEN Presents East and South-East Asia.
Karachi Literature Festival travels to London
To celebrate 70 years of Pakistan's creation, Pakistan's biggest literary event, the Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) produced by Oxford University Press (OUP), will be launched in London on 20 May 2017 at the Southbank Centre, as part of their annual Alchemy festival. KLF London promises to be a vibrant celebration of Pakistani literature and arts, providing a fantastic opportunity for Londoners to gain an insight into the country's complex history and culture.
Labels: Pakistan
500 words from Graham Sage
500 words from...is a series of guest posts from authors writing about Asia, or published by Asia-based, or Asia-focused, publishing houses, in which they talk about their latest books. Polyglot Graham Sage divides his time between London, China and France. His previous books include an English-language primer for use in China, and the French-language novel Les tribulations de J. Alfred Prufrock au pays des moas géants. In November, he will publish The Phoenix and the Crow, his first novel in English.
The Phoenix and the Crow is a tale of morality and corruption in present-day small-town China. Wang Bin a young teacher and ornithologist from Beijing travels to Pingyang, a small town nestled in the mountains between Sichuan and Hunan. His aim is to photograph the mountain phoenix, a rare bird with a blaze of rich colours that has never before been captured on film.
Wang Bin soon crosses paths with Pingyang's, chief of police, a cruel man who rules with an iron fist. The chief of police tries to drive Wang Bin permanently out of town. But Wang Bin is falling in love with Xiao Zhou, a pretty receptionist at the seedy hotel where he's been staying. Wang Bin, Xiao Zhou and other townsfolk concoct a plan to rid Pingyang of its dreadful chief of police – a plan so far-fetched all agree it might just work.
So, Over to Graham…
Labels: 500 words from, China
International Translation Day
Sept 30 is International Translation Day. Read a book translated from an Asian language this week!
The Sellout by Paul Beatty wins Man Booker Prize ...