"That first night, his hand in your hand wipes away all you ever knew about yourself and your wounds. Just his hand takes you away, like your father when his arms lifted you up in the air and your tiny body opened to the possibility of worlds it did not yet know. You did not sleep that night. You held a necklace and a bottle of perfume to your breast not sure where to hide them as you are without possessions or a cupboard you can lock. All your secrets are common knowledge, everyone is familiar with your doings and habits: a piece of paper, a cinema ticket hidden in your father's cupboard, in his jacket with the stars on the shoulder, and traces of all the surgery he performed with the scalpel there in the army hospital at Tel al-Kebir while you were still at the aubergine stage."
From Blue Aubergine by Miral al-Tahawy (1998/2002)
Miral al-Tahawy *1968
Another author who has been invited to Writers Unlimited, the International Literature Festival in Den Haag, running from 16-19 January 2014!
Becoming a praised author, being invited to various literary events, discussed and highlighted at universities around the globe, that is certainly not what was apparent on its way for Miral al-Tahawy; quite the contrary: she was born in Sharqiya to a family who is part of the Bedouin al-Hanadi tribe in the Al Sharqia Governorate, north-east to Cairo in Egypt. An old Bedouin tribe with strong traditional structures in which Miral was not allowed to leave her home without the company of a male family member. But she and her sister were lucky: her father, a progressive Bedouin, acknowledged his daughters' right to education and so they were sent to school. Afterwards Miral went to Zagazig University to gain her B.A. in Arabic literature. This gave her the comfort to become a school teacher supporting herself while other young women of the tribe had to marry.
Though supported at first by her father her 'Bildungsweg' clashed severely with her family when Miral decided to continue her education. She moved to Cairo to succeed her studies earning a Master's degree and finally writing her PhD on 'The Desert Novel in the Arabic Literature' at Cairo University.
And though she might seem to be limited in her literary background, remember that many of the folk narratives origin from the orally transmitted folk lores being told in tents, at fireplaces, at bed times; oral literature that has been passed down from one generation to the next giving those who were taught to read and write the opportunity to collect, transform and introduce it to a wider audience.
When Miral published her first book Riem al-barai al-mostahila (The Exceptional Steppe Antelope), a collection of short stories in 1995, she was actually presenting the oral literature her grandmother had passed on to her children and grandchildren.
Her first novel Al-Khibaa (The Tent) was published in 1996 by Hosni Soliman, owner of Dar Sharqiyyat who had already published several acclaimed Egyptian authors. Two other novels followed: Al-Badhingana al-zarqa (The Blue Aubergine) in 1998 and Naquarat al-Zibae (Gazelle Tracks) in 2002. With her second novel Al-Badhingana al-zarga (The Blue Aubergine), Miral won the state's literary encouragement price in 2000 becoming the first female writer in Egypt to win this prize.
In 2007, Miral decided to move further in her education and became assistant professor at the Appalachian State University of North Carolina in the foreign languages department additionally becoming coordinator of their Arabic programme. At the moment, Miral is assistant professor at Arizona State University.
Obviously, her background does not haunt her but encourages her to write about the tradition, the culture, the myths but also the alienation and pain that is cutting through families and its members being confronted with the modern times and its developments.
Her latest novel, Burukilin Hayts (Brooklyn Heights, 2010), depicts the life of an Egyptian women who immigrated to the United States. With this novel, Miral won the prestigious Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature and was nominated for the Arabic Booker Prize in 2011.
And now, Miral will be present at two events at the Literature Festival in Den Haag: on Friday Night Unlimited and Saturday Night Unlimited. Check their website for more information!
Becoming a praised author, being invited to various literary events, discussed and highlighted at universities around the globe, that is certainly not what was apparent on its way for Miral al-Tahawy; quite the contrary: she was born in Sharqiya to a family who is part of the Bedouin al-Hanadi tribe in the Al Sharqia Governorate, north-east to Cairo in Egypt. An old Bedouin tribe with strong traditional structures in which Miral was not allowed to leave her home without the company of a male family member. But she and her sister were lucky: her father, a progressive Bedouin, acknowledged his daughters' right to education and so they were sent to school. Afterwards Miral went to Zagazig University to gain her B.A. in Arabic literature. This gave her the comfort to become a school teacher supporting herself while other young women of the tribe had to marry.
Though supported at first by her father her 'Bildungsweg' clashed severely with her family when Miral decided to continue her education. She moved to Cairo to succeed her studies earning a Master's degree and finally writing her PhD on 'The Desert Novel in the Arabic Literature' at Cairo University.
And though she might seem to be limited in her literary background, remember that many of the folk narratives origin from the orally transmitted folk lores being told in tents, at fireplaces, at bed times; oral literature that has been passed down from one generation to the next giving those who were taught to read and write the opportunity to collect, transform and introduce it to a wider audience.
When Miral published her first book Riem al-barai al-mostahila (The Exceptional Steppe Antelope), a collection of short stories in 1995, she was actually presenting the oral literature her grandmother had passed on to her children and grandchildren.
Her first novel Al-Khibaa (The Tent) was published in 1996 by Hosni Soliman, owner of Dar Sharqiyyat who had already published several acclaimed Egyptian authors. Two other novels followed: Al-Badhingana al-zarqa (The Blue Aubergine) in 1998 and Naquarat al-Zibae (Gazelle Tracks) in 2002. With her second novel Al-Badhingana al-zarga (The Blue Aubergine), Miral won the state's literary encouragement price in 2000 becoming the first female writer in Egypt to win this prize.
In 2007, Miral decided to move further in her education and became assistant professor at the Appalachian State University of North Carolina in the foreign languages department additionally becoming coordinator of their Arabic programme. At the moment, Miral is assistant professor at Arizona State University.
Obviously, her background does not haunt her but encourages her to write about the tradition, the culture, the myths but also the alienation and pain that is cutting through families and its members being confronted with the modern times and its developments.
Her latest novel, Burukilin Hayts (Brooklyn Heights, 2010), depicts the life of an Egyptian women who immigrated to the United States. With this novel, Miral won the prestigious Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature and was nominated for the Arabic Booker Prize in 2011.
And now, Miral will be present at two events at the Literature Festival in Den Haag: on Friday Night Unlimited and Saturday Night Unlimited. Check their website for more information!
