Posted on March 07, 2018
What's International Women's Day? It's a March 8th holiday with purported roots in both ancient Rome and Soviet Socialism, according to a recent article in Russian Life.
Posted on March 02, 2018
How can literature help us to "bridge divides, create new connections, and deepen understandings"? This year, the National Book Foundation's "Why Reading Matters" conference brings together educators, librarians, writers, and scholars to seek answers to that question. The conference, entitled "Reading Without Boundaries," seems like a particularly good fit for readers of this website.
Posted on February 26, 2018
"It's almost impossible to get in, but getting kicked out is easy." So begins "Scandorama", excerpted in this month's graphic literature-themed issue of the magazine Words Without Borders. Written by a Finnish author and illustrated by a Kenyan-Swedish artist, the story centers around a "homo felinus," the result of a medical experiment, a self-described "misfit" turned resistance fighter.
Posted on February 09, 2018
Are your students interested in human rights issues? They might take a look at an essay and poster contest celebrating the life of Abdelkader, a humanitarian who "was such a worldwide inspiration that a town in Iowa was named after him!" The deadline is May 15.
Posted on January 24, 2018
This month, the magazine Words Without Borders features writing by Kazakh women, including Zira Naurzbayeva's essay "The Beskempir," a meditation on the lives of Kazakh grandmothers who were brought from "auls," or villages, to live with their urbanized children in cities like Almaty. The adjustment was not always easy: the essay begins with an overheard scream.