After winning the Nobel Prize for her searing portraits of the Soviet world unraveling, Svetlana Alexievich worries about the revival of its violent, anti-democratic ways.
Category: Writing and Writers
Understanding Post-Soviet Tyranny, in Order to Fight It
After winning the Nobel Prize for her searing portraits of the Soviet world unraveling, Svetlana Alexievich worries about the revival of its violent, anti-democratic ways.
A New Book Asks, What Is Canada?
“Elbows Up!” is a collection of essays by prominent Canadians like Margaret Atwood that seeks to make something positive out of Canada’s identity angst.
Understanding Post-Soviet Tyranny, in Order to Fight It
After winning the Nobel Prize for her searing portraits of the Soviet world unraveling, Svetlana Alexievich worries about the revival of its violent, anti-democratic ways.
In a New Memoir, an Israeli Captive Looks Ahead with Hope
Freed after 14 months, Eli Sharabi learned that his family didn’t survive the Oct. 7 attacks. “Hostage” is testimony to his suffering and his hope.
In a New Memoir, an Israeli Captive Looks Ahead with Hope
Freed after 14 months, Eli Sharabi learned that his family didn’t survive the Oct. 7 attacks. “Hostage” is testimony to his suffering and his hope.
Ivan Klima, Czech Novelist Who Chafed Under Totalitarian Regimes, Dies at 94
A writer, dissident, teacher and critic, he was deeply affected by an early experience of his life: incarceration as a boy in a concentration camp near Prague.
Ivan Klima, Czech Novelist Who Chafed Under Totalitarian Regimes, Dies at 94
A writer, dissident, teacher and critic, he was deeply affected by an early experience of his life: incarceration as a boy in a concentration camp near Prague.
Booker Prize 2025: Six Novels Shortlisted
The nominees for the prestigious award also include novels by David Szalay, Benjamin Markovits and Andrew Miller.
Taliban Bans Books by Women in Afghanistan’s Universities
More than 600 books, many of them written by women, are being purged, based on a contention that they conflict with Sharia principles.
Exploring Daphne du Maurier’s Cornwall
The county in southern England was where the British writer, known for her psychological mysteries and romantic novels, found herself ‘as a writer and as a person.’
Zdena Salivarova, Publisher Who Kept Czech Literature Alive, Dies at 91
In exile in Canada, she and her husband, the novelist Josef Skvorecky, published books that had been outlawed by the Soviet-backed Communist regime.
Gérard Chaliand, Intrepid Authority on Geopolitics, Dies at 91
His considerable influence in the French-speaking world was based on an unusual attribute: He had actually been to the revolutions he wrote about.
Following the Sounds of Arabic to Rediscover Paris
A language student’s guide to the French capital highlights the culinary, literary and musical influences that quietly shape everyday life.
Sonallah Ibrahim, Egyptian Novelist of Irony and Dissent, Dies at 88
Starting with “That Smell” in 1966, he wrote with stark power about themes of repression in the Egyptian police state.
Chinese Police Detain Dozens of Writers Over Gay Erotic Online Novels
The genre known as Boys’ Love, stories written mostly by and for straight women, has been in the authorities’ sights for years.
Nathan Silver, Who Chronicled a Vanished New York, Dies at 89
An architect, he wrote in his book “Lost New York” about the many buildings that were destroyed before passage of the city’s landmarks preservation law.
A Murdered Journalist’s Unfinished Book About the Amazon Gets Completed and Published
Killed in the rainforest he hoped to help save, the journalist Dom Phillips left behind an unfinished manuscript. Those who knew him carried it forward.
The Travel Writer’s Dilemma: Share, or Gatekeep?
In today’s overtouristed world, should a professional traveler broadcast his discoveries or hide them away?
Alasdair MacIntyre, Philosopher Who Saw a ‘New Dark Ages,’ Dies at 96
A Marxist-turned-Catholic who denounced individualism, he provoked and inspired fellow thinkers and gained a degree of popularity unusual for a moral philosopher.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Writer Who Condemned Colonists and Elites, Dies at 87
Mr. Ngugi composed the first modern novel in the Gikuyu language on prison toilet paper while being held by Kenyan authorities. He spent many prolific years in exile.
A Science Fiction Writer Wrestles With China’s Rise, and His Own Decline
In his stories, Han Song explores the disorientation accompanying China’s modernization, sometimes writing of unthinkable things that later came true.
How a Booker Prize-Winning Work From India Redefined Translation
An extraordinary author-translator collaboration produced a book, “Heart Lamp,” that was lauded for enriching the English language.
Banu Mushtaq’s ‘Heart Lamp,’ a Story Collection, Wins International Booker Prize
Banu Mushtaq’s “Heart Lamp,” translated by Deepa Bhasthi, had received little notice in Britain or the United States before Tuesday. Now, it’s won the major award for translated fiction.
The Prize-Winning Novel Challenging ‘Ableist Machismo’ in Japan
Saou Ichikawa is the country’s first severely disabled author to win a top literary prize. Her novel “Hunchback” is an angry cry against “ableist machismo.”
Nahid Rachlin, Novelist Who Explored the Iranian Psyche, Dies at 85
One of the first Iranian novelists to write in English, she examined the clash between East and West. Her debut novel, “Foreigner,” provided insight into pre-revolutionary Iran.
A Push to Remove Symbols of Imperial Russia Divides Odesa, Ukraine
A push to rename streets and remove statues associated with imperial Russia is dividing Odesa, whose identity is tied up in its history.
Jane Gardam Dead: ‘Old Filth’ Author Was 96
“The Queen of the Tambourine,” “Old Filth” and other fiction vividly captured both working-class and aristocratic Britain in the last years of the colonial era.
Valentin-Yves Mudimbe, 83, Dies; African Scholar Challenged the West
He deconstructed what he called “the colonial library”: the accounts of Africa by Europeans whose aim, he said, was to further colonialism.
‘The Interview’: Isabel Allende Understands How Fear Changes a Society
The beloved author left Chile at a time of great turmoil and has longed for the nation of her youth ever since.