Quote of the Month - November 2013
"'Agnes was not always this way,' she says. 'Before she was like you and me. And then she became crossed.' She removes the stool from beneath her, brushes the seat and sets it down.
'Please.'
Kai sits.
She offers him some of the groundnuts and leaves the room with Ishmail. Kai prepares to wait.
How many hours he sat there he would not later recall. At some point the boy, sleepy and tired of waiting outside, crept in to be with him and Kai allowed him to stay, sheltered beneath the wing of his arm. People were sent for. A neighbour. A young woman without a smile. An older woman with a creased face and white hair. Kai waited and listened without interrupting or speaking except to greet each new arrival, watch while they took a seat and were told what was required of them. He didn't speak even when they faltered; he offered no solace but left it to others. Each person told a part of the same story. And in telling another's story, they told their own. Kai took what they had given him and placed it together with what he already knew and those things Adrian had told him.
This was Agnes's story, the story of Agnes and Naasu. In hushed voices, told behind a curtain in a quiet room and in the eye of the night, from the lips of many. By the time the last speaker had finished the moon was well past its zenith and Kai understood the storytellers' courage."
From The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna (2010)
'Please.'
Kai sits.
She offers him some of the groundnuts and leaves the room with Ishmail. Kai prepares to wait.
How many hours he sat there he would not later recall. At some point the boy, sleepy and tired of waiting outside, crept in to be with him and Kai allowed him to stay, sheltered beneath the wing of his arm. People were sent for. A neighbour. A young woman without a smile. An older woman with a creased face and white hair. Kai waited and listened without interrupting or speaking except to greet each new arrival, watch while they took a seat and were told what was required of them. He didn't speak even when they faltered; he offered no solace but left it to others. Each person told a part of the same story. And in telling another's story, they told their own. Kai took what they had given him and placed it together with what he already knew and those things Adrian had told him.
This was Agnes's story, the story of Agnes and Naasu. In hushed voices, told behind a curtain in a quiet room and in the eye of the night, from the lips of many. By the time the last speaker had finished the moon was well past its zenith and Kai understood the storytellers' courage."
From The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna (2010)
Aminatta Forna *1964
From the former student, Evie Wyld, we come to a Professor at Bath Spa University: Aminatta Forna, born in Glasgow, Scotland, UK is holding the position of Professor of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University next to her current post of Sterling Brown Distinguished Visiting Professor at Williams College, Massachusetts in the US. And, and this is in reference to the current subject of The English Book Club that I run, she is also winner of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize 'Best Book Award' of 2011 with her novel The Memory of Love.
When I learned about the various places she lived throughout her past life I was wondering, referring to my post in May this year, which place she would call 'home', which place she would 'return to': Aminatta was raised in Sierra Leone, being her father's background, and Britain, being her mother's background, with periods in Iran, Thailand and Zambia. Presently, she lives in London but regularly spends time in Sierra Leone where she has been running a school project, the Rogbonko Project, since 2003.
She also worked for the BBC as reporter and document maker and is known for several documentaries on Africa. One of my favourites: The Lost Libraries of Timbuktu, the documentary on "its long-hidden legacy of hundreds of thousands of ancient manuscripts" (see 'link' to the BBC).
How to present an author showered with awards: her first book The Devil that Danced on the Water (2002) was runner up to the Samuel Johnson Prize in 2003 and chosen for the Barnes & Nobel Discover New Writers Series. Her second novel Ancestor Stones (2006) was winner of the Hurston Wright Legacy Award for Debut Fiction, the LiBeraturpreis in Germany and the Aidoo-Snyder Book Prize, additionally nominated for the International Dublin IMPAC Award. The Memory of Love (2010), Aminatta's third novel, was not only winner of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize 'Best Book Award', as mentioned above, but also short-listed for the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2011, the IMPAC Award in 2012, the Warwick Prize 2011 and nominated for the European Prize for Fiction in 2013. Her latest novel, The Hired Man had only been published in March 2013 and already highly acclaimed.
But it is obvious that Aminatta does not work and write for praise or prizes - she is too much concerned and involved about the various forms of private and official conflicts. When I learned about her background, her father had been imprisoned twice and hanged in 1975, and her works, the way she tries to 'handle' guilt, shame, anger and loss after wartimes, it all reminded me of Tahmima Anam (presented here on May 2012) also trying to come to terms with the "wounds that war leaves on souls" (quote by Tahmima, see also May 2012) or as someone once said: "War does not end with a peace contract"(unfortunately, I cannot recall who said or wrote it).
At the moment, I am reading her third novel, The Memory of Love: about the various characters and their lives in Africa and how they and history weave together leaving no one untouched, not even the expats, thinking to be only observers or onlookers. It's not because the book received all the prizes and praise that I am reading the novel at the moment. My main interest in reading the novel is to be prepared when she will be part of the Dutch literary festival "Writers Unlimited" in January 2014 in Den Haag. Check their site for dates and schedules. I am sure that it will be an interesting meeting with an outstanding author! Expect more from her on my blog.
When I learned about the various places she lived throughout her past life I was wondering, referring to my post in May this year, which place she would call 'home', which place she would 'return to': Aminatta was raised in Sierra Leone, being her father's background, and Britain, being her mother's background, with periods in Iran, Thailand and Zambia. Presently, she lives in London but regularly spends time in Sierra Leone where she has been running a school project, the Rogbonko Project, since 2003.
She also worked for the BBC as reporter and document maker and is known for several documentaries on Africa. One of my favourites: The Lost Libraries of Timbuktu, the documentary on "its long-hidden legacy of hundreds of thousands of ancient manuscripts" (see 'link' to the BBC).
How to present an author showered with awards: her first book The Devil that Danced on the Water (2002) was runner up to the Samuel Johnson Prize in 2003 and chosen for the Barnes & Nobel Discover New Writers Series. Her second novel Ancestor Stones (2006) was winner of the Hurston Wright Legacy Award for Debut Fiction, the LiBeraturpreis in Germany and the Aidoo-Snyder Book Prize, additionally nominated for the International Dublin IMPAC Award. The Memory of Love (2010), Aminatta's third novel, was not only winner of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize 'Best Book Award', as mentioned above, but also short-listed for the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2011, the IMPAC Award in 2012, the Warwick Prize 2011 and nominated for the European Prize for Fiction in 2013. Her latest novel, The Hired Man had only been published in March 2013 and already highly acclaimed.
