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The Overlooked Singapore: An Interview with Dave Chua
Thursday, February 2, 2012Singaporean writer Dave Chua won a Singapore Literature Prize Commendation Award in 1996 for his novel Gone Case, which he recently adapted into a two-volume graphic novel in collaboration with artist and writer Koh Hong Teng. The second volume was released in October 2011. Mr.
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After Graduation, Central Europe's Journalism Students Stumble
Wednesday, February 1, 2012"…There’s little interest in what Slovak journalism refers to as 'publicistika': serious news features, profiles and analysis. It turns out such stories can be bad for business."
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia -- Katarina Jenkutova was the sort of student who makes teaching worthwhile. Two years ago, she was one of my 30 Slovak journalism students at the University of Saints Cyril and Methodius, in the provincial but historic city of Trnava.
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Gambit (The Art of Creating) No. 2 - Abubakar Adam Ibrahim
Wednesday, February 1, 2012I was infected by Abubakar’s simplicity as we exchanged emails and spoke on phone. I recall my uncle speaking about simplicity being the hallmark of vast knowledge, and the depth of intellection. If that’s true, then Abubakar’s responses are measured anecdotes that display an understanding of his role as a Nigerian writer. What I perceived was that his convictions were deep-seated, irrevocable, even irrefutable. I have followed his work since 2007 when he won the BBC Play Writing Competition. An open secret is that we are being published by the same publisher this year – Parresia.
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A Neo-Con Job
Tuesday, January 31, 2012Former Bush Administration official Elliott Abrams has taken to the pages of Foreign Policy to offer a defense of the Neoconservative policies that were a hallmark of the Bush-era world view, and to link them with the ongoing Arab Spring movement (note: author/pundit Niall Ferguson was also pushing this argument on Sunday's episode of “Fareed Zakaria GPS”). It is an odd defense on the part of Abrams, since he basically boils neoconservativism down to a couple of pro-de
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The Marriage Problem (结婚问提)
Monday, January 30, 2012(下面有中文)
BEIJING Last month while home for Christmas I attended a ninetieth birthday party for my Grandma with family and friends. Like others returning from China I went through that process of trying to explain the unexplainable fascination with China. Yet more than once I sensed a certain fumbling for questions from my interlocutors, it was them for a change struggling to small talk, not me.
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Hollywood Gets Badass in Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 -
To Romania, Love Occupy Wall Street
Tuesday, January 24, 2012The first draft of this letter (for the Romanian magazine Decât o Revistă) was written on November 14, 2011, one day before New York City's Occupy Wall Street encampment was raided. The second draft was finalized on November 22 while I was traveling in Nicaragua. The letter was translated into Romanian and publishd in January. To see how it appeared in the magazine (with accompanying photos by Ahmet Sibdial Sau), click here.
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Bricks in the Wall
Monday, January 23, 2012Dave Chua’s award-winning Gone Case takes a familiar literary genre, the bildungsroman, and sets it in late 20th-century Singapore, with poignant results. Twelve-year-old Yong struggles with schoolwork, develops a crush on a friend’s older sister, weathers threats of violence from a bully, and takes care of his younger brother, all while watching his parents’ marriage fall apart.
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Stumbling Towards War: Iran Edition
Friday, January 20, 2012Ultima Ratio Regum Latin for “[War,] the last argument of kings,” this quote summed up the classical approach to warfare, that it was the method of achieving a specific strategic goal of the realm when other methods had failed. In modern times though, it seems that war is often the result of a chain of political miscalculations by heads of state. Such is the situation with Iran and the United States, where armed conflict seems more and more likely the eventual outcome of our current diplomatic standoff.
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Until She Disappears
Thursday, January 19, 2012If melancholy can be sweet, then The Faster I Walk, the Smaller I Am (Dalkey, 2011) is just that. Kjersti A. Skomsvold’s debut novel, which won Norway’s Tarjei Vesaas's debutantpris (2009), provides a brief, sentimental glimpse into what it means to be lonely. The gloom of such a weighty (and tried) theme is relieved, refreshingly, by the narrator, Mathea, an aging introvert who is charmingly naïve, occasionally funny, often whimsical, but always … sad.
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Gambit (The Art of Creating) No. 1 - Novuyo Rosa Tshuma
Wednesday, January 18, 2012The following conversation took place via email. Between Novuyo and myself, we exchanged about 35 emails, in which I was greatly moved by her dedication (as you would see) to her writing, her understanding of her craft, and her willingness to engage. I have never met Novuyo in person, but it feels as though I have known her for a long time. Indeed, there are few of the writers scheduled in this series that I can recognize from a distance. I am yet to fully come to terms with what this means, suggests.
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The Divisive Iron Lady
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 -
'To Be or Not to Be' Series: Min Kyaw Khine
Friday, January 13, 2012Here is the final installment of our week long vlog series of four Burmese artists who will be headlining our first ever art show "To Be or Not to Be" at Gallery35 in New York. Below is a profile of Min Kyaw Khine which I chef-ed up. Check it out and if you're in the NYC area, feel free to swing by and experience their work first hand.
Follow Anthony on Twitter @culturegy
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'To Be or Not to Be' Series: KST
Thursday, January 12, 2012Here is the third installment in our week long vlog series of four Burmese artists who will be headlining our first ever art show "To Be or Not to Be" at Gallery35 in New York. Below is a quick profile of Kyawswar Thant (also known as KST) which I strung together. If you look closely you can even spot a cameo by Mantle head chief Shaun Randol striking his art pose. Check it out and if you're in the NYC area, come by and support these great artists and their work.
Follow Anthony on Twitter @culturegy
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'To Be or Not to Be' Series: Chaw Ei Thein
Wednesday, January 11, 2012Here is the second installment of The Mantle's week long vlog series of four Burmese artists featured this weekend in our first ever art show "To Be or Not to Be" at Gallery35 in New York.
Below is a quick profile of Chaw Ei Thein. Check out her work and if you're in the NYC area, come by and support the other great artists on this bill.
Follow Anthony on Twitter @culturegy
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From Every Country
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Danny Goldfield's image of Basim Erzouki, representing Iraq, was chosen for Life magazine's cover in June, 2006. -
'To Be or Not to Be' Series: Aung Zaw Tun
Wednesday, January 11, 2012Here is the first installment of The Mantle's week long vlog series of four Burmese artists featured this weekend in our first ever art show "To Be or Not to Be" at Gallery35 in New York. Below is a quick profile of Aung Zaw Tun which I shot and edited (co-interview creds of course aided by Mantle cheif Shaun Randol).
Check it out and if you're in the NYC area, please come by and support these great artists and their work.
Follow Anthony on Twitter @culturegy
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