Compulsive Reader

Compulsive Reader News
maggieball@compulsivereader.com
http://www.compulsivereader.com
Volume 25, Issue 6, 1 June 2023

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IN THIS ISSUE

New Reviews at Compulsive Reader
Literary News
Competition News
Sponsored By
Coming soon

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Hello readers. Here is the latest batch of reviews and interviews:

Amid the Glitz and Glam of Hollywood, City of Angles Just Can’t Find Its Light

We open on Vincenza Morgan, an aspiring young actress, who just so happens to have a corpse in her trunk. It’s a classic noir trope and rightfully so – the tension is immediate. As we untangle the strings that connect Vincenza to the man dead in her car – her lover, and one of the biggest stars of the screen – we explore Los Angeles and the entertainment industry. Read more: https://compulsivereader.com/2023/05/23/amid-the-glitz-and-glam-of-hollywood-city-of-angles-just-cant-find-its-light/

A review of A Social, Economic and Cultural History of Bingo (1906-2005) by Caroline Downs

Carolyn Downs’ book is a must-read for anyone who’s ever dabbed a bingo card, called out a winning line, or simply wondered about the enduring appeal of this timeless game. It’s an affectionate, comprehensive and fascinating journey through the history of bingo, and a testament to its cultural, social and economic influence. Read more: https://compulsivereader.com/2023/05/23/a-review-of-a-social-economic-and-cultural-history-of-bingo-1906-2005-by-caroline-downs/

A review of The Plotinus by Rikki Ducornet

In effortlessly elegant and comic prose, The Plotinus probes the impulses and desires that bring joy to human life while, at the same time, upending literary conventions that contemporary readers may take as immutable truths. As though she were playing with us from the title, she signals an exploration of The Plot In Us. Read more: https://compulsivereader.com/2023/05/20/a-review-of-the-plotinus-by-rikki-ducornet/

A review of Today in the Taxi by Sean Singer

Today in the Taxi is deceptively plain, its language is conversational and the voice used to describe its absurd situations is unembellished, often just describing things for what they are with concrete imagery. But underneath the unconcerned, detachedness of the narrator’s descriptions are deep ruminations on one’s own life, city, the lives of others, and how it all blends together. Read more: https://compulsivereader.com/2023/05/16/a-review-of-today-in-the-taxi-sean-singer/

A review of The Struggle for a Decent Politics by Michael Walzer

Liberalism may well be a sentiment, for Jews and everyone else, as Walzer argues. But it is far more than that, and we forget its political content at our peril. Liberalism forces hard political and economic choices and forecloses some options. Sentiment and moral stance, necessary though they may be, is not enough, and never has been. Read more: https://compulsivereader.com/2023/05/14/the_struggle_for_a_decent_politics/

A review of The Book of Falling by David McCooey

There is no question that McCooey is a creative and sophisticated poet. In this collection he turns questions and lists into poems. He also has included various narrations and short poems which are precise and concise with manicured lines. One of the poems, “Your Life as a Movie”, cleverly shows the many ways we find meaning in life against its illogicality and incongruity. Read more: https://compulsivereader.com/2023/05/12/a-review-of-the-book-of-falling-by-david-mccooey/

A review of The Animals of My Earth School by Mildred Kiconco Barya

Mildred Barya’s The Animals of My Earth School does that: it gets under the skin and into the psyche in a labyrinthine hall of mirrors, the reader like the writer seeing our human selves as animals and the animals as human reflections. Read more: https://compulsivereader.com/2023/05/11/a-review-of-the-animals-of-my-earth-school-by-mildred-kiconco-barya/

A review of We Arrive Uninvited by Jen Knox

The author effectively balances an almost all-female cast of characters without falling prey to literary cliches or devolving into a feminist manifesto. In this intimate book centered around different ways of seeing and knowing, Knox takes on the challenge of trying to decipher the messy relationships that women have with each other and does so seamlessly while also highlighting the challenges of female agency in America over the past century. Read more: https://compulsivereader.com/2023/05/10/a-review-of-we-arrive-uninvited-by-jen-knox/

