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The 2012 BBC International Short Story Award shortlist will be announced on Front Row tonight at 7:15pm. The shortlisted stories will be read by some of Britain’s most popular actors on Radio 4 every day at 3:30pm from Monday, 17 September. You can also catch the shortlisted writers on Monday, 15 October at 7:30pm at the Southbank Centre; buy your tickets here.
The Literary Death Match, a worldwide live reading series featuring famous authors—and judges—wants to get on TV. Back their pilot episode, which will feature, amongst others, Susan Orlean (The Orchid Thief; Rin Tin Tin) and Diablo Cody (Juno; Young Adult).
This isn’t new news, but in case you haven’t heard, following the sucess of Samuel L. Jackson‘s reading of Go the Fuck to Sleep, Audible.com announced the launch of the A-List collection last year, which so far has the likes of Anne Hathaway performing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Susan Sarandon The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers, Annette Benning Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, Nicole Kidman Sylvia Plath’s The Lighthouse, and Diane Keaton Slouching Towards Bethlehem, a collection of essays by Joan Didion about her experiences in California during the 1960s, amongst others, and with more to come. Based in the UK? You can buy some of the books here.
There’s been a lot of brouhaha over the state of book reviews recently—whether positive, benign, or negative. The Millions has published an article rounding-up different aspects of the debate so far, which then goes on to dissect some book reviews. The conclusion: “Reaction. Summary. Aesthetic and historical appraisal: these are the four classical elements of literary criticism.”
The Guardian reported that Roman officials are putting a stop to the trend of young couples attaching “love padlocks” to the ancient Ponte Milvio and then disposing of the keys in the river, a trend which has spread to other parts of Europe including Paris and Prague. The amorous tradition was inspired by the 2006 Italian teen novel I Want You by Federico Moccia, who had this to say: “The removal of the locks is inconsiderate,” he told La Repubblica. “Rome is handing Paris the ‘bridge of love’ tradition, which was born here and should stay here.”
Yesterday was Roald Dahl Day. The Huffington Post commemorated the event by collating 20 best humorous quotes from the well-loved author’s books, like “Whipped cream isn’t whipped cream at all if it hasn’t been whipped with whips, just like poached eggs isn’t poached eggs unless it’s been stolen in the dead of night,” from Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. There is also the Dahlicious Dress Up Day in aid of Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Charity to alleviate the lives of seriously ill children. What happens: primary school children all over the country pay £1 to go to school dressed as a Roald Dahl character. The Guardian has some ideas.
Emily Ding
Emily joined Litro in April 2012 as Literary Editor & Web Designer. She made over the website and introduced new developmental and editorial features to strengthen Litro's online presence. She left her position in January 2013, taking a backseat as Contributing Editor to concentrate on writing. She is a freelance journalist with a special interest in travel writing and foreign reporting (with an inclination for Asia and Latin America), and is now based in Malaysia. English is her native language, but she also speaks Mandarin and Spanish, having spent 2007-08 travelling in Central America.
