books
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, london, candidate countries, armenia, identity, turkey, european union
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, dissident
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, dan brown, holy grail, hertford, religion, church
Nicolai Lilin talks tattoos, Bulgarians and Transdniestria
From Russia to Italy via Transdniestria. Siberian Education, the literary debut of Nicolai Lilin, tells the life story of a young man who, in spite of changing country and culture, has never forgotten the historic traditions of his original community. Interview with the 29 year-old writer and tattoo artist
books, russian federation, best of cafebabel.com, tattoo, immigration, traditions, war
Global European culture: a bad year for France
Values, attitudes, and ways of life … European countries export their cultures and languages across the world in order to create a dialogue. In a new series on cultural 'diplomacy', we crack on with the wilting French network abroad
books, gouvernement, diplomatie, foreign policy, alliances françaises, network, language
Cinema: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo lacks Swedish suspense
Swedish author Stieg Larsson’s ‘Millennium’ trilogy was a huge international success; to date, 8 million copies of the novels have been sold worldwide. Now the first volume, ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’, has been given the big screen treatment. The film, which is due to be screened at Cannes on 13 May, disappointingly relies too much upon characters from Astrid Lindgren’s novels
Gonçalo M. Tavares: 'I hate the idea that everything you do is new'
The Luanda-born epistemology professor at Lisbon University, 38, talks his award-winning novel 'Jerusalem', and why it took him so long to get published already
books, portugal, bertolt brecht, gonçalo m. tavares, angola, africa, josé saramago
Low cost, deep discount - who benefits from the credit crunch?
With the current crisis, Mr Cafebabel, Mr C to his friends, the European everyman, has changed his spending habits. Some costs have been cut in favour of better value purchases. Let’s take a glance at what’s making him happy…
books, economical crisis, low cost, crise économique, economy, ryanair
Israel-Palestine in Italian eyes
On 2 February, president Mahmoud Abbas cancelled a visit to current EU president Czech Republic, as peace talks continue after the three-week Middle East conflict in January. From a Europe generally sympathetic to Palestine, our weekly focus is centered in Italy: portraits of Israeli-Palestinian communities in Turin, an Israeli artist in Mantua and mutual understanding through a history textbook
Obituary: alphabets, butterflies and Inger Christensen
Why learn Welsh? They all speak English anyway. Why learn unpronounceable Flemish, impossible Finnish, self-assertive Catalan or miniscule Danish? But when the Danish experimental poet died on 2 January 2009 in Copenhagen, a loser language lost its most beautiful voice
books, copenhagen, erasmus, obituary, minority, poetry, flemish
Europeana and Google: the battle of the virtual book
Literature on computer screens is rare, even nonexistent. But the market for digital books is about to take off. American companies such as Google are already prepared. When will we see a proposal for digital literature in Europe?
books, europeana, google, numérique, web 2.0, europeana.eu, culture
Nobel prize for literature: Horace Engdahl on 'ignorant' American writing
The permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy criticises US writing days before the winner is announced, on 9 October
books, prize, orhan pamuk, claudio magris, doris lessing, sweden, nobel price
Europe's digital library versus Google
This autumn, Europeana, the first European digital library, will make its first appearance on the net. The premise is promising, but there are still many challenges to overcome
books, european digital library, library, portal, website, viviane reding, information
Arianna Giorgia Bonazzi on 'the vanity of being translated'
The 25-year-old Italian debuted her first book last year, having gone from Udine to the RAI in Milan, via Paris and Alessandro Baricco's ‘Holden’ school of writing
books, air, italy, interview, arianna giorgia bonazzi, brunch
Virginie Despentes and Lucía Etxebarría: ‘highbrow bitches’
With their French and Spanish novels, Despentes, 39, and Etxebarría, 42, override the superficiality of cultural critics and the need to write about the female body
books, sex, sexuality, women, virginie despentes, lucía etxebarría, body
Lucia Etxebarria: ‘it's a threat if women sell more books than men’
The Spanish sex, drugs and rock’n’roll writer, 41, juggles motherhood and feminist ideals in her literature, and explains why she is sometimes categorised as a lesbian or 'at best, emasculator'
books, madrid, kurt cobain, spain, men and women, umberto eco, plagiarism
Yannick Haenel: 'Berlin symbolically incarnates all the horror of the preceding century'
In his award-winning novel 'Circle', the professor from Rennes and 'Ulysses of the 21st century', 40, takes the reader on a European road-trip from Paris to Berlin
books, languages, berlin, western eu, labour, european tour, france
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