A review of Jack Skelley’s Interstellar Theme Park: New and Selected Writing

How Skelley is able to write lines that simultaneously describe, illuminate, juxtapose, and contradict is anyone’s guess. There is an intimacy, a voyeuristic quality to this work overall, as we turn each page, as if we’ve happened upon these poems, found them stashed away in a jean jacket pocket or borrowed them from a friend, like that treasured indie rock vinyl record. The lines are meant to be savored and shared. This is a collection that slows down time, forces the reader to stop and linger awhile. Read more: https://compulsivereader.com/2023/05/09/a-review-of-jack-skelleys-interstellar-theme-park-new-and-selected-writing/

A review of T by Alan Fyfe

Fyfe does a terrific job in capturing both the seductive pull of T’s need and his rapid decline and things begin to disintegrate. Told in third person narrative, with T’s point of view, the story follows T’s various attempts to score, sell, find a place to live, and in some odd way, to find meaning. To say that T’s world is grungy would be an understatement, but Fyfe’s writing is consistently rich and poetic. Read more: https://compulsivereader.com/2023/05/07/a-review-of-t-by-alan-fyfe/

Fiction as Palimpsest: The Revelatory Lie: Catherine Gammon’s The Martyrs, the Lovers

And so we enter into the fiction with both curiosity and fascination, which Gammon masterfully both milks and sustains as she gives us the details, enough to keep us guessing, like voyeurs, like amateur sleuths, as though we might deduce the truth from her fiction—it’s seduction and frankly ingenious. Read more: https://compulsivereader.com/2023/05/05/fiction-as-palimpsest-the-revelatory-lie-catherine-gammons-the-martyrs-the-lovers/

A review of Refugee by Pamela Uschuk

As Uschuk probes the wounds of contemporary existence, we see how deeply she understands human suffering. Fortunately for readers, the author also brings abundant love for this difficult, complicated world that somehow keeps going. As “The Essential Shape” (100) reminds us, “Spinning, the earth begins” again, and “shapes itself with fingers of light.” Read more: https://compulsivereader.com/2023/05/04/a-review-of-refugee-by-pamela-uschuk/

All of the reviews and interviews listed above are available at The Compulsive Reader on the front page. Older reviews and interviews are kept indefinitely in our extensive categorised archives (currently at 3,148) which can be browsed or searched from the front page of the site.

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LITERARY NEWS

In the literary news this month, Stjenice (Bedbugs) by Martina Vidaić of Croatia and published by Naklada Ljevak is the winner of the 2023 European Union Prize for Literature, which recognises emerging fiction writers from the European Union and beyond. There were five special mentions, ordered by country, and with titles translated into English: Cyprus: The Outpost by Hari N. Spanou (Aegan Publications), Estonia: Pâté of the Apes: One Primate’s, Thoughts and Memories by Tõnis Tootsen (Kaarnakivi Seltsi Kirjastus), Finland: Destruction by Iida Rauma (Siltala Publishing), France: The Hour of Birds by Maud Simonnot (Editions de l’Observatoire), and Kosovo: Red Riding Hood, a Fairy Tale for Adults by Ag Apolloni (Bard Books)

The shortlist has been released for the £10,000 Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize, which recognises “an outstanding work of fiction, nonfiction or poetry that best evokes the spirit of a place.” The winner will be announced on May 10. This year’s shortlisted titles are: Heritage Aesthetics by Anthony Anaxagorou, Scary Monsters by Michelle de Kretser, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka, England’s Green by Zaffar Kunial, and Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris.

