Authors of the world: A Non-competitive Challenge

[[deleted user]]

In the middle of the night I had this great idea: Read a book (in English or translation) by a writer from every country. If that's not possible, at least read a biography of someone from that country, or a history of it. There isn't consensus on how many countries there are, so I'm starting with a list of 195 while bearing in mind that I may want to read authors from territories, colonies, and the like, such as Puerto Rico and Palestine. I was able to generate the names of 140 countries in the middle of the night (some, such as Wales, revealed in morning's cold, hard light not to be fully independent). I did bolt up one or twice to hiss "Lesotho!" and "Namibia!" to the cats, who could not have cared less.

1. Your suggestions are welcome, especially for Namibian poets or a novelist of Palau. I'm also a little weak on the oeuvre of Sao Tome and Principe.

2. Want to play? I think it could be a fun thread, and we could help each other locate works from less-prominent countries.

[Laura]

That sounds like a really cool idea. I would definitely do it, although I might not be the best player since I tend to be a bit loosey-goosey about reading I plan in advance to do.

[[deleted user]]

Yes, I'm assuming it will take me until 2012 or later because I have other books to read for pleasure and work.

[Julie]

Very interesting! Holy cow, you can think of 140 countries just off the top of your head?

This is why I need to watch the Olympics--to be reminded of some of these countries. PR definitely should get to have its own entry.

I think this is a stellar idea.

[Dora]

I think this sounds really interesting too, Shoshana. I would participate in this type of thread, although I'm sure I won't be able to keep up with the pace.

[Julie]

I'm glancing at my shelves to see how many countries I have covered. Not all that many.

Does it make more sense to start from scratch or to count previous reads?

I'm inclined to split off Scotland, N. Ireland, and Wales from England for this list.


My library system has a book by a guy from Abkhazia. According to Wiki, it's "is a region in Georgia that is a de facto independent republic with no international recognition."

I think I'd count such a place. So, for Abkhazia (which just happened to be first, alphabetically, in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_... ) I'm going for Sandro of Chegem by Fazil Iskander! How's that for obscure? :)

[[deleted user]]

Excellent!

I've done some asking around and disinterested parties believe that for countries whose authors we've read, we may list a representative example (e.g., I've read Calvino's Cosmicomics so I can count Italy). Interested parties, such as family, have, in fact, begged for this. Other kibitzers raise the issue of expatriates and immigrants, but I think that must be a personal decision for each reader.

A list of countries to start with: http://www.worldatlas.com/nations.htm

[Julie]

Good news for a lot of us: Alexander McCall Smith is from Zimbabwe! :D

[[deleted user]]

True! It might be fun to list good authors from less-known countries.

I've started a LiveJournal to track my progress: shoshana-world.livejournal.com

Feel free to comment!

When I'm done teaching my summer intensive courses (40 hours of instruction + prep + grading in 15 days), or if I need to procrastinate or go mad, I'll start cleaning up the country list, posting what I've already read, and grooming the list of countries still to go, perhaps adding tentative authors or titles to countries I have any idea about.

[Julie]

In lieu of anything more complicated yet, I've just done a spreadsheet with my beginning list of countries (a few additions to the regular lists) and my off-the-top-of-my-head fill ins for the countries I've completed and a very few ideas.

I think I'll do something more formal with it later, since I love your idea of blogging it Shoshana.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?ke...

[Julie]

Oooh, I found a nice resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_...

And here: http://www.africanwriter.com/authors

[Melissa]

I think this is a wonderful idea, and I'd love to join in. Most of my studies were in East-Asian literature (and a little of African), so I'm pretty deficient in South American works. I'd love to get some recommendations!

Just to throw a few out there...

My favorite African author is Ama Ata Aidoo from (what is now) Ghana; her short novel Our Sister Killjoy is one of my favorites (I don't always agree with her POV, but her style is great).

You Name Shall Be Tanga by Calixthe Beyala (born in Cameroon, now in France I believe?) is also good.

Also, The Abandoned Baobab: The Autobiography of a Senegalese Woman: Ken Bugul, is worth tracking down.

[[deleted user]]

I've begun blogging the countries for which I've read books. It's interesting to see from which countries I've read many authors, from which I've read natives, and from which I've read expatriates or immigrants. I'm not done posting previous books yet, in part because some of the countries no longer exist (Yugoslavia, e.g.) or newly exist (many pre- and post-Soviet states, for example). It's also fun to choose my exemplar for countries from which I've read more than one author. In many cases, I've picked the most recently read, but for others, a work I admire.

I really appreciate the recommendations posted so far! I'm sure I'll be posting inquiries and ideas soon.

[Dora]

Meant to post this earlier in the week: an article about literature available in English translation, and an on-line magazine recommendation. The article. The on-line magazine.(Thanks to Karen, who recommended the magazine to me earlier this year.) The magazine includes translated literature in all kinds of genres. Of more interest for this thread: book reviews.