But it is obvious that Aminatta does not work and write for praise or prizes - she is too much concerned and involved about the various forms of private and official conflicts. When I learned about her background, her father had been imprisoned twice and hanged in 1975, and her works, the way she tries to 'handle' guilt, shame, anger and loss after wartimes, it all reminded me of Tahmima Anam (presented here on May 2012) also trying to come to terms with the "wounds that war leaves on souls" (quote by Tahmima, see also May 2012) or as someone once said: "War does not end with a peace contract"(unfortunately, I cannot recall who said or wrote it).
At the moment, I am reading her third novel, The Memory of Love: about the various characters and their lives in Africa and how they and history weave together leaving no one untouched, not even the expats, thinking to be only observers or onlookers. It's not because the book received all the prizes and praise that I am reading the novel at the moment. My main interest in reading the novel is to be prepared when she will be part of the Dutch literary festival "Writers Unlimited" in January 2014 in Den Haag. Check their site for dates and schedules. I am sure that it will be an interesting meeting with an outstanding author! Expect more from her on my blog.
Quote of the Month - October 2013
"In the morning Greg traces the scars with his fingers.
'Those are hell good,' he says with real admiration in his voice.
'How'd you get 'em?'
I turn and look at him and feel that countdown, how it could go either way. 'Bad relationship.' Greg shifts up the bed and puts his hand on the back of my neck, like there's something I deserve comfort for. I can let myself believe it just for now that I am some kind of victim. He lifts my hair up and I can feel him looking. He kisses the top bone of my spine and says, 'I'll kill him.' And there it is, the lie, and it becomes real, another contract signed, stamped and dated."
From 'After the Hedland', an excerpt from All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld (published 2013; the excerpt in GRANTA, Issue 123, 2013)
'Those are hell good,' he says with real admiration in his voice.
'How'd you get 'em?'
I turn and look at him and feel that countdown, how it could go either way. 'Bad relationship.' Greg shifts up the bed and puts his hand on the back of my neck, like there's something I deserve comfort for. I can let myself believe it just for now that I am some kind of victim. He lifts my hair up and I can feel him looking. He kisses the top bone of my spine and says, 'I'll kill him.' And there it is, the lie, and it becomes real, another contract signed, stamped and dated."
From 'After the Hedland', an excerpt from All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld (published 2013; the excerpt in GRANTA, Issue 123, 2013)
Evie Wyld *1980
Another author from the EdBookFest 2013: Evie Wyld presenting her second novel All the Birds, Singing. And another of the GRANTA 'Best of Young British Novelists' 2013 presented on this blog: May '13: Zadie Smith, June '12: Kamila Shamsie and May '12: Tahmima Anam.
Evie's first novel After the Fire, A Still Small Voice was published in 2009 and received the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the Betty Trask Award while shortlisted for the Orange Prize for New Writers, the Commonwealth Writer's Prize and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. On top of all, she was listed for the Culture Show's Best New British Novelist in 2011. A strong beginning and a very impressive one as well.
In contrast, her stories, and especially her characters, are certainly not to entertain the reader. They are broken lives with broken backgrounds. When I read the excerpt in GRANTA, I was puzzled by the protagonist: is it a male or female character, the way she is set in this male dominated world of sheep shearers? Additionally, Jake is not particularly a female name. In an interview with Culture Street Evie even claims: "I wanted a person as a protagonist, rather than a romantic lead" which set me thinking about other female characters.
Interesting to see someone that young focusing on disturbing her readership. But Evie, obviously, loves to irritate: she revealed in an interview with GRANTA magazine in 2008 that she grew up in Peckham Rye, UK, and not as previously boasted in Australia, well having dual nationality. As she is frequently going back and forth between the two countries "the feeling of homesickness is what drives a lot of my writing, and so far I haven't quite worked out which country is home" (GRANTA, 11 May 2008). Whereas she dreamt of becoming a painter she realized that she was stronger in storytelling. So she turned to Creative Writing and obtained her B.A. from Bath Spa University and an M.A. from Goldsmiths, at the University of London.
Another quote: "I am interested in the idea that it's not the person who is brute but that the things that happen are brutish" (GRANTA, 2008). The brutishness of wartimes which is the background of Evie's first novel is skilfully summarized by Elizabeth O'Reilly on the BC website: "In Wyld's poignant and masterful portrait of several generations of one family, there is no individual person who can be pinpointed as the source of blame, for each one is caught up in a complex web of dysfunctional family relationships exacerbated by the devastating effects of war and bereavement. The history of war in the family goes back generations: Leon's parents, Roman and Maureen, are European immigrants who escaped the Nazi holocaust and emigrated to Australia. [...] As Maureen fears, Roman never recovers from the psychological effects of war, and the damage that is subsequently inflicted on Leon [...] is in turn passed on to the next generation, Frank." (British Council). And here we go again: though Evie is from another time and background, the devastating effects of WWII echo on (see my previous blog).
Do read her novels because Evie is considered a very gifted writer: "Her pacing is impeccable and the trickle of information she marshals lends tension and compassion to Jake's troubled, solitary existence. How did she get those scars on her back? What could have happened in Australia that makes standing in a field, the wind whipping sheep dung in her face, preferable?" (Tim Lewis in The Observer). Certainly, a rewarding new experience of a new way of seeing the world that surrounds us. I will keep trace of this notable young author and you informed!
Evie's first novel After the Fire, A Still Small Voice was published in 2009 and received the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the Betty Trask Award while shortlisted for the Orange Prize for New Writers, the Commonwealth Writer's Prize and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. On top of all, she was listed for the Culture Show's Best New British Novelist in 2011. A strong beginning and a very impressive one as well.
In contrast, her stories, and especially her characters, are certainly not to entertain the reader. They are broken lives with broken backgrounds. When I read the excerpt in GRANTA, I was puzzled by the protagonist: is it a male or female character, the way she is set in this male dominated world of sheep shearers? Additionally, Jake is not particularly a female name. In an interview with Culture Street Evie even claims: "I wanted a person as a protagonist, rather than a romantic lead" which set me thinking about other female characters.
