books
Slovenian journalist: death threats after arms trade trilogy
In Slovenia, a trilogy published between summer 2011 and spring 2012 has exposed the secrets of the arms trade during the Balkans war and the role of the country's politicians in it. It's been an ache in the sides of those in power and with money and interests whom the book denounces. Co-writer Blaz Zgaga, 38, may be in hiding but he won't stay down
books, balkans, international trade, mafia, slovenia, journalism, united nations
Ivana Simic Bodrozic and co: more women on Croatia literary scene
The Zagreb-based poet and writer's coming-of-age drama Hotel Zagorje is the theme of a literary event in Paris. Though her debut novel stays true to a tradition in contemporary Croatian fiction, the 29-year-old gets her audience in a flurry with the book's themes of war, women, the past and an inevitable future together
books, balkans, candidate countries, culture calendar, zagreb, yugoslavia, death
How an Italian boy became a ‘happiness coach’
Born in the land of ‘la dolce vita’, Bergamo-born Frank Ra, 32, travelled Europe before publishing a book on happiness. He offers his thoughts on spiritual scepticism, being a former erasmus student or ex-pat and how ‘no place is perfect unless we accept it with all its features’
books, depression, happiness, website, erasmus, italy, psychology
Book trade faces bust in Balkans
‘Remaining indifferent to books means recklessly impoverishing your life,’ said Yugoslavia’s best known author, Ivo Andric. Fifty years after he won his Nobel prize, people across the former Yugoslavia are in danger of ignoring this health warning
books, balkans, international book fair, serbia, belgrade, bosnia and herzegovina, culture
Book review Germany: 'degree Facebook internship' generation
Generation X became generation Y and the ‘internship generation’ is a recurring topic. However, whichever letters or titles are selected for it, no one can really get a hold on us. Can we really all be lumped together, technically-speaking, in terms of a generation? German writers Manuel J. Hartung and Cosima Schmitt asked themselves this question in a 2010 book analysing the difficult future of a generation with no name
books, university, bologna process, germany, precarity, youth, students
Aged three, Prishtina dances, designs but doesn’t debate
Kosovo is one of the most optimistic countries in the world with 70% of the population under the age of thirty. Music, bars and art dot my four days in its capital, Prishtina, three years after the city claimed independence from Serbia
books, pristina, orient express, cities, kosovo, culture, art
Spanish writer Eugenia Rico: 'proud to be called a witch'
The author, poet and journalist from Asturias intertwines the fates of two fictional women across the centuries in her latest novel. In Berlin, we talk witches, twitter and why it’s good to be different
books, literature, book review, eugenia rico, spain, brunch, culture
International Women's Day: no way we're reading a book by a woman
Gloria Steinem once declared that while the truth may set you free, 'first it will piss you off.' 8 March marks International Women’s Day, a day on which women around the world (but mostly around Europe and North America) are celebrating the fact that we are now more equal than ever before. It’s also a perfect day for getting pissed off at how much we have left to accomplish - take literature, for example
books, literature, international women's day, lucía etxebarría, doris lessing, culture, nobel literature prize
Puneet Sahani: an Indian hitchhiker who will publish his love
I've been glued to the clear voice coming out of a skype conversation for over an hour. The 26-year-old Indian from the Punjab is now based in Berlin, where I met him. I need to record his weird accent, mangled by the various places he’s been living in and to appear in his upcoming book
cafebabel.com Brussels at second EU prize for literature event
Judging literature is difficult, but comparing writers of different languages, cultures and backgrounds is a fruitless task.On November 11, Europe’s literary elite gathered in Brussels to award some of today’s most up-and-coming fiction writers
books, literature, internet, culture calendar, writers, awards, culture
Are Balkan women more promiscuous?
It's official: more women are approaching men in the dating stakes and a recent book in Serbia reveals a more liberal attitude. So is the Balkan woman moving towards a western, less conservative European model? We hear from Balkan guys and girls
books, literature, balkans, sex, love, serbia, culture calendar
Melancholy in Berlin: views of three foreign writer residents
Very loosely, a 19-year-old Klaus Mann saw 1920s Berlin as 'seductive, gray, scabby, peeling, yet vibrant vitality, nervous, shimmering, phosphorescent, animated, full of tensions and promises.' Italian, Croatian and French writers Gianluca Falanga, Maksim Cristan and Maia Mazaurette give us their noughties take
books, labour, economical crisis, germany, berlin, poverty, multiculturalism
Madrid's Theatre Yeses troupe breaks prison bars
Its director is a prison officer with a degree in stage and performance management. Its actresses are inmates of the Alcalá de Henares penitentiary centre. The studio has allowed many to eventually begin new lives in the 'free world' and its story is depicted in a movie: everything about this artistic group is unique. Quick, the show is about to begin…
Agop J. Hacikyan: 'I don’t feel I am translating my culture into English'
The playful Armenian-Canadian author talks his latest novel - hailed as a 'love letter to Istanbul' - straddling continents and his opinions on Turkey in the EU
books, literature, languages, london, candidate countries, armenia, identity
What's going on with China as guest of honour at the Frankfurt book fair?
At the opening ceremony on 13 October, in the presence of Chinese vice president Xi Jinping, German chancellor Angela Merkel said there would be 'no taboos'. The Italian, Swiss, Spanish and German press react
books, tibet, germany, frankfurter buchmesse, xi jinping, censorship, reading
How to seek the Holy Grail one hour from London
As American author Dan Brown's follow-up to 'The Da Vinci Code' is released on 16 September - 'The Lost Symbol' focuses on the Freemasons - we uphold tradition and go questing for the cup that Jesus used at the Last Supper at its rumoured location in Hertford
books, tom hanks, holy grail, hertford, religion, history, church
by
by
by
by