[Julie]

I stumbled across a Norwegian author at the library yesterday. Yay for Norway! :D

[[deleted user]]

gardentraveler, nice! I'm looking forward to perusing the reviews when I have more time. I've been adding books that look good to me to-read countries list.

[Melissa]

How is everyone categorizing things? Are you counting country of origin for the Author, the country where it was actually written, or the general consensus of what kind of literature it is?

[[deleted user]]

I'm looking at country of origin balanced by length of time spent in the country. Someone born in Spain who moved to France when she was three and lived there, writing in French, for 30 years, I'm counting as French.

[Julie]

I'm just playing it by ear, and some of it could end up depending on how I feel about the books when I read them. If a book doesn't seem to have any sense of place, I might not count it as from that country. If that makes any sense.

I've found mysteries for Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland to add to my list. Woo!

[[deleted user]]

I agree with you about "sense of place," Julie. I'll recommend The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao for the Dominican Replublic (almost through and I'm enjoying it). Don't forget that Pippi Longstocking is by a Swede!

[Dora]

Since you mentioned mysteries, Julie: have you ever read anything by Janwillem van de Wetering? He was born in the Netherlands, but moved to the States at some point (and, having read his Wikipedia entry now, lived all over the place before moving to Maine). His Grijpstra and DeGier mysteries are really interesting and have a very definite sense of place (they're primarily set in Amsterdam). He also has some that are set in Japan (although I don't think I liked those as well). Hadn't thought about him in a long time, but heard he died recently.

[Julie]

Ah! That's who my sister was talking about earlier! She couldn't come up with his name and called him "Something something van der Fleenkensomething." :D

[[deleted user]]

Julie, I like your around-the-world shelf idea! we each set up a shelf by that name, we can get "other books shelved as 'around-the-world'" to pop up for ideas.

[Julie]

I found a fabulous resource:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/cou...

I haven't yet figured out what all the notations are. I think "m" is mystery and "c" is fiction (literary fiction, maybe?)

[Dora]

I always have to look him up in order to spell his name correctly. He's excellent. (This was a reply to Julie....wish replies would be threaded here....)

I like the around-the-world shelf idea, too.

[Julie]

Interesting what you can discover about authors when you start to dig. Wilbur Smith was actually born in Zambia (well, Rhodesia at the time). I don't think I'd use him as my Zambian author unless other options were no better, but in theory I have Zambia accounted for.

[Harry]

OK, I'm in. I'm going to be keeping my list here:

my list

Surprise discoveries so far: Michael Ondaatje is from Sri Lanka. Richard Llewellyn was not from Wales.

And surely I've read something from Australia?

[Julie]

Ooh, Richard Llewellyn is our first imposter author! He claimed he was from Wales and his parents were Welsh and he wrote about Wales but wasn't from Wales. Tricky.

[Harry]

In retrospect, the over-the-top sentimental Welshness of How Green was my Valley makes more sense when you know he was a wannabe. I mean it's a good book, but Welsh stereotypes are laid on with a trowel.

[[deleted user]]

Harry, have your read anything by Garth Nix, Jill Ker Conway, or Justine Larbalestier? They're all Australian.

ETA: Geraldine Brooks, James Clavel.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_...

Wikipedia is a great starting point for a country's authors. Enter country name + literature.

[Harry]

I don't think I have read anything by any of those three, but I thought of a couple of Australians I have read, so I'm not going mad after all.

[Julie]

Because I'm completely obsessive, I worked up a flash map to show my reading:

http://www.juliecarter.net/blog/world...

Whee!

[[deleted user]]

Woah. I have no idea how to do something like that, but I assure you that I am mad with envy and want nothing more than to marry you and have your babies.

[Julie]

Hee. Can you embed flash objects in Livejournal? If so, I can help you create a map for your very own!

I was trying to think of a way to make the map show multiple people's choices. I haven't quite figured that out yet.

[Harry]

An alternative version of a map, using Google maps.

if you're interested in using Google maps/ Google earth, I can give you the KML file that my map uses, which would save you entering a placemarker for all the countries.

[[deleted user]]

Julie and Harry, thanks for your offers. I think I can embed flash objects--I was able to plug this in: http://shoshana-world.livejournal.com...

I like the feel of Julie's map. If there's an easy way to do something like that, I'd enjoy it. That said, I'm about to have an emergency root canal and then be mostly out of town for business for several weeks, so there's no rush!

[Julie]

Mine's not super hard, but it does require tinkering with code and it requires a service that will store the files. Most blogging platforms aren't going to host the files for you. I am willing to host files, but that would mean the files wouldn't be accessible except through me.

I used the software from here:

http://backspace.com/mapapp/

[[deleted user]]

Thanks. I'll play with it when I come back. Using the hosted "travel" map I've got now is not entirely what I want, but it's fine for now in conjunction with a list.

