At Electric Literature, Mai Al-Nakib discusses her debut novel, An Unlasting Home, a family saga that follows generations of women across Kuwait, the U.S., India, and more. “There is a degree of empowerment in not belonging; it allows you to pivot and to create possibilities for yourself that are often fruitful,” she says. “This is the case for Maria, moving herself from Goa to Pune and then to Kuwait, making a life for her children that would not have been possible without her capacity to tolerate non-belonging.”
Mai Al-Nakib and the Power of Not Belonging
Melodious Sound Patterings
“Reaching the end of a Babstock poem, I often felt (and still often feel) stunned into a kind of numinous awe.” Stewart Cole for Partisan on Ken Babstock and the state of Canadian poetry. Continue with confidence on your quest through the Canadian canon with the help of this guide by our very own Michael Bourne.
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Elif Şafak Accused of Plagiarism Again
Accusations of plagiarism – the real kind, which is not to be confused with “self-plagiarism” – just keep following Turkish writer Elif Şafak, don’t they? Lydia Kiesling previously reported on the fiasco around her book Iskender last August, but now more allegations are surrounding the cover art on Şafak’s latest novel, Şemspare.
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Sail Away on Shel Silverstein’s Houseboat
If you're the seafaring type, Shel Silverstein's rustic house boat is currently on the market, the perfect spot to write your celebrated collection of children's poetry.
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Stranger than Fiction
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I’m the Best One Here
If, while sitting in a writing class, you’ve ever looked around at your classmates and thought, “Dear Lord, these people are navel-gazers,” you might want to know that British researchers have found evidence that you were right.
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