Interesting to see someone that young focusing on disturbing her readership. But Evie, obviously, loves to irritate: she revealed in an interview with GRANTA magazine in 2008 that she grew up in Peckham Rye, UK, and not as previously boasted in Australia, well having dual nationality. As she is frequently going back and forth between the two countries "the feeling of homesickness is what drives a lot of my writing, and so far I haven't quite worked out which country is home" (GRANTA, 11 May 2008). Whereas she dreamt of becoming a painter she realized that she was stronger in storytelling. So she turned to Creative Writing and obtained her B.A. from Bath Spa University and an M.A. from Goldsmiths, at the University of London.
Another quote: "I am interested in the idea that it's not the person who is brute but that the things that happen are brutish" (GRANTA, 2008). The brutishness of wartimes which is the background of Evie's first novel is skilfully summarized by Elizabeth O'Reilly on the BC website: "In Wyld's poignant and masterful portrait of several generations of one family, there is no individual person who can be pinpointed as the source of blame, for each one is caught up in a complex web of dysfunctional family relationships exacerbated by the devastating effects of war and bereavement. The history of war in the family goes back generations: Leon's parents, Roman and Maureen, are European immigrants who escaped the Nazi holocaust and emigrated to Australia. [...] As Maureen fears, Roman never recovers from the psychological effects of war, and the damage that is subsequently inflicted on Leon [...] is in turn passed on to the next generation, Frank." (British Council). And here we go again: though Evie is from another time and background, the devastating effects of WWII echo on (see my previous blog).
Do read her novels because Evie is considered a very gifted writer: "Her pacing is impeccable and the trickle of information she marshals lends tension and compassion to Jake's troubled, solitary existence. How did she get those scars on her back? What could have happened in Australia that makes standing in a field, the wind whipping sheep dung in her face, preferable?" (Tim Lewis in The Observer). Certainly, a rewarding new experience of a new way of seeing the world that surrounds us. I will keep trace of this notable young author and you informed!
Quote of the Month - September 2013
We the Peoples of the United Nations Determined
* to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
* to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and
* to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and
* to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom
Beginning of the Preamble of the Charter of the United Nations (1945)
* to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
* to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and
* to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and
* to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom
Beginning of the Preamble of the Charter of the United Nations (1945)
Judith Kerr *1923
Still, 68 years after the birth of the United Nations there are too many wars raging - terrible scenes of mistreaded children, men and women from numerous countries flicker on the screens of the various media - you'd think we've learned from a single one?!
It was WWII and its cruelties and sufferings which caused various countries to unite - the birth of the UN.
The time I have read Judith Kerr's book When Hitler stole Pink Rabbit (D: Als Hitler das rosa Kaninchen stahl; NL:?) I was in my teenage years. WWII seemed a long time ago. I was very much impressed by Judith's recollection of her time fleeing Germany and adjusting to a new life in various countries, her obstacles and fears. A very personal and impressive book reaching out to the young ones as it is written from the point of view of Anna, the youngest child.
To me then, Judith as an author must have seemed an 'old woman', somewhere above the 40s and nearly dying - as one thinks when under the 20s (she was actually 50 when her book was translated into German). So growing up myself, I forgot about her. The more I was overwhelmed to learn that she was to read at the Edinburgh Book Festival this year celebrating her life and work at her 90th birthday. I wish I could have gone...
Again, Judith is not a very unknown author: English readers probably remember mainly her children's books as The Tiger Who Came to Tea and her 17 books on Mog, the cat. German readers on the other hand remember her mainly from When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit and the other two books of the trilogy. Nevertheless, I still think that Judith is an important literary figure to be mentioned on this blog. Obviously, she isn't widely known to Dutch readers as there are only four books translated and non of her trilogy on her childhood experiences.
Judith Kerr was born in Berlin, Germany. Her father, Alfred Kerr (née Kempner), was an influential essayist and theatre critic, widely known in Germany as the 'culture pope' (His influence on actors is also mentioned in Charles Lewinsky's book on Kurt Gerron (D: Gerron; NL: Terugkeer ongewenst; UK:?) who had once been a famous actor and film director in Berlin). Judith spent her early childhood years in Berlin, growing up in a safe and comfortable surrounding. In 1933, when the NSDAP won the election and Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, Alfred Kerr who had been publicly scathing the party and its leader was warned by a friend to leave Germany. The family followed and met the father in Switzerland, moving on to France where they lived for two years. They finally settled in the UK in 1936 where Judith worked as a Red Cross Nurse during WWII. After the war Judith visited the Central School of Arts and Crafts (Now: Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design) where she studied the art of illustration which became her profession. Later on she worked at the BBC where she met her husband Nigel Kneale, both working as screenwriters. They have two children, Matthew a successful writer, and Tacy who works in the special effects industry.
Numerous readings with Judith at various book festivals in the UK (Brighton, Hay, Edinburgh) as well as numerous articles in newspapers in the UK and abroad featuring her life and work mark her 90th birthday this year. At the Bilderbuchmuseum ('Museum of the Illustrated Book'; sorry, no English language site) at Troisdorf close to Bonn (D) a special exhibition showed her book illustrations. An initiative by the journalist Ute Wegmann who interviewed Judith in 2011 in which Judith confesses that she is first an illustrator and only second an author: 'It is about seeing the world and wanting to rearrange it the way you would like it'. Part of the interview with Judith can be listened to while Ute herself is being interviewed for the opening of the exhibition (WDR3, mainly German, parts in English). http://www.wdr3.de/literatur/kolumba134.html
But all of you (myself included) who couldn't make it to the Edinburgh Book Festival this year: the EdBookFest has put her reading online - feel free to klick on the link to listen to Judith's reading at the festival herself. https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/media-gallery/item/kerr-judith
P.S.: For those who agree with the remark that her experience sounds too 'nice' - there is a book by Myron Levoy called Alan and Naomi (D: Der Gelbe Vogel) which is showing the hideous effects of the harassements on children, even after the war had ended...
It was WWII and its cruelties and sufferings which caused various countries to unite - the birth of the UN.
