This is an archived issue of Belletrista. If you are looking for the current issue, you can find it here |
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Andy Barnes tells us why Hanan al-Shaykh is "one of the Middle East's finest contemporary writers"
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Don't Stop the Presses! Women's and Feminist Presses
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Ways of Seeing: Two Novels by Australian author Gail Jones
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Reviews
Click on 'Reviews' to see the full list of this issue's reviews...
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THERE ONCE LIVED A WOMAN WHO TRIED TO KILL HER NEIGHBOR'S BABY: SCARY FAIRY TALES
Ludmilla Petrushevskaya
Translated from the Russian by Keith Gessen and Anna Summers
Wow! Ludmilla Petrushevskaya is big news in Russia, but was little known in the English-speaking world before the publication of this collection by Penguin in 2009. I hope much more of her work is published in English, because, on the evidence of this collection, she is a stunningly good writer.
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Reviewed by Tim Jones
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AM I A REDUNDANT HUMAN BEING?
Mela Hartwig
Translated from the German by Kerri Pierce
Am I a Redundant Human Being?traces the innermost thoughts of Aloisia Schmidt. Aloisia thinks of herself as mediocre in almost every regard. She is neither pretty nor ugly, clever nor stupid, and is unremarkable in …
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Reviewed by Andy Barnes
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SANCTUARY LINE
Jane Urquhart
In her seventh novel, Sanctuary Line, acclaimed Canadian writer Jane Urquhart returns to her familiar themes of transience and memory. As with her earlier works, Urquhart's prose sparkles on the page to create an atmospheric, dreamlike book that at the same time conveys a sense of verisimilitude to actual lives.
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Reviewed by Joyce Nickel
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CECILIA
Linda Ferri
Translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein
Inspired by the legend of Cecilia, Linda Ferri's novel is set in second century Rome under the rule of Caesar and the ancient Roman gods. In a society where men dominate, and women are meant to be silent and submissive, we meet …
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Reviewed by Akeela Gaibie-Dawood
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CITY OF THE QUEEN
Shih Shu-Ching
Translated by Sylvia Li-chun Lin and Howard Goldblatt
Hong Kong in the cyclone season: intense humidity; wooded mountains stretching steeply upwards, encircling the harbour, shrouded in a grey soupy mist; star ferries and sampans anchored in the stormy waters. Stepping onto land …
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Reviewed by Ceri Evans
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CONVERSATIONS:
Three Belletrista readers discuss Touch by Palestinian author Adania Shibli.
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If Written By a Woman
Visit our new Belletrista blog!
The Caine Prize for African Writing 2011 – shortlist announcedThe shortlist for this year’s Caine Prize has just been announced and three women are in the running for the prestigious award. This is always an exciting time of year – the Prize is a great way to discover short stories by excellent writers. Lucky for us, the Prize’s website links to a copy of …Read the Rest
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