The winners of the Publishing Triangle annual awards, presented last Thursday: The Audre Lorde Award for Lesbian Poetry: Her Birth and Later Years: New and Collected Poems, 1971-2021 by Irena Klepfisz (Wesleyan University Press), The Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry: Invisible History: The Collected Poems of Walta Borawski by Philip Clark and Michael Bronski (Rebel Satori Press), The Publishing Triangle Award for Trans and Gender-Variant Literature: Togetherness by Wo Chan (Nightboat Books), and The Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement: Patrick Califia. There were quite a few others which can be found here: https://publishingtriangle.org/2023/04/award-winners-announced/

The winners of the 2023 Sheikh Zayed Book Awards, organized by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre under the auspices of the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, have been announced. The winner in each category receives a prize of AED 750,000 (about $204,200) that will be presented during the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair on May 23. The winners include, for Literature: Ila Ayn Ayyathouha Al Kaseedah (Whereto, O Poem? An Autobiography) by Iraqi poet, literary critic and academic Ali Ja’far al-Allaq (Alan Publishers and Distributors), and for Arabic Culture in Other Languages: L’invention du cadi. La justice des musulmans, des juifs et des chrétiens aux premiers siècles de l’Islam (The Invention of the Qadi. The Justice of Muslims, Jews and Christians in the First Centuries of Islam) by French author Mathieu Tillier (Éditions de la Sorbonne). For the full list visit: https://www.zayedaward.ae/en/media.center/news/sheikh.zayed.book.award.announces.winners.of.its.17th.edition.aspx

A 20-title longlist has been released for this year’s Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, which celebrates “crime writing at its best” by U.K. and Irish authors. The prize is run by Harrogate International Festivals and sponsored by T&R Theakston Ltd, in partnership with WH Smith and the Express. Check out the complete longlist here: The shortlist will be announced June 15 and a winner named July 20 at the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. The winner receives £3,000, and a handmade, engraved beer cask provided by Theakston Old Peculier: https://yorkshiretimes.co.uk/article/Longlist-Revealed-For-Theakston-Old-Peculier-Crime-Novel-Of-The-Year-2023

When We Were Sisters by Fatimah Asghar (One World/Random House) has won the first Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, the new English-language literary award celebrating creativity and excellence in fiction by women and non-binary writers in Canada and the US and managed by the Carol Shields Prize Foundation. Asghar receives $150,000 and a residency at the Fogo Island Inn in Newfoundland and Labrador. Finalists each receive $12,500.

Anthony Anaxagorou won the £10,000 RSL Ondaatje Prize, which recognise a distinguished work of fiction, nonfiction or poetry, evoking the spirit of a place, for Heritage Aesthetics. Chair of judges Samira Ahmed said: “Anthony’s poetry is beautiful, but does not sugarcoat. The arsenic of historical imperial arrogance permeates the Britain he explores in his writing. And the joy of this collection comes from his strength, knowledge, maturity, but also from deeply felt love.”

Shortlists have been released for the £3,000 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction as well as the Orwell Prize for Political Writing (nonfiction), both of which recognise works that strive to meet Orwell’s own ambition “to make political writing into an art.” The winners will be named June 22. Shortlists for all four Orwell Prize categories are available here: https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/news-events/news-events/news/finalists-announced-for-the-2023-orwell-prizes/

The 2023 WA Premier’s Book Awards Shortlists have been announced. The Premier’s Prize for an Emerging Writer include Acacia House by Vivien Stuart (this is the first time a self-published book has made the shortlist!), Banjawarn by Josh Kemp (UWA Publishing), Bone Picker by Thomas Simpson (Ginninderra Press), T by Alan Fyfe (Transit Lounge) (read my review above and listen to my interview with Alan below), and The Assassin Thief by Madeline Te Whiu (New Dawn Publishing). The Premier’s Prize for Book of the Year, sponsored by Writing WA includes Clean by Scott-Patrick Mitchell (Upswell Publishing) – review soon!, Nimblefoot by Robert Drewe (Penguin Random House), The Red Witch: A Biography of Katharine Susannah Prichard by Nathan Hobby (Melbourne University Publishing), The Shield and the Spear by Joe Fox (Magabala Books), and Thistledown Seed by Louise Helfgott (Brandl & Schlesinger). For all the lists visit: https://slwa.wa.gov.au/whats-on/awards-fellowships/wa-premiers-book-awards/2023-shortlist The winners will be revealed at an award ceremony at the State Library of Western Australia in June 2023. The awards will be Auslan interpreted and live streamed on the State Library of WA YouTube channel.