The time I have read Judith Kerr's book When Hitler stole Pink Rabbit (D: Als Hitler das rosa Kaninchen stahl; NL:?) I was in my teenage years. WWII seemed a long time ago. I was very much impressed by Judith's recollection of her time fleeing Germany and adjusting to a new life in various countries, her obstacles and fears. A very personal and impressive book reaching out to the young ones as it is written from the point of view of Anna, the youngest child.
To me then, Judith as an author must have seemed an 'old woman', somewhere above the 40s and nearly dying - as one thinks when under the 20s (she was actually 50 when her book was translated into German). So growing up myself, I forgot about her. The more I was overwhelmed to learn that she was to read at the Edinburgh Book Festival this year celebrating her life and work at her 90th birthday. I wish I could have gone...
Again, Judith is not a very unknown author: English readers probably remember mainly her children's books as The Tiger Who Came to Tea and her 17 books on Mog, the cat. German readers on the other hand remember her mainly from When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit and the other two books of the trilogy. Nevertheless, I still think that Judith is an important literary figure to be mentioned on this blog. Obviously, she isn't widely known to Dutch readers as there are only four books translated and non of her trilogy on her childhood experiences.
Judith Kerr was born in Berlin, Germany. Her father, Alfred Kerr (née Kempner), was an influential essayist and theatre critic, widely known in Germany as the 'culture pope' (His influence on actors is also mentioned in Charles Lewinsky's book on Kurt Gerron (D: Gerron; NL: Terugkeer ongewenst; UK:?) who had once been a famous actor and film director in Berlin). Judith spent her early childhood years in Berlin, growing up in a safe and comfortable surrounding. In 1933, when the NSDAP won the election and Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, Alfred Kerr who had been publicly scathing the party and its leader was warned by a friend to leave Germany. The family followed and met the father in Switzerland, moving on to France where they lived for two years. They finally settled in the UK in 1936 where Judith worked as a Red Cross Nurse during WWII. After the war Judith visited the Central School of Arts and Crafts (Now: Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design) where she studied the art of illustration which became her profession. Later on she worked at the BBC where she met her husband Nigel Kneale, both working as screenwriters. They have two children, Matthew a successful writer, and Tacy who works in the special effects industry.
Numerous readings with Judith at various book festivals in the UK (Brighton, Hay, Edinburgh) as well as numerous articles in newspapers in the UK and abroad featuring her life and work mark her 90th birthday this year. At the Bilderbuchmuseum ('Museum of the Illustrated Book'; sorry, no English language site) at Troisdorf close to Bonn (D) a special exhibition showed her book illustrations. An initiative by the journalist Ute Wegmann who interviewed Judith in 2011 in which Judith confesses that she is first an illustrator and only second an author: 'It is about seeing the world and wanting to rearrange it the way you would like it'. Part of the interview with Judith can be listened to while Ute herself is being interviewed for the opening of the exhibition (WDR3, mainly German, parts in English). http://www.wdr3.de/literatur/kolumba134.html
But all of you (myself included) who couldn't make it to the Edinburgh Book Festival this year: the EdBookFest has put her reading online - feel free to klick on the link to listen to Judith's reading at the festival herself. https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/media-gallery/item/kerr-judith
P.S.: For those who agree with the remark that her experience sounds too 'nice' - there is a book by Myron Levoy called Alan and Naomi (D: Der Gelbe Vogel) which is showing the hideous effects of the harassements on children, even after the war had ended...
Quote of the Month(s) - July & August 2013
"...
One of these mornings
You're going to rise up singing
Then you'll spread your wings
And you'll take to the sky
..."
From Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin (1935)
One of these mornings
You're going to rise up singing
Then you'll spread your wings
And you'll take to the sky
..."
From Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin (1935)
Summertime!
Time to relax,
time to read,
time to gather new inspiration -
see you again in September!
time to read,
time to gather new inspiration -
see you again in September!
Quote of the Month - June 2013
"Now the light of the sun had shifted; it seemed winter light again, flattened and diffuse, and the flames of the votives burned higher. Moira's hands were at Kate's hips, lifting her from behind, tilting heat into her abdomen. She moved up along Kate's spine with her fists, a hard and soft pressure, repetitive, patterned with heat that Kate felt in her forearms, in her thighs. She felt herself knit together, handled like something wounded; she realized how far she was from herself, and how she might begin to live here again, in her body. Slowly, it would happen. She might call and call now for her own return, but she only floated, inhabitating so many former selves with more conviction."
From MotherKind by Jayne Anne Phillips (2000)
From MotherKind by Jayne Anne Phillips (2000)
Jayne Anne Phillips *1952
Remember last month's Quote of the Month by Zadie Smith? Her character Samad feeling unfit to 'return'? The question of, when we return where do we return to?
I myself have returned - first 'returned' to my childhood's 'Heimat' and now back to my present 'thuis' and come across this month's quote in my notes. I like the idea of extending our focus: "She might call and call now for her own return." No need to search outside: Home is Where Your Heart Is! Eventually, it all lies inside oneself. Question solved - clear answer.
But then again: inside oneself?! Why then: "...inhabiting so many former selves with more conviction" which reminds me of: "These selves which we are built up of, one on top of the other, as plates are piled on a waiter's hand, [...]"!!! Sounds familiar? No, it is not from the philosophical book Who am I? And If So, How Many? by the German author Richard David Prichet - though the title sprang up immediately before my imaginative eye while reading the above sentence. Actually, it is a quote from the fantastic biography of Orlando written by Virginia Woolf transcending through four hundred years of history and from man to woman. Coincidently, this book is one which will be discussed in our last meeting of The English Book Club in June. I wonder how the participants will react to the idea of various 'selves'.So, 'to return' can mean a lot of things: to return to a place, to return to oneself, to return to this world after death...but I will leave it up to you to start a discussion with your friends and family. I won't bore you anymore with these contemplations instead, and will now give you some background information of this month's Quote of the Month's author:
Jayne Anne Phillips was born in Buckhannon, West Virginia, USA. Another (frequent) contributor to Granta's Magazine and winner of various prestigious literary prizes; additionally translated in various languages around the world. She is currently Professor of English and Founder / Director of the Rutgers-Newark Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program. The Atlantic magazine listed her program in 2007 as one of "Five Up-and-Coming" creative writing programs in the United States. Interesting detail: after graduation from University, Jayne went on a cross-country trip from West Virginia to California, taking on various jobs on her way. This trip shaped her writing with the focus on survivors of various struggles like in her novel, Machine Dreams, published in 1984: A chronicle of the Hampson family from the turn of the century to the Vietnam War. The Los Angeles Times praised her "stories that hover on the edge of poetry". Slow-motion literature, I would call it, with an eye to details that are usually dropped in fiction. She was also praised by Nadine Gordimer as "the best short story writer since Eudora Welty". MotherKind, Jayne's third novel, was one of the books we discussed at The English Book Club in 2010 while focusing on the theme: "Common Ground? The American Family Novel". To some readers complete boredom to others a revelation. It was a very lively discussion!
