Jon Fosse’s “Septology,” the seven-novel sequence about art and God that helped win its author last year’s Nobel Prize in Literature, stars two men and a dog. The men are both painters, and, confusingly, both named Asle. The dog, however, is quite straightforward: he’s called Bragi. He is the all-comprehending, inky-eyed companion to the first … Read more
Yeh Chia-ying, a revered figure in Chinese classical poetry and education, died at the age of 100 in the northern port city of Tianjin on Sunday. Often referred to as the “daughter of poetry”, she dedicated seven decades to researching and promoting classical Chinese poetry across mainland China, Taiwan, the United States and Canada. She … Read more
LONDON — British writer Samantha Harvey won the Booker Prize for fiction on Tuesday with “Orbital,” a short, wonder-filled novel set aboard the International Space Station that ponders the beauty and fragility of the Earth. Harvey was awarded the 50,000-pound ($64,000) prize for what she has called a “space pastoral” about six orbiting astronauts, which … Read more
In August 2018, Taiwanese writer Lung Ying-tai’s collection of essays – mostly about her love for her mother – was published in mainland China. It became a bestseller. Lung, who served as Taiwan’s minister of culture from 2012 to 2014, sold nearly 300,000 copies of her book in mainland China – an astonishing figure for … Read more
seoul, south korea — South Koreans flocked to bookstores Friday and crashed websites in a frenzy to snap up copies of the work of novelist Han Kang in her home country, after her unexpected win of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature. However, the author herself was keeping out of the limelight. The country’s largest … Read more
This week, The New Yorker is announcing the longlists for the 2024 National Book Awards, beginning with Young People’s Literature and Translated Literature. Check back on Thursday and Friday for the Poetry, Fiction, and Nonfiction lists. Sign up for the Books & Fiction newsletter to receive each 2024 longlist. Young People’s Literature The titles on … Read more
Edna O’Brien, Ireland’s literary pride and outlaw who scandalized her native land with her debut novel, The Country Girls, before gaining international acclaim as a storyteller and iconoclast that found her welcomed everywhere from Dublin to the White House, has died. She was 93. O’Brien died Saturday after a long illness, according to a statement by … Read more
Western University on Friday took a step toward reconsidering its relationship with acclaimed local writer and Nobel laureate Alice Munro, announcing it has decided to pause a research chair created in her honour. The move by the London, Ont., school comes in the wake of recent revelations that Munro chose to remain married to her second husband … Read more
There was a time when people were shamed for reading smutty books, whether for the steaminess factor or the misconception that romance wasn’t real literature. But now, thanks to the surging popularity of books by authors like Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros, readers are loudly and proudly embracing the genre — and even appear to be naming … Read more
But a new generation of writers is looking beyond recent memory to China’s distant past for inspiration. They view China’s ancient dynasties as something to be celebrated – an attitude that coincides with growing national and cultural pride among young Chinese. Author Ma Boyong is among the most celebrated of this set, having won the … Read more
