International Booker-winner Kairos

Jenny Erpenbeck and her translator Michael Hofmann won the coveted International Booker prize for Kairos a fiction which was translated into English. Erpenbeck previously won the 2015 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, for The End of Days (2015). Kairos ( name of a Greek gid as well as a word for a critical moment, is Erpenbeck’s fourth novel and the first of her books to be translated by Hofmann, is an allegorical story of a May-December affair unfolding in East Berlin during the end days of the GDR. An extramarital entanglement between the 19-year-old student Katharina and Hans, a writer in … Continue reading International Booker-winner Kairos

Short Story: The Octopus Curry

The Octopus Curry  – A Short Story by Penny Nair Price Liz and Roger worked together and were great comrades in the office – Roger had had his eye on her for some time but he was strapped for cash and when  Friday evening came,  another colleague – Chris invited him to eat locally to the office as a treat. Liz said her goodbyes and went on her way for the weekend.  The chosen restaurant was on the first floor.  Roger took his rucksack with him, found a space for it,  and the two colleagues sat down to a wonderful … Continue reading Short Story: The Octopus Curry

Alice Munro, master of short story and Nobel Prize winner dies aged 92

Alice Munro known for mastery of short stories and depictions of womanhood in rural settings, has died in Ontario, Canada aged 92. Born in 1931 in Wingham, Ontario, Munro grew up in a fox and mink farm, in the most disreputable part of the town. Munro found an escape in reading as a child and her favourite writers like Emily Bronte, Charles Dickens, and Lucy Maud Montgomery guided her in appreciating literature beyond her age. “Books seem to me to be magic, and I wanted to be part of the magic, Books are far more important to me than life”  … Continue reading Alice Munro, master of short story and Nobel Prize winner dies aged 92

Agony and ecstasy engulfed by desire

Provoking offbeat sexual acts, challenges the binary of marriage and explores sexuality in perimenopause.  All Fours is tender, hilarious and sexy. A semi-famous artist announces her  pan to drive cross-country, from LA  to New York. Twenty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, beds down in a nondescript motel, and immerses herself in a temporary reinvention that turns out to be the start of an entirely different journey. Miranda July in All Fours, a 45-year-old “semi-famous” artist who remains unnamed locks eyes with the young man who’s squeegeeing her . Their intense but … Continue reading Agony and ecstasy engulfed by desire

On the Brink of fear & disaster

Philip Notman, an acclaimed medieval history professor whose fondness for Emerson’s scariest quote “ I  am glad to be on the brink of fear”, attends a conference in Bergen, Norway. On his return to London, and to his wife and son, something unexpected and inexplicable happens to him, and he is unable to settle back into his normal life. Seeking answers, he flies to Cadiz to see Inés, a Spanish academic, with whom he shared a connection at the conference, but his journey doesn’t end there. A chance encounter with a wealthy, elderly couple sends him to a house on … Continue reading On the Brink of fear & disaster

Short Story: An Innocent Woman

AN INNOCENT WOMAN – A Short Story by Penny Nair PriceWould anyone ever discover his deep secret? It seemed he had committed the perfect crime and he had got away with it – his most hated enemy was now ten feet under – and all because she was a cheating swine. He walked away from her grave, reminiscing deeply about their married life together, and as he did so, the sun started to shine and the clouds cleared. “Til death do us part” Ha! That was the joke. He remembered how she had begged with him for a ring he … Continue reading Short Story: An Innocent Woman

“Rage” inspiring tragedies

Stephen King who earned the title of King of Horror after publishing novels like It, Pet Sematary, Carrie and The Shining, has asked for his latest book to go out of publication because of the controversy it generated. A high school student Charlie Decker, who after an incident that sent his chemistry teacher to the hospital and insulting the principal led to his expulsion, took a pistol from his locker and shot his Algebra teacher while holding his classmates hostage. Over the next two decades several number of shooting incidents took place at high schools across the US. On several … Continue reading “Rage” inspiring tragedies

Author whitewashed from history of colonialism and its aftermath

A gripping literary mystery which unravels the fascinating life of a maligned Black author, based on Yamboi Ouologuem. In 2018, Diegane Latyr Faye, a young Senegalese writer in Paris discovers a legendary book. In 1938, a novel called Labyrinth of Inhumanity ws praised as “the masterpiece of a young African Negro, but due to some obscure scandal, the book disappeared without a trace along with its author, who was TC Elimane. No one knows what became of its author, once hailed as the “Black Rimbad” the book caused a scandal. Enthralled by this mystery Diegane decides to search for TC … Continue reading Author whitewashed from history of colonialism and its aftermath

Bad Behaviour on campus

A debut novel about Helen, a graduate student who follows her disgraced mentor to a university that gives safe harbour to scholars of ill repute, igniting a crisis of work and a test of her conscience and marriage. Helen is one of the brightest minds of her generation, a young physicist on a path to solve high-temperature superconductivity which could perhaps save the planet. When she discovers that her brilliant adviser is involved in a sex scandal, Helen is torn, should she give ump on her work with him? Or should she accompany him to a controversial university, founded by … Continue reading Bad Behaviour on campus

Anne Nightingale dies aged 83- BBC Radio One’s first female DJ

Annie Avril Nightingale – 1 April 1940 to 11 Jan 2024 This lady blazed a trail as first female Radio 1 DJ broadcasting pop music to the enthusing masses and also presenting Top of the Pops. She was known to fans as “The Queen of Breaks” – breakfast being her subject of specialist interest. She also broadcast on the famous “Old Grey Whistle Test” and was known as a new contender in the “Husband Substitute” for those used to only male presenters to get listeners up or jolly the listeners on during the day. She said ” I became the … Continue reading Anne Nightingale dies aged 83- BBC Radio One’s first female DJ