Quote of the Month - May 2013
"These days, it feels to me like you make a devil's pact when you walk into this country. You hand over your passport at the check-in, you get stamped, you want to make a little money, get yourself started...but you mean to go back! Who would want to stay? Cold, wet, miserable; terrible food, dreadful newspapers - who would want to stay? In a place where you are never welcomed, only tolerated. Just tolerated. Like you are an animal finally house-trained. Who would want to stay? But you have made a devil's pact...it drags you in and suddenly you are unsuitable to return, your children are unrecognizable, you belong nowhere."
From White Teeth by Zadie Smith (2000)
From White Teeth by Zadie Smith (2000)
Zadie Smith *1975
Zadie Smith isn't really an obscure 'lesser known' author who would still need an introduction, even to non-English readers. I had taken part in several literary discussions here in the Netherlands on the various titles by Zadie Smith. And it's been only last month that she was listed a second time as 'Granta's Best of Young British Novelists'.
Yet, I've been prompted by this particular quote as I will 'return home' for some weeks to attend my father's 80th birthday celebrations.
Is it actually possible to 'return home', I wonder? Where do I 'return to'? Childhood places? Childhood friends? Everyone's moved on in life each going in their own chosen direction, just as I have. If I were to 'return home' for good, I wonder if we would still be friends?
What about those whose country changed completely such as the former DDR? After the fall of the Iron Curtain, the whole system altered and former conventions/convictions were radically overthrown. Where would they 'return home' to?
What about the millions forced to flee their homes for any number of reasons and never being able to 'return home'?
Do you remember Anjali Joseph? I first introduced her in November 2011 on this blog? She has since published her second novel, Another Country (2012) in which she describes a typical modern nomad life. The protagonist is trying to settle in three different countries. A second novel with its weaknesses but still strong in imagery:
"For each girl, the other's home was non-concrete, but superstitiously to be believed, in the way of a story heard in infancy; it held a reality that had nothing to do with experience. Both knew it, and it made them feel tender, as though for their own lives, which might have been continuing elsewhere."
I am curious what 'returning home' means to you - feel free to comment!
To those of you unfamiliar with Zadie Smith and her books: she was born Sadie Smith in the northwest London Borough of Brent, UK. Her latest book NW (2012) refers to it as 'NW' is part of the postcode of that particular borough. She grew up with two elder half-siblings from her father's first marriage and two younger borthers from his second marriage to her mother, who had immigrated to the UK from Jamaica in 1969. They were a very musical family: while Zadie loved tap dancing, singing and performing, working as a Jazz singer during her studies, her two younger brothers became rappers. But in the end, it was literature that captured and won Zadie's heart.
Zadie's first novel White Teeth was published in 2000 and was received with fantastic reviews. It immediately became a bestseller and was praised internationally. She won various awards and it raised expectations for her second novel: The Autograph Man. Published in 2002, the novel was less favourably received - but then again, this is quite a familiar occurence for highly acclaimed first book authors. It is said that she even experienced a short spell of a writer's block while writing her second novel. Zadie visited the US in 2002-2003 as Radcliff Institute for Advanced Study Fellow at Harvard University. On Beauty, published in 2005, was written in that period and is set mainly around the area of Boston and won back her standing as an acclaimed author. She was subsequently shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2006 and in 2012 her latest novel NW was chosen as one of the Ten Best Books of 2012 by the NYT. Zadie taught fiction at Columbia University School of the Arts and joined the New York University as a tenured Professor of fiction in 2010. She currently commutes with her family between New York City and London, UK.
Quote of the Month - April 2013
"I am often troubled by the enormity of having undertaken to explore two crafts instead of one, two difficult crafts, each of which could command a lifetime's imagination and effort. But there are some things the novel can do which poetry cannot do; lyric poetry is concerned chiefly with the moment's intense vision, the vision of one person; the novel is concerned with the inter-relation of several -and sometimes many- psyches and their impact on each other. It is concerned with growth. A novel requires a long breath, un long souffle as the French would say. It can, to some extent, be planned ahead over a considerable period of time. One can say, "I am going to write a novel next year," but one cannot say, "I am going to write a poem next year." Intellect and will do not control poetry to the same extent."
From Writings on Writing by May Sarton (1980)
From Writings on Writing by May Sarton (1980)
May Sarton (1912 - 1995)
May Sarton, born in Wondelgem, Belgium, as Eleanore Marie Sarton; her father George Sarton, a Belgian historian of science, and her mother the English artist Mabel Elwes Sarton. The family left the country, when Germany invaded Belgium in 1914, and moved first to May's maternal grandmother who lived in Ipswich, UK. Another year later, they moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, where her father took up a post at Harvard. May went to the Shady Hill School, only founded in 1915 by Agnes Hocking and her husband, a so-called 'open air school'. May was strongly influenced by Agnes, daughter of the Irish Poet John Boyle O'Reilly, as her poetry teacher. May tells in an interview with the PARIS REVIEW that they were four pupils from school who met, read and discussed each other's poems. At the age of 17, five sonnets by May were already published in Poetry magazine, becoming the opening sonnets in her first book Encounter in April. But that's for later...In 1965, things changed though: Sarton publishes her novel Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing, in which she is writing openly about her being lesbian. It wasn't the time yet. She lost various jobs and the critics turned to diminishing her previous work. Astonishingly, on the other hand, her readership expanded who turned to her for encouragement. Also Sarton's journals and her openness about her emotional life drew a growing group of readers, so as her Journal of Solitude, published in 1973. Additionally, times were changing and at universities Women's Studies gained more and more influence and May's work serious recognition. Nevertheless, reviews were often harsh and May suffered from self-doubt throughout her life, questioning her talent which almost stopped her writing at all in spite of various appointments and several honorary doctorate degrees. She admitted that her writing is far from innovative. Sometimes it seems that she is singularly focusing on her very private life but still her influence and bravery opened doors to many to lead a more complete life. In 1990, May suffered a severe stroke which left her unable to write. But her urge to communicate was stronger so she dictated her last journals, still celebrating her life and love even at an old age. In 1995 though, May succumbed to breast cancer.
