Pierre Siniac, The Collaborators Translated by Jordan Stump.
Dalkey Archive Press has a new website.
Pierre Siniac, _The Collaborators_No. 2.19.14.
February 19th, 2010Icelandic Literary Prize 2009 awarded. No. 2.14.2010. 13.
February 14th, 2010
The Icelandic Literary Prize 2009 was awarded at a ceremony at Bessastaðir: Guðmundur Óskarsson won in the category of fiction for the novel Bankster from the publisher Ormstunga.
_This Book is Overdue: This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All_No. 2.9.2010. 12.
February 9th, 2010
From WSJ review.
There are many unsung heroes of ordinary life—nurses, trash collectors, accountants—whose job it is to take care of things that the rest of us take for granted. So too the librarian, that iconic figure who long presided over a sanctuary of books and guided readers, young and old, to the treasures of a vast print culture. But the profession has undergone a dramatic transformation of late because libraries themselves are not what they used to be. Today they have less to do with books per se than with computers, films, community events and children’s activities. They are, above all, public portals to the world of “information,” especially the online version. InThis Book Is Overdue!, Marilyn Johnson, a former staff writer for Life magazine, takes us on a tour of the modern library and introduces us to the men and women who call it their professional home.
–Thanks KJP
“20 suits for Europe. Designers converse with literature” No. 2.5.2010. 11.
February 5th, 2010”
To dress a poem, a character, the magic of the imprecise moment that only literature allows; this is 20 dresses for Europe”, says Concha Hernández, the curator, in the exhibition catalogue. “The history of Europe in novels …/… And above all, or at the same level, the gown conceived from the direct inspiration of that literary fragment. They are all here to be enjoyed, for taking pleasure from an exhibition that is a model for intercultural dialogue, a tower of Babel for the senses”.
20 suits for Europe: a dialogue between fashion and literature
The project is part of the special cultural programme organised by the Spanish Presidency in coordination with Belgium and Hungary, the other two countries in the “EU trio”. This multidisciplinary and transnational context gives the exhibition an additional artistic element, as well as a marked European flavour, providing a metaphor for the constant exchange experienced by Europe’s citizens and its cultural diversity.
The Literature Police No. 2.3.2010. 10.
February 3rd, 2010The Literature Police by Peter D. McDonald.
“Indispensable reading if we wish to understand the forces forming and deforming literary production in South Africa during the apartheid years.” – JM Coetzee
On the website is the Database: The most complete record to date of decisions the censors made about works that can be identified as belonging to the corpus of South African literature published during the apartheid era, though it also includes some arguably non-literary titles by leading political figures (e.g. essays by Nelson Mandela and Steve Biko). It gives details relating to just over 450 decisions, some of which were reviewed, and is searchable by, among others, author, publisher, date and outcome. It is worth noting that it covers books only. It does not include decisions relating to literary magazines.
Website.
Peter D. McDonald.
Thanks KAW.
Dard Hunter Library and Archives. No. 1.25.2010. 9.
January 25th, 2010
Learning to Read. David Bacon. No. 1.19.2010. 8.
January 19th, 2010
Learning to Read.
DAVID BACON.
Learning to Read.
California’s children learn to read in public schools across the
state. These images document the innovative ways teachers in
classrooms in Berkeley, Newport Beach/Costa Mesa, Petaluma, and Los
Angeles develop the enthusiasm of children from kindergarten to the
fourth grade. Students come into many of these classes speaking
various languages, some in addition to English, and others
monolingual in the language of their families. Some parents sign
waivers allowing their children to be taught in a bilingual class,
while others are in immersion classes. In yet other classes, all the
students speak English as their first language. Regardless of
language, these students want to learn to read, and their teachers
want the same thing for them.
USSF SOCIAL FORUM Detroit 2010. No. 1.19.2009. 7.
January 19th, 2010WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: New and Old, US Groups Forge Broad Alliances.
