Ancient cookbooks as poetry, Margarita Engle wins Young People’s Poet Laureate, and more
News, Reviews, and Interviews
Central American writer Claribel Alegría, laureate of the 2006 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, has won the twenty-sixth “Reina Sofía de Poesía Iberoamericana” literary prize for lifetime achievement, El País announced on Wednesday.
An ongoing translation effort called the Jalada literary collective is gaining steam as it aims to unite and elevate African literature.
Singapore Unbound has launched its new website, bringing together its many initiatives including the Singapore Literature Festival in NYC, the Second Saturdays Reading Series, and other efforts to build a cultural exchange between Singapore and the US.
Carmen Boullosa, Yuri Herrera, and Dylan Brennan share a centenary tribute to Mexican writer Juan Rulfo.
Recent NSK Neustadt Prize finalist Margarita Engle was named Young People’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation this week. The title is given every two years, along with $25,000.
The Huffington Post previews Yahia Lababidi’s forthcoming collection Where Epics Fail.
Joy Harjo has been awarded the 2017 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize by the Poetry Foundation.
Literary Hub shares a poem by Sherman Alexie, excerpted from his new book, You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me.
The Times Literary Supplement looks at the writing of Elena Lappin and describes how each of the five languages she is fluent in has served a purpose.
Sometime in April, a burglar stole an 800-word, handwritten prequel to the Harry Potter series, scrawled on a postcard by J. K. Rowling.
Fun Finds and Inspiration
This study published last month in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience shines a light on what happens to your brain when you read poetry.
Kentucky Fried Chicken released a free 100-page e-book for Mother’s Day. Via PBS, Joshua Barajas shares his mother’s review of the romance novella.
These world’s oldest cookbooks curated by Words Without Borders shares ancient recipes that read as “delectable little poems.”
Via Atlas Obscura, this obsessively detailed map charts the paths of American literature’s most epic road trips.