Please take your time and read the above mentioned interview in the PARIS REVIEW - it's really worth it and you'll learn a lot about this extraordinary author and her writing.
Quote of the Month - March 2013
"They did not heed the crashing torrents, and the roar of the elements made her laugh as she lay in his arms. She was a revelation in that dim, mysterious chamber; as white as the couch she lay upon. Her firm, elastic flesh that was knowing for the first time its birthright, was like a creamy lily that the sun invites to contribute its breath and perfume to the undying life of the world.
The generous abundance of her passion, without guile or trickery, was like a white flame which penetrated and found response in depths of his own sensuous nature that had never yet been reached.
When he touched her breasts they gave themselves up in quivering ecstasy, inviting his lips. Her mouth was a fountain of delight. And when he possessed her, they seemed to swoon together at the very borderland of life's mystery."
From The Storm by Kate Chopin (1898; publ. 1969)
The generous abundance of her passion, without guile or trickery, was like a white flame which penetrated and found response in depths of his own sensuous nature that had never yet been reached.
When he touched her breasts they gave themselves up in quivering ecstasy, inviting his lips. Her mouth was a fountain of delight. And when he possessed her, they seemed to swoon together at the very borderland of life's mystery."
From The Storm by Kate Chopin (1898; publ. 1969)
Kate Chopin (1850-1904)
We're heading forward – the 19th Century: the Victorian era in Britain
Kate Chopin was born Katherine O'Flaherty inSt. Louis , Missouri , USA
At the age of 20, Kate married Oscar Chopin and moved toNew Orleans St. Louis
But it is not only the scandals that make Kate’s stories interesting to read: in The Storm, the protagonist develops along the upcoming storm, thunder and lightning form the perfect background of the release of the sexual tension between the two characters, and the dénouement having everyone at ease with the situation. Should Kate have written plays, she could have been a successor of Shakespeare’s comedies. Nevertheless, she is not only some generations farther but also transformed her stories by the usage of theatrical naturalism making her a fine and exceptional local color author. Certainly worth to rediscover this ‘modern’ Creole author!
Again a nice anecdote to be mentioned to modern readers: it is mentioned that she was writing in the midst of her children on a 'lapboard'…
Kate Chopin was born Katherine O'Flaherty in
At the age of 20, Kate married Oscar Chopin and moved to
But it is not only the scandals that make Kate’s stories interesting to read: in The Storm, the protagonist develops along the upcoming storm, thunder and lightning form the perfect background of the release of the sexual tension between the two characters, and the dénouement having everyone at ease with the situation. Should Kate have written plays, she could have been a successor of Shakespeare’s comedies. Nevertheless, she is not only some generations farther but also transformed her stories by the usage of theatrical naturalism making her a fine and exceptional local color author. Certainly worth to rediscover this ‘modern’ Creole author!
Again a nice anecdote to be mentioned to modern readers: it is mentioned that she was writing in the midst of her children on a 'lapboard'…
Quote of the Month - February 2013
"A taste of the fine arts requires great cultivation, but not more than a taste for the virtuous affections, and both suppose that enlargement of mind which opens so many sources of mental pleasure. Why do people hurry to noisy scenes and crowded circles? I should answer, because they want activity of mind, because they have not cherished the virtues of the heart. They only therefore see and feel in the gross, and continually pine after variety, finding everything that is simple insipid."
From Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft (1792)
From Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft (1792)
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759 - 1797)
Going back in time: we're in the 18th century, the century of the French and American Revolution, the age of Enlightment, the height of the Quing Dynasty and the decline of the Ottoman Empire. Yet, the mentioned citation seems contemporary in its appeal. Time to get to know this extraordinary author...
Mary Wollstonecraft was born the second of six children in London, UK. Not much is known from her early childhood, besides that from an early age on she was frustrated by the career options imposed on women with a confined financial background. Also that she imagined living in a female utopia, of living together with other women and supporting each other emotionally and financially. She almost reached her goal with her closest friend Fanny Blood. They succeeded at least in establishing a school together. Unfortunately, Fanny's health declined rapidly and Mary taking care of her friend abandoned the school which led to its failure. After Fanny's death, Mary wrote her first novel Mary, A Fiction (1788).
With the help of friends, Mary became a governess to a wealthy family in Ireland. But only one year later did she decide to quit her position and to become an author. Another radical decision since there were few female authors able to support themselves let alone authors in general. Nevertheless, Mary was a headstrong woman and with the assistance of the liberal publisher Joseph Johnson, who supported women writers in a time when women were still met with scepticism, she moved to London. She learned French and German, consequently translated various socio-political texts and wrote numerous reviews for Johnson's periodical, the Analytical Review. Johnson supported her and advanced payment to her first book Thoughts on the Education of Daughters (1787). In 1790, Mary, becoming more and more a fierce advocate of progress and rationality opposing aristocratic and ancestral traditions, wrote her pamphlet A Vindication of the Rights of Men in response to the conservative critique on the French Revolution by Edmund Burke. With it, she became instantly famous. Two years later her most famous and still available work was published: A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792), arguing that women are not naturally inferior to men but generally lack education.
During that time, Mary also attended Johnson's dinners where artists and radical thinkers met and exchanged their inventive ideas. It was at one of these dinners that Mary met her later husband, the political philosopher William Godwin. But Mary was more attracted by the artist Henry Fuseli/Johann Heinrich Füssli who was already married. At Mary's suggestion to form a living triangle, Henry immediately severed their friendship and Mary, humiliated, fled to France where she planned to participate in the French Revolution. While she indulged in the historical events, she met the American adventurer Gilbert Imlay who aroused her sexual interest. She fell passionately in love and gave birth to her fist daughter, Fanny Imlay in 1794. Though Gilbert protected Mary by registering her as his wife, he nevertheless left her as soon as they returned to England. Desperately trying to win Gilbert back, Mary went on a trip to Scandinavia with her baby daughter. In her travelogue Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark (1796), Mary describes her impressions as well as her emotional despair. But all attempts to gain Gilbert back failed and Mary returned to her literary life, becoming involved with Johnson's circle again.
