Several weeks ago, Turkish novelist Elif Shafak was accused of plagiarizing Zadie Smith’s White Teeth in her new novel Iskender, which was just released in English as Honour. But the real issue isn’t plagiarism, Kaya Genç argues, but Turkey’s discomfort with westernization. As for Smith, she has sent Shafak a letter stating how “ridiculous” she found the accusations.
The shortlist for the Dublin-based IMPAC award was announced on Thursday, and includes Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad, Jon McGregor’s Even the Dogs, and Karl Marlante’s Matterhorn. The winner will be announced on June 13.
Oxford’s Bodleian Library and the Vatican library are undertaking a joint initiative to digitize 1.5 million of their collective “Greek manuscripts, 15th-century incunabula, Hebrew manuscripts, and early printed books,” thanks to a $3.2 million grant.
Details are starting to emerge about J.K. Rowling’s first adult novel, which comes out this fall in the UK. Casual Vacancy is a 480-page “blackly comic” novel about a small town in England that’s “ripped apart” by a local election. It’s also Rowling’s first book since the final installment of her Harry Potter series in 2007.
The New Inquiry excerpts part of Chase Madar’s forthcoming book, The Passion of Bradley Manning. Because of Manning's gender identity disorder, Madar refers to the army private throughout simply as "B. Manning.
