Published by Tebot Bach, 1997, 95 pages. “I wonder if any life goes far enough to ever heal itself.” The vivid and sensual poems tell the story of a woman from childhood to adulthood. They act as snapshots, highlighting important moments of her life. The poems in the first section are about childhood, life seen …
A Musical Offering: Luis Sagasti
Translated from Spanish by Fionn PetchPublished by Charco Press, 2020, 111 pages. Original version published in 2017. “But have we not heard this in countless songs that begin all over again after a refrain? Or when the volume gradually fades, giving the impression that the band is disappearing into the distance and the song is …
My Oedipus Complex and Other Stories: Frank O’Connor
Published by Penguin, 1963, 239 pages. Stories originally published in 1953 and 1957. “Some kids are cissies by nature but I was a cissy by conviction. Mother had told me about geniuses; I wanted to be one, and I could see for myself that fighting, as well as being sinful, was dangerous.” A child competes …
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Building Bridges through Stories
This article was first published in Teacher Plus, May-June 2024 (https://www.teacherplus.org/building-bridges-through-stories/) Photo: bee boys via Shutterstock Stories are an integral part of our lives. They shape us and are the way in which we remember, turning our lives into narratives. As children, we are raised on fables and fairy tales that teach us how to …
A Killer in Winter: Susanna Gregory
Published by Time Warner Books / Sphere, 2003, 488 pages. Cambridge, 1354. “The winter that gripped England was the worst anyone could remember. It came early, brought by bitter north winds that were laden with snow and sleet. The River Cam and the King’s Ditch—usually meandering, fetid cesspools that oozed around the little Fen-edge town …
A Focus on Outsiders: An Interview with Nilanjana Roy
Nilanjana Roy is an Indian author, journalist and editor. Her novels include Black River (2022), which was listed as one of the best crime novels of 2023 by The Guardian; The Hundred Names of Darkness (2013); The Wildings (2012), which won the 2013 Shakti Bhatt First Book Award and was shortlisted for the 2013 Commonwealth …
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From Calabria, Italy, to North Cape, Norway: A Walk through Europe’s Wild Places
The Earth Beneath My Feet and On Sacred Ground: Andrew TerrillPublished by Enchanted Rock Press, 2021, 357 pages / 2022, 397 pages. “Finding places that called as though I belonged was one of the reasons I’d started The Walk. ... In truth, I was walking to be somewhere, not get somewhere. My goal was to …
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A Shining: Jon Fosse
Translated from Norwegian by Damion SearlsPublished by Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2023, 46 pages. Original version published in 2023. A man drives without a destination, out of boredom. He continues driving until the road takes him into a forest, and his car gets stuck on the forest road. He gets out of the car and instead of …
The Hatter’s Ghosts: Georges Simenon
Translated from French by Howard CurtisPublished by Penguin, 2022, 196 pages. First translated into English in 1960. Original version published in 1949. “It was the third of December and still raining. ... In fact, for the last twenty days, it had been raining almost without interruption.” It started raining in the small French town of …
They Called Us Enemy: written by George Takei with Justin Eisinger and Steven Scott, and drawn by Harmony Becker
Published by Top Shelf, 2019, 208 pages. After the attack on Pearl Harbour by the Japanese on 7 December 1941, the US government declared that all people of Japanese origin were “enemy aliens”, including those who were US citizens. They were rounded up and incarcerated. The assumption was that their race made them “nonassimilable” and …
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