Attracted by her Letters, William Godwin courted Mary and by the time she became pregnant a second time they decided to get married, revealing Mary's unmarried status with Gilbert. Godwin, himself, was criticised getting married at all since he had earlier advocated against marriage. Both lost many friends cause to their conduct. Nevertheless, they remained radical retaining their independence by moving into adjoining houses. Unfortunately, their happy and stable relationship would not last. After giving birth to her second daughter, Mary became infected with childbed fever and died 10 days later (Dr. Semmelweis' book on basic disinfection was only published 50 years later). William was devastated. Only six months later did he publish his Memoirs of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Women, wanting to portray Mary with love and compassion, revealing her unconventional life. The book, though, had an opposite effect and distorted Mary's reputation for decades. It's been the suffragettes and feminists who rediscovered her ambitious ideas and appreciated her fight for the rights of women and her influence on the equality of women at an early stage. To feminists worldwide, Mary Wollstonecraft is no unknown author and her ideas and thoughts still reverberate though her life's story is less known. And if you always thought the idea of "living apart together" (LAT) is something new...
Yet another interesting detail:
Mary's and William's daughter took over the literary legacy and became the author of THE classic gothic novel still know today: Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (1818) by Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin or better known as Mary Shelley. But that is a different story itself again...
Mary's and William's daughter took over the literary legacy and became the author of THE classic gothic novel still know today: Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (1818) by Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin or better known as Mary Shelley. But that is a different story itself again...
Quote of the Month - January 2013
"My hope for the future is that the optimistic child within me will perhaps reawaken one day to a world where regional conflict and Western intervention are a thing of the past; where 'war' and 'power' will be outdated words; or where, at the very least, the word 'peace' will actually represent a realistic goal."
From "The Optimistic Child" by Nawal el Sa'adawi
From "The Optimistic Child" by Nawal el Sa'adawi
Nawal el Sa'adawi *1931
Nawal el Sa'adawi was born in Kafr Tahla, a small village in Egypt, as the eldest of nine children. Her father, a government official, had campaigned against the rule of the King and the British in the revolution of 1919 and was consequently dismissed from his post and moved to a village. Being a progressive thinker he saw to it that Nawal, as a girl, learned self-respect and to speak her mind. Unfortunately, her parents died at an early age which left her with the burden of providing for a large family. Nevertheless, she graduated as a medical doctor in 1955 from Cairo University. While she worked as a doctor in her birthplace, she witnessed the oppressions and inequalities that local women were facing. Similar to her father's story: the time she supported one of her female patients against domestic violence she was ordered to move to Cairo where she became Director of Public Health.
In 1969, her book Al-Mar'a wa Al-Jins (Women and Sex) was published in which she openly names the various forms of aggression against women's bodies, including female circumcision. The text became, similar to Simone de Beauvoir's Le Deuxième Sexe (The Second Sex, 1949), a major text for feminism in the Arabic World. As a result Nawal lost her job at the Ministry of Health as well as Assistant General Secretary at the Medical Association in Egypt. Still, she continued with her work and did extensive research on women and neurosis and even became the United Nation's Advisor for the Women's Progamme in Africa and Middle East. Being banned from an official health journal she supported publication of the feminist magazine Confrontation. Her constant activism lead to her imprisonment under President Anwar al-Sadat. In her memoir Mudhakkirati fi sijn annisa (Memoirs from the Women's Prison, 1983) she describes her time in prison. Next to that, she continued to publish numerous essays and books that are partly available in English. In 1988, Nawal had to leave Egypt when Islamists were bullying her and making her life in Egypt unbearable. She turned to teaching at Duke's University and the University of Washington in Seattle in the US. Eight years later, she returned to Egypt, where she still lives and participates at various political and feminist activism. Click on the link and you will find a video with Nawal el Sa'adawi interviewed on the Egyptian Spring Revolution in 2011.
Additionally, in 2012 Nawal received the Stig Dagerman Prize, a Swedish based prize awarded to a person or organisation, that "supports the significance [...] of the 'free word' (freedom of speech), promotes empathy and intercultural understanding." (www.dagerman.us/society/annual-award). To find a complete list of all her publications, please check her website: www.nawalsaadawi.net.
In 1969, her book Al-Mar'a wa Al-Jins (Women and Sex) was published in which she openly names the various forms of aggression against women's bodies, including female circumcision. The text became, similar to Simone de Beauvoir's Le Deuxième Sexe (The Second Sex, 1949), a major text for feminism in the Arabic World. As a result Nawal lost her job at the Ministry of Health as well as Assistant General Secretary at the Medical Association in Egypt. Still, she continued with her work and did extensive research on women and neurosis and even became the United Nation's Advisor for the Women's Progamme in Africa and Middle East. Being banned from an official health journal she supported publication of the feminist magazine Confrontation. Her constant activism lead to her imprisonment under President Anwar al-Sadat. In her memoir Mudhakkirati fi sijn annisa (Memoirs from the Women's Prison, 1983) she describes her time in prison. Next to that, she continued to publish numerous essays and books that are partly available in English. In 1988, Nawal had to leave Egypt when Islamists were bullying her and making her life in Egypt unbearable. She turned to teaching at Duke's University and the University of Washington in Seattle in the US. Eight years later, she returned to Egypt, where she still lives and participates at various political and feminist activism. Click on the link and you will find a video with Nawal el Sa'adawi interviewed on the Egyptian Spring Revolution in 2011.
Additionally, in 2012 Nawal received the Stig Dagerman Prize, a Swedish based prize awarded to a person or organisation, that "supports the significance [...] of the 'free word' (freedom of speech), promotes empathy and intercultural understanding." (www.dagerman.us/society/annual-award). To find a complete list of all her publications, please check her website: www.nawalsaadawi.net.
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