The Lit Review |40| Bookshop Holiday

Bookshop Holiday

Have you ever dreamed of owning a bookshop? Better yet, have you ever dreamed of pretending to own a bookshop? What about if you were asked to pay for the pleasure of working in your own bookshop? OK, so maybe I’m not selling this very well, but the Wigtown Book Festival coordinators seem to have this under control. Director of the festival, Adrian Turpin, explains more; ‘It’s a particular kind of holiday [for people] who don’t feel that running a bookshop is work. It’s not about cheap labour – it’s about offering people an experience … It’s one of those great fantasies.’

The Open Book is a local bookstore in Wigtown, Scotland’s national book town. The store is leased to book fanatics, who rent the space for £150, and stay in the apartment above the shop. Occupants are allowed to be as creative as they wish with the space (within reason) over the course of their holiday. Previous renters include The Bookshop Band, who write songs based on stories. They set up a bookshop bake off competition and hosted daily gigs during their sojourn; their stay was so well received that they have been invited to return for the festival this September. Other book lovers to take up residence were former bookshop owners, Lee and Janet Miller, from Sudbury in Massachusetts who adored their stay in The Open Book: ‘Today reminded both of us of why we so loved being booksellers’.

The idea of paying to volunteer may not grab everyone’s fancy, but those who lease the shop are invited to make use of the space in whatever way they wish, which is pretty lovely, and exciting. I just fancy the idea of staying in a place called Wigtown.

 

Women’s Equality in Books

Women’s Equality Day took place yesterday in the U.S., paying respect to the women’s suffrage movement and championing the fight for women’s rights. Here are 9 books, written by female authors, to mark the day.

 

25 Languages from Fiction

For linguists looking for a challenge, you might benefit from taking a peek at this infographic. It details 25 languages from fictional tales that you too can speak. It might come in handy if you find yourself amongst the indigenous inhabitants of the Dothraki Sea, or if you somehow come across a whole tribe of Furbies. Times are changing, folks; the romantic languages are out, furbish is in.

 

Bai Li Wins Irish Literature Translation Prize 2015

Chinese translator Bai Li has won the Irish Literature Translation Prize for her ‘ faithful, elegant and expressive translation of Colm Toibin’s The Empty House. Ireland’s ambassador to China spoke of the award, saying he hoped it would act as a bridge between China and Ireland and foster the nations’ cultural exchange endeavours. Li will travel to Ireland to work on another piece of Irish literature, and was awarded with a cash prize of 17,000 yuan.

 

Scandinavian Writers

Honestly, is there anything that Scandinavians aren’t good at? Last week, I wrote about the controversy in Italy over the banning of supposedly ‘contentious’ pre-school books in local libraries. It appears that Scandinavian books for children applaud the dark, and contentious. Young adult and children’s fiction writers are not censored in their story-telling whatsoever. Author Ingelin Røssland explains that their writers are not discouraged from writing dark, explicit books for teens: ‘In Scandinavia there are no taboos when it comes to writing, even for children and young people. Books for teens exploring sexuality with explicit language are not censored. It’s so normal for us. There is nothing I can’t cover as a teen writer and I know my publisher would stand by me no matter what.’ She explains that Scandinavian writers take a child’s world very seriously. Astrid Lindgren, creator of Pippi Longstocking, often wrote stories that were dark and serious. She goes on to say that in Norway and Sweden young adult fiction writers can make a living even if their book is not a best seller; critics believe in second chances. ‘The most inspiring sentence was, as I still recall it: “Ingelin Røssland has written her first novel but it will not be the last”. I took it as a sign that I had potential to grow and improve. So I kept on writing and book by book I reached out to more young readers.’ Ingrid’s book, Minus Me, which addresses questions about life and death, has been translated into English and is available to buy here.

 

Competition Tips

Here are some tips from award winning short story writer Martina Devlin on writing.ie for anyone considering entering their short stories into a competition. Always welcome, quite frankly. There are some helpful hints such as establishing a clear theme, dealing with one problem, or situation, and launching into a snappy start. It might seem pretty obvious, but it might just help you on your way to literary notoriety.

 

Sharing Books

‘Food deserts’ refers to deprived areas in the U.S where people, particularly children, have no access to food outside of convenience stores, and hence are deprived of healthy, nutritious foods. These low income areas are often also exposed to ‘books deserts’, which is a lack of access to books that can educate and nurture the minds of young people. Some creative minds have come together to establish a number of innovative book projects to lend a hand. Soar with Reading installed book ‘vending machines’ to dispense amongst children ages 0-14 in three areas near Anacostia, Washington DC. With the same idea in mind, Book Bus distributes accessible books for children in Asian, South American and African countries. In San Francisco, a librarian, book enthusiast (and biking fanatic, presumably) founded Bibliobicicleta. She simply cycles around the city handing out donated books in disadvantaged parts of the city. These are just some amazing initiatives by creative, community focussed people. Read more here.