The Tumblr of Words without Borders

Umar Timol was part of The First Salon of African Writers presented by Band Designeé (in French). Come read his fiction piece “Diary of an Old Mad Woman” in the May 2012: Writing from the Indian Ocean Issue of Words without Borders. 

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Marjane Satrapi speaks with Francoise Mouly, art editor at The New Yorker

Using animation, film, and the graphic novel, the peerless Marjane Satrapi combines political history and memoir to depict a country’s upheaval through the story of one family. The day’s first screening featured Satrapi’s debut film, Persepolis, a poignant coming-of-age story told by a precocious and outspoken young Iranian girl that begins during the Islamic Revolution. The event included a screening of Satrapi’s new film Poulet aux Prunes (Chicken with Plums), based on the graphic novel of the same name.

Co-sponsored by The Museum of Modern Art

(via PEN American Center - Marjane Satrapi: Persepolis and Chicken with Plums)

Images of Mayotte. This one, of artist Jace and his work circa 2006 via Wooster Collective

“What About Me?”, a short by Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen. Come read Keret’s fiction piece “Ludwig and I Kill Hitler for No Reason (or, A Berlin Springtime)” in the May 2012: Writing from the Indain Ocean Issue of Words without Borders. 

The Mauritian bluesman Éric Triton rehearsing before a concert accompanied by friends, including author Michel Ducasse, who writes lyrics in Kreol Morisien for his songs. Come read Isle Say Blood by Ducasse in the May 2012: Writing from the Indian Ocean Issue of Words without Borders. 

From the Library Foundation of Los Angeles’  [ALOUD] series Javier Sicilia, Mexican poet-turned-activist and leader of Mexico’s Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, is turning personal horror into hope for himself and his country. After the death of his son at the hands of drug traffickers last year, Sicilia swapped his pen for protest, pushing to stop the bloodshed. Leading the fight with a radiant intellect and deep faith, this TIME Magazine Protester of the Year speaks on the power of words as an instrument for peace, recognizing that responsibility lies on both sides of the border.

An excerpt (in French) from the film ”Venus d’ailleurs”, a documentary about Chinese immigration to Mauritius by Alain Gordon-Gentil and David Constantin. Come read Gordon-Gentil’s fiction “Traces of Our Fathers” in the May 2012: Writing from the Indian Ocean Issue of Words without Borders. 

An interview with Wojciech Jagielski (in Polish) at the Conrad Festival in Kraków, 2009. Come read his nonfiction piece “Peshawar” in the May 2012: Writing from the Indian Ocean Issue of Words without Borders. 

Karfa Diallo and Françoise Vergès speak (in French) about the Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery in Nantes. Come read the nonfiction piece “Moorings: Indo-oceanic Creolizations” by Françoise Vergès and Carpanin Marimoutou in the May 2012: Writing from the Indian Ocean Issue of Words without Borders. 

Nathacha Appanah in the PEN Great Global Book Swap 2011. Come read her story Wild Daffodils in the May 2012: Writing from the Indian Ocean Issue of Words without Borders.