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"Pepperpot" Scores Strong Review from Library Journal

17/4/2014

 
Library Journal, a leading U.S. publication targeting public, academic corporate libraries has given high marks to PepperPot. PepperPot is the first book to be released from Peekash Press, the new imprint formed in a collaboration between Peepal Tree Press and Akashic Books. 

See the review below.

May 1:
Pepperpot: Best New Stories from the Caribbean. Peekash: Akashic. 2014. 
224p.  ISBN 9781617752711. pap. $15.95; ebk. ISBN 9781617752834. F

When Commonwealth Writers and the British Council invited Akashic Books of Brooklyn and Peepal Tree of England to the Kingston Book Festival, literary history began. The publishers jointly formed Peekash Press, which focuses on Caribbean literature. The imprint’s first book is this collection of short stories by writers both novice and established who are originally from the region or living there; the authors hail from Belize, Antigua, and Barbados, among other nations. The pieces are as diverse in subject and in style as their creators. Dwight Thompson’s “The Science of Salvation” tells the tale of a violent criminal who finds salvation because a single person, his childhood friend, never judges him for his misdeeds. Kimmisha Thomas’s “Berry” portrays a lesbian couple who discover the courage to come out despite hostility. ­Ezekel Alan’s “Waywardness” ends tragically but is finely written as the narrator discusses the free yet dangerous life that his cousin lives. The wonder in these stories is that they show Caribbean culture—the people, sounds, food, and music. VERDICT Like Alex Wheatle’s Island Songs, this book will appeal to readers of Caribbean fiction and beyond.—Ashanti White, Yelm, WA

Caribbean book launched at Aye Write! Festival in Glasgow

16/4/2014

 
Ivory Kelly from Belize and Joanne Hillhouse from Antigua were featured at the Aye Write Book Festival in Glasgow, Scotland as part of the Commonwealth Writing programme. The festival took place between April 4 - 12, 2014.

Peekash Press, the joint imprint from Peepal Tree Press and Akashic Books, which was facilitated by CaribLit, launched its first title, Pepperpot, at the festival.

Read more about the event and interviews with the authors on the British Council website: 

Aye Write Festival:  http://bit.ly/1kqcNZz
Interview with Ivory Kelly - http://bit.ly/OBNDYV
Interview with Joanne C Hillhouse - http://bit.ly/1qi1D8o

Anisfield-Wolf book award winners announced

3/4/2014

 
The winners of the 2014 Anisfield-Wolf awards were announced Wednesday with prizes of $10,000 each. Since 1935, the Anisfield-Wolf awards have been presented to books and authors who confront racism and explore diversity.

The Lifetime Achievement award will be shared by Wilson Harris and George Lamming, who will  split the $10,000 prize. Harris, who turned 93 this week, was born in Guyana and now lives in England. He has published more than two dozen novels. Lamming was born in Barbados and was a novelist and cultural critic who lived abroad for many years; his teaching appointments included a stint at Brown University. Now 86, he currently lives in Barbados.

Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. chaired the jury. "The 2014 Anisfield-Wolf winners are exemplars who broaden our vision of race and diversity," Gates said in a statement. "This year, there is exceptional writing about the moral complexity of Israel, a transporting first novel set in war-torn Chechnya and a collection of poems on the myth and unapologetic masculinity of the first African-American heavyweight champion, Jack Johnson."

That poetry collection is “The Big Smoke” by Adrian Matejka, which shares the fiction award with "A Constellation of Vital Phenomena" by Anthony Marra, the debut novel set in Chechnya. 

Ari Shavit takes the nonfiction award for "My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel" which he wrote simultaneously in English and Hebrew. Shavit is a columnist for Haaretz, Jerusalem’s daily newspaper.

Previous winners of the Anisfield-Wolf awards include Alan Paton, Zora Neale Hurston, Louis Adamic, Martin Luther King Jr., Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, Nadine Gordimer, Toni Morrison and Richard Rodriguez.

The awards will be presented in Cleveland on Sept. 11.




http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-anisfield-wolf-book-award-winners-announced-20140326,0,1883869.story#ixzz2xqPSOUoJ

Commonwealth Essay Competition for Teens - Deadline: May 1

3/4/2014

 
The Royal Commonwealth Society invites submissions to the Commonwealth Essay Competition, the world’s oldest and largest schools’ writing competition. Since 1883, the competition has reflected the changing attitudes and ideas of young people, and can offer valuable insight into the issues that affect young people most.

In 2013, the RCS received over 11,000 submissions from more than 830 schools in 55 Commonwealth countries and territories across the globe.

The 2014 competition is run in partnership with Cambridge University Press. This year’s theme is Team Commonwealth, and as athletes gather in Glasgow for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, team spirit will be on display both within and between nations.

The competition closes May 1, 2014. Download the infosheet or visit the website for more details.    

www.thercs.org | @TheRCSLondon | facebook.com/thercs


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    Commentary and insight on Caribbean publishing. Here you’ll find articles written by our action group members and other literary and publishing notables, as well as links to useful articles from other sources and coverage of literary and publishing events. We look forward to your comments.

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