The Writer Behind The Game of Thrones

End of March season 3 of the succesful TV series Game of Thrones will captivate us once again. Over at The Telegraph, time for an interview with the writer George R.R. Martin. Excited to see this new series.

The Telegraph says:

Martin is one of the world’s most famous and bestselling authors. His epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, has sold more than 20 million books worldwide and has been translated into 40 languages. Set in the imaginary continents of Westeros and Essos, the knotty, interwoven plots centre on a power struggle across seven kingdoms, driven by fractious dynasties, long-held grievances and the lust for power. As well as infighting, there are threats from abroad – a would-be queen who has dragons at her command, and the terrifying Others, mythological creatures that kill all in their path.

Read the interview @ The Telegraph

Check out a sneak peek of season 3

Judges The Story Prize on Junot Díaz’s New Book

Junot Díaz. American-Domincan writer, was one of the finalists for The Story Prize. Our Pulitzer Prize winner didn’t get it this time, but still the book This is How You Lose Her is fascinating. Can’t wait to read it. Still on the hunt for the book.

The Story Prize blog says:

Here’s what one judge had to say about Junot Díaz’s This is How You Lose Her:

“Junot Díaz is a great writer, a blessing to the history of literature and to those of us lucky enough to watch his work unfold. His stories are infused with something that seems beyond the sum of their words. It may be simply style, which Proust calls the necessary condition to art. His work is so
distinctive that if I didn’t read another word by him for 50 years, in one sentence I would know him again. But it feels deeper than even style, it feels
alchemical. When someone tells me they don’t appreciate Junot Díaz, I feel sad for them, as if they’ve told me they don’t like puppies, children, strangers,
dancing, and friendship. His books are some of the most vital, enjoyable, smart art of our day, and This Is How You Lose Her shows that his talent is
deepening and unfolding still.”

Check out him reading one of the stories and afterwards an interview as from 0:50:00 minutes.

Stephenie Meyer on The Host

Twilight author Stephenie Meyer brings her romantic futuristic thriller The Host to movie fans on Friday, trading the vampires and werewolves for aliens who invade planet Earth, taking over human bodies.

The film stars, Saoirse Ronan as Melanie Stryder, whose body is taken over by an alien soul called Wanda. Eventually the two-in-one female team work to save the human race from total annihilation.

What fantastic. I’m curious if it’ll be a sequence of books and movies like Twilight. Two years ago I read The Host and I think it’s marvelous. Would the movie be as great? Let’s wait and see.

Read the interview @ The Independent

 

Interview with Chinua Achebe

An interview by Bill Moyers with the eminent writer Chinua Achebe on literature, Africa and why storytelling is so important.

R.I.P. Chinua Achebe.

 

 

 

Longlist for the 2013 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature

Ten writers from six Caribbean countries are on the longlist for the 2013 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, sponsored by One Caribbean Media.

The Prize longlist, announced by the judges on 28 February, 2013, covers poetry, fiction, and literary non-fiction. The winners in the three genre categories will be announced on 17 March, and the Prize will be presented on 27 April, during the third annual NGC Bocas Lit Fest in Port of Spain. The overall winner of the Prize will receive a US$10,000 award.

POETRY

Dark and Unaccustomed Words, by Vahni Capildeo (Trinidad and Tobago)
Fault Lines, by Kendel Hippolyte (St Lucia)
South Eastern Stages, by Anthony Kellman (Barbados)

Special mention: The Festival of Wild Orchid, by Margaret Ann Lim (Jamaica)

FICTION

This Is How You Lose Her, by Junot Díaz (Dominican Republic/USA)
Archipelago, by Monique Roffey (Trinidad and Tobago)
Light Falling on Bamboo, by Lawrence Scott (Trinidad and Tobago)
God Carlos, by Anthony C. Winkler (Jamaica)

Interview with Poet Derek Walcott

English professor, Christian Campbell, interviews Caribbean poet and playwright, Derek Walcott, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992.  Walcott discusses issues of identity, culture, and language

Stamps Marking the 200th Anniversary of Pride & Prejudice

All six published novels are included in the Royal Mail stamps issued to mark the 200th anniversary of Pride and Prejudice

The Guardian says:

A set of stamps featuring illustrations of Jane Austen novels goes on sale today, including newly-commissioned artwork depicting scenes from her books.

All six published novels are included in the new stamps, which are being issued to mark the 200th anniversary of Pride and Prejudice.

The Royal Mail also announced that letters posted in Chawton in Hampshire, where Austen spent her last years, and Steventon, near Basingstoke, where she was born, will have a special postmark for a week, featuring the Pride and Prejudice quote “Do anything rather than marry without affection”.

Two first-class stamps will have illustrations from Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, with images from Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion making up the six-stamp set. Royal Mail commissioned the artwork by Angela Barrett.

Royal Mail stamps spokesman Andrew Hammond said: “When you think of great British authors, Jane Austen inevitably comes to mind. Her novels have contributed immeasurably to British culture over the last two centuries.”

Many events have been planned this year to celebrate the bicentenary of the author’s best loved novel. Published in 1813, Pride and Prejudice was Austen’s second novel and she described it as her “own darling child”.