Independent Bookstore Day!
Saturday, April 30th, was Independent Bookstore Day. Readers from LA to New York and beyond celebrated local indie bookstores with author events, special sales and more in support of the day. Did you buy a book, or two or three? If you didn’t make it, don’t worry. Seek out your local fav any day to keep our fantastic independent bookstores thriving for the long haul.
Africana Literati TV Show Debuting on Africa Magic Family
A new television show highlighting African literature hosted by Isabella Akinseye is a weekly program on Africa Magic DSTV geared for the whole family. The show includes book reviews, issues in publishing, poetry, culture, and more. Akinseye also hosts a back to school segment with the tag line: Love Africa, Read Africa.
Here’s a fun trailer of the show:
Joy Williams Wins the Pen/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction
Author Joy Williams has won the 28th Pen/Malamud Award for short fiction. Williams was a runner-up for the Pulitzer in 2001 for her novel, The Quick and the Dead. Winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship, Williams has published five short story collections, with the most recent, The Visiting Privilege: New and Collected Stories, in 2015.
Fundraiser for Books to Help Identify Developmental Issues for Poisoned Flint Children
A Go Fund Me fundraiser has been launched by the Pediatric Foundation of Michigan to help buy books for Flint, Michigan children poisoned by the city’s drinking water. The goal of the effort is to raise $180,000 to buy books to assist pediatricians in diagnosing developmental issues associated with exposure to lead.
Mary Hood Wins Townsend Prize
The 19th Townsend Prize for fiction was awarded to Mary Hood on April 28th for her short story collection, A Clear View of the Southern Sky, this week. The prize, administered by The Chattahoochee Review and the Georgia Center for the Book, is bestowed every two years to a Georgia writer. Click here for a link to all the other very talented finalists.
Bringing India and Pakistan Together Through Literature
Highlighting a mutual love of literature, The Bombay Review has created The India-Pakistan Project 2016 for their May-June Issue this year. Events have already begun to celebrate the project, and the release of the issue with readings, poetry performances, a talk with writers, and a workshop. Literature and poetry have so much power to unite us all.
Laurel Dowswell is the Features Editor at Change Seven. Her short story “I Am theEggman” was nominated for the 2016 Pushcart Prize. She was a copy editor for an independent feminist newspaper in Santa Fe, NM, after being raised and educated in Florida. She lives and writes in Georgia, just outside of Atlanta with her son. She is currently working on a novel filled with oil paintings, family drama, and the spectrum of sexuality. Follow her on twitter @laurels_idea.
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