Miniature books, literary castles, and more
News, Reviews, and Interviews
The new issue of Poetry International is now available. The double issue features poems by current Neustadt nominee Carolyn Forché; Neustadt laureates Tomas Tranströmer and Duo Duo; Neustadt jurors Kwame Dawes, Fady Joudah, and Lauren Camp; as well as poetry from WLT’s own editor in chief Daniel Simon.
Submissions open for the Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing in September and close December 31, 2015. Maaza Mengiste, Javier Molea, and Ilan Stavans serve as judges.
Mohsin Hamid’s essay discussing living in the age of permawar was featured in the Guardian. A version of this essay was given at the Sydney Writers’ Festival. WLT reviewed Hamid’s latest essay collection in the September issue.
The Boston Review writes about the ironies of embodiment and examines Frank Bidart’s final long poem in his “Hours of the Night” series.
Mark your calendars for the Reykjavík International Literary Festival. Happening from September 9-12.
Did you know that Nobel Prizewinning writer Doris Lessing was under surveillance for more than 20 years? British spies kept classified intelligence on her; those files are now available.
A Heritage Group in Singapore digitized 350 local Tamil literary works for public access.
A garbage collector in Colombia collects abandoned books as reading material for school children.
Fun Finds and Inspiration
What an interesting book collection! Jozsef Tari started his miniature book collection in 1972 and now has over 4,500 literary titles, including the world’s smallest book (2.9 x 3.2 mm).
Literary critic Hellmuth Karasek reviewed the 2016 IKEA catalog under the guise of being the most widely distributed “book” in this funny ad from Switzerland.
Electric Literature featured an infographic of 50 inspirational quotes from literature.
Helen Maslin picks her top 10 literary castles and country houses in this post on the Guardian.
If you’re interested in checking out Edinburgh, don’t forget these literary pubs.