ATLANTA, Georgia, Jan 15 (IPS) – With civil society gearing up for the 2010 World Social Forum, and later this summer, the 2010 U.S. Social Forum in Detroit, Michigan, activists here say new alliances created at the first USSF in 2007 are going strong.
In 2006, the first USSF National Planning Committee was created following the 2005 World Social Forum (WSF) in Porto Allegre, Brazil. Grassroots Global Justice–a people of color, grassroots alliance–was delegated by the WSF’s International Council to help shepherd the U.S. Social Forum process. These grassroots leaders initiated a process to create the first USSF. The NPC selected Atlanta as the first USSF host city for 2007. In early 2009, the NPC selected Detroit as the second host city for 2010.
The NPC is made up of representatives from about 45 social movement organizations in the U.S. These volunteer members oversee the fiscal and political responsibilities of the USSF. Organizations that are interested in becoming NPC members can apply by contacting Adrienne Maree Brown (adrienne@ussf2010.org) for an application.
This National Planning Committee includes currently active members:
* AFL-CIO (International)
* AFSCME (National)
* AlternateROOTS (regional)
* American Friends Services Committee
* Black Radical Congress (National)
* Center for Media Justice (National)
* Center for Social Justice (Seattle, WA)
* Center for Third World Organizing (National)
* Centro Obrero (Detroit, MI)–Anchor organization
* East Michigan Environmental Action Council (Detroit, MI)–Anchor organization
* Freedom Road Socialist Organization (National)
* Grassroots Global Justice (National)
* Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health (Regional)
* Indigenous Environmental Network (International)
* Independent Progressive Politics Network (National)
* International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN)
* Jobs with Justice (National)
* Jubilee USA (National)
* Labor and Community Strategy Center (Los Angeles, CA)
* League of Revolutionaries for a New America (LRNA)
* Leftist Lounge
* May First/People Link
* Michigan Welfare Rights Organization (Detroit, MI)–Anchor organization
* National Day Laborers Organizing Network (National)
* People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond (New Orleans, LA)
* People Organized to Win Employment Rights, POWER (San Francisco, CA)
* Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, PPEHRC (National)
* Project South (Regional)
* Pushback Network
* Right to the City (National)
* Ruckus Society (National)
* Sociologists Without Borders (National)
* Southeast Michigan Jobs with Justice (Detroit, MI)–Anchor Organization
* SouthWest Organizing Project (Albuquerque, NM)
* Southwest Workers Union (San Antonio, TX)
* The Praxis Project (National)
* United for Peace & Justice (UFPJ)
* U.S. Human Rights Network (USHRN) (National)
* U.S. Solidarity Economy Network (U.S. SEN)
* U.S. Palestinian Community Network (U.S. PCN) (International)
* Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (International)
* Women’s Media Equity Collaborative
Report is here on librarians at the 2007 USSFSocial Forum in Atlanta in The Progressive Librarian 30 (Winter 2007/2008) “PLG – ¡Presenté! Report from the United States Social Forum,” by Elaine Harger & Kathleen de la Peña McCook.
Resources-Haiti. No. 1.17. 2010. 6.
January 17th, 2010On January 12, 2010, several earthquakes struck the Republic of Haiti. Our hearts are with the people of Haiti as well as the staff and community members who have family there. The Boston Public Library is a community gathering place and that role becomes ever more important at times like this. Mattapan is a cultural center for Boston’s Haitian community and the BPL will focus community support efforts there as well as in Copley Square and other branches.
Philip Larkin. Larkin25. “Toads.” No. 1.13.2010. 5.
January 13th, 2010Why should I let the toad work
Squat on my life?
Can’t I use my wit as a pitchfork
And drive the brute off?
The city of Hull, where Philip Larkin spent more than three decades in splendid isolation as university librarian, will later this year honour its most celebrated modern literary son with a five-month festival marking the 25th anniversary of his death.
Fans will be encouraged to visit the Brynmor Jones Library where he worked and which inspired his meditation on paid employment in “Toads”.