[[deleted user]]

How's it going, everyone? I'm at a professional conference in Boston, so I'm planning my strategic trip to Cambridge to hunt for some of the authors I've identified. I'm reading Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood by Richard E. Kim. I thought it was South Korean because he served in the army in Seoul, but I think North Korean is a more accurate categorization. I'd enjoy recommendations for South Korea.

[Harry]

I haven't really started - I'm still working through a backlog of books I'd already bought. But when I've finished the three books I'm reading now, I think I'd better tick something off to give me a sense of momentum...

[Julie]

I haven't been doing much reading the last week. Olympics plus work and yardwork equals no time! And I have a backlog in any case.

[[deleted user]]

Can anyone recommend an author from Saint Kitts and Nevis? Preferably someone you've read and liked. Any genre is fine.

I'm finding that many writers available in translation have written about war and dislocation, or their little orphan, "everything was great in the colony until those people wanted their country back."

I'm behind on my reviews due to a strep picked up in Mexico. Coming soon:

St. Lucia: Derek Walcott: The Prodigal: A Poem
Portugal: Jose Saramago: Blindness
Bangladesh: Amitav Ghosh: The Hungry Tide
Burkina Faso: Malidoma Patrice Somé: Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman
Croatia: Dubravka Ugrešić: The Ministry of Pain

[Petra X]

Caryl Phillips from St. Kitt's. He emigrated to the UK as a baby but defines himself as a Caribbean author. I've read three of his books and my favourite was his first, The Final Passage. I have Cambridge in my bookshop and if it doesn't sell, I'm reading it next.

Sean Mayes wrote a biography about Joan Armatrading who is from St. Kitt's.

Nevis is a very small island, maybe 8,000 people and outside of Alexander Hamilton I don't think anyone much has come from there. The island is not a hotbed of mad intellectual ability (everyone's on the rather stunning beaches).

My bookshop specialises in Caribbean books if I can help with you any from the myriad islands. Btw I am Welsh and therefore British, but I don't pay the English no mind!

[[deleted user]]

Thanks, Petra. I'll read one of those if I can't find something else. I'm trying for authors who spent time living in a culture, not just born there then moving on.

I should tell you that I read books from Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland rather than just one from "The U.K."

[Petra X]

It not easy finding published authors from tiny third-world islands. I do my best to promote Caribbean ones so I know.

If you haven't read anything from Dominica yet though, you could try Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea which is wonderful. If you want a genuinely Welsh book (sounds marvellous read aloud to an audience, great fun to do) try Dylan Thomas's famous Under Milkwood (I grew up in a village just like it, not too far away). There's a small, little-known fact about that book - the action takes place in Llareggub, which to all eyes except Welsh ones, looks Welsh. Its actually Bugger All backwards :-)

[[deleted user]]

I appreciate that!

I found reference to Miriam Gone Home: The Life of Sister Huggins for Saint Kitts and Nevis. Other Carribean countries I've read so far:

Antigua and Barbuda: Jamaica Kincaid: A Small Place
Dominica: Jean Rhys: The Wide Sargasso Sea
Dominican Republic: Junot Díaz: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Haiti: Edwidge Danticat: Breath, Eyes, Memory
Jamaica: Michelle Cliff: Claiming an Identity They Taught Me to Despise
Saint Lucia: Derek Walcott: The Prodigal: A Poem
Trinidad and Tobago: Samuel Selvon: A Brighter Sun

I'd welcome recommendations of authors from these countries and other islands (like Puerto Rico) that are under a foreign nation but have a distinctly different culture:

Anguilla
Aruba
Barbados
Bermuda
The Bahamas
Cayman Islands
Cuba
Grenada
Martinique
Netherlands Antilles
Puerto Rico
Saint Maarten
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Turks and Caicos
Virgin Islands

If you'd like to send me your bookshop information, I promise that I'm a benign professor and not an axe murderer.

[[deleted user]]

Thanks for your suggestions, Petra. I appreciate your time! I wrote a longer reply last night, but it doesn't seem to have stuck.

[[deleted user]]

A useful adjunct

Lonely Planet the Travel Book A Journey Through Every Country in the World Paperback

I had forgotten about this book, or at least I hadn't thought about it in relation to this activity. It's a big, colorful compendium of photos and text presenting all of the U.N's member nations, plus. Each country (or territory, etc.) has a spread of two oversized pages that include a large photo and several smaller ones, a nominal travel overview, a basic map, and (best for our purposes) suggestions for books, music, and films related to (though not always arising from) that country. Here's a sample image. I've begun catching up with the countries I've already read, and reading the entry for each country as I read new books. I'll probably have to list the entries Lonely Planet includes but that I don't have on my list and consider whether to read a book from those places as well.

Really, take a look. It helps give each book a visual context.

[Dora]

That looks like an excellent book, Shoshana. Thanks for pointing it out. Also, Petra, the information you've provided has given me lots to think about.

[[deleted user]]

No, no, it's interesting and helpful! Thank you!