God’s Children Are Little Broken Things by Arinze Ifeakandu has won the £20,000 2023 Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize, which honours “the best published literary work in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under.”

Shortlists in four categories have been selected for the 2023 Indie Book Awards and can be seen here: https://www.booksellers.org.uk/Campaigns/independentbookshopweek Winners will be announced on June 23 during Independent Bookshop Week, which is part of the Booksellers Association of the UK and Ireland’s Books Are My Bag campaign. Winners and shortlisted titles will be promoted at indie bookshops in the UK and Ireland.

The 2022 Nebula Awards, sponsored by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and celebrating “the writers of the most outstanding speculative fiction works released in 2022,” are: Novel: Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution by R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager), Novella: Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk (Tordotcom Publishing), Novelette: “If You Find Yourself Speaking to God, Address God with the Informal You” by John Chu (Uncanny 7-8/22). The full list can be found here: https://www.tor.com/2023/05/15/here-are-the-winners-of-the-2022-nebula-awards

The longlist for the A$60,000 (2023 Miles Franklin Award, honouring “novels of the highest literary merit that tell stories about Australian life, shining a light on some of the country’s most accomplished writers,” has been released and can be seen here: https://www.perpetual.com.au/insights/perpetual-announces-longlist-for-prestigious-2023-miles-franklin-literary-award/. The shortlist will be announced on June 20, the winner on July 25.

The Water Diviner by Zahran Alqasmi (Rashm) has won the $50,000 2023 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, which includes funding for a translation into English and is sponsored by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre. Zahran Alqasmi is an Omani poet and novelist. He has published three other novels–Mountain of the Horseradish Tree (2013), The Sniper (2014), and Hunger for Honey (2017)–as well as 10 poetry collections, Biography of the Stone 1 (short story collection, 2009), and Biography of the Stone 2 (non-fiction, 2011). He is the first Omani winner in the prize’s history.

The winners of the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards have been announced, with a total of $350,000aud being awarded across the 14 prizes, and Debra Dank’s debut We Come With This Place taking out a record four awards, including Book of the Year. Winners include Book of the Year ($10,000) for We Come With This Place by Debra Dank (Echo Publishing). The Christina Stead Prize for Fiction ($40,000) for Women I Know by Katerina Gibson (Scribner an imprint of Simon & Schuster Australia). The Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-fiction ($40,000) We Come With This Place by Debra Dank (Echo Publishing), and the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry ($30,000) for The Singer and Other Poems by Kim Cheng Boey (Cordite Books). The full list including shortlisted titles and judges comments can be found here: https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/awards/nsw-premiers-literary-awards

Iraqi publisher Mazin Lateef Ali was awarded the International Publishers Association’s 2023 Prix Voltaire, which honors publishers, individuals and organizations “for their exemplary courage in upholding the freedom to publish and enabling others to exercise their right to freedom of expression,” at a ceremony during the World Expression Forum in Lillehammer, Norway. The IPA also announced a Prix Voltaire Special Award for murdered Ukrainian children’s book author and poet Volodymyr Vakulenko.

None of the Above: Reflections on Life Beyond by Travis Alabanza has won the 2023 Jhalak Prize, and When Our Worlds Collided by Danielle Jawando has won the 2023 Jhalak Children’s & YA Prize. The awards “seek to celebrate books by British/British resident BAME writers.” Each winner receives £1,000 along with a work of art created by artists chosen for the annual Jhalak Art Residency.

Finally, Time Shelter by Bulgarian author Georgi Gospodinov, translated by Angela Rodel, won the 2023 International Booker Prize, which honous “a single book, translated into English and published in the U.K. or Ireland,” and celebrates the work of translators. The £50,000 award is split between author and translator. Time Shelter becomes the first novel originally published in Bