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Muslim Council of Britain Criticises Comments by Ian McEwan
British novelist Ian McEwan, whose tenth novel On Chesil Beach was published by Anchor Books earlier this month, has drawn sharp criticism from the Muslim Council of Britain for comments he made recently in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera. The sixty-year-old author said that he "despises Islamism" because of its views on women and homosexuality and that it is "logically asburd and morally unacceptable" that writers who speak out against militant Islam are considered racist.
China Turns to Poetry After Wenchuan Earthquake
In the wake of China’s May 12 earthquake, both amateur and professional poets have contributed to a surge of poetry written in response to the disaster, prompting the publication of a number of anthologies, China.org.cn recently ported. The Wenchuan earthquake, named for the location of its epicenter in the nation’s Sichuan Province, killed nearly seventy thousand people and displaced an estimated five million more.
Hundreds of Volunteers Help to Rescue Iowa Library Books
Thousands of library books at the University of Iowa, home to the Writers' Workshop, were in danger of being destroyed last week when the swollen Iowa River crested and flooded Iowa City. Located in the heart of the Iowa River valley, the university has not experienced such an event since since the devastating summer floods of 1993.
Dante Cleared of Crime Seven Centuries After His Death
Nearly seven hundred years after his death, Dante Alighieri, Italy's most famous poet, finally has a clean criminal record. The city council of Florence voted earlier this week to revoke a death sentence placed on the poet in 1302.
Discussion Topics
Ideas and opinions to spur reflection and debate.
In “The Art of Reading Andre Dubus” (Poets & Writers Magazine, page 21), Joshua Bodwell includes this quote from the famed fiction writer Dubus: “If there were no sin, there wouldn’t be art.” Do you agree with Dubus’s claim? Is literature driven by actions and ideas of good and evil?
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Vermont Inn Invites Jane Austen Enthusiasts to Slip Back in Time
A Vermont inn recently announced that it will host a series of four themed weekends aimed at giving Jane Austen aficionados a taste of the author's nineteenth-century lifestyle.
Assignments
Exercises to help your students find inspiration for their work.
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