Your weekly guide to the biggest happenings in the world of books
Still struggling to get started with your writing? Well, we found inspiration all around this week. From the libraries (and librarians) who handed us our first books, to the need to focus on sustainability as we move forward as global citizens. Here's what else caught our eye this week:
The 2020 Booker Prize Giving Ceremony and Winner announcement is being pushed back by two days to 19th November to avoid a clash with the publication date of Barack Obama’s latest memoir A Promised Land on the 17th. This is the first time in history the prize-giving has been moved to accommodate a book release. The prize is ordinarily awarded at a formal dinner in London, and this year ‘an unprecedented ceremony without walls’ is being planned in collaboration with the BBC to be available across multiple platforms. More here.
This Sunday we held a virtual prize giving to announce the winners of the Voices of Future Generations Writing Project: children between 8-12 wrote stories that highlighted issues like hunger, poverty, climate change and more. Primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall even made a special appearance to thank our winners. You can watch the ceremony via the Voices of Future Generations of Arabia YouTube channel. Read about the winning students and stories here.
If you’ve loaded Netflix recently, you’ve likely seen a film titled Enola Holmes pop up on the screen. The 2020 film starring Millie Bobby Brown is based on a hit YA book series by Nancy Springer and is the story of Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes’ sister’s search for their missing mother. It weaves real-life feminist history of women’s suffrage into the main narrative, and in fact to tie in with the release of the film, Netflix put up statues around the UK of five remarkable women in history who were overshadowed by their famous brothers. More information about the books, these historical figures and even the lawsuit filed against the film by the Conan Doyle Estate. Have you seen Enola Holmes or read the books? What did you think? Let us know below!
Influential Syrian publisher and author Riyad Al Rayyis has sadly passed away. You can read more about his writing, influence and legacy here.
‘Is reading always good for you?’ Asks a SyFy.com roundup of evil books in horror films from grimoires to fandoms gone wrong in Stephen King’s Misery.
The nine new books you should be reading in October according to Time Magazine include Japanese folktales with a feminist twist, an epic biography of Malcolm X, and a chilling tale of a cursed school which present day filmmakers attempt to turn into a film - what could possibly go wrong in that story? Check out the full list here.
What do teens think of Arabic YA? An expert in children’s and young adult literature, Susanne Abou Ghaida caught up with Arab Lit Quarterly on what she’s learned from her fieldwork with Lebanese teen readers. You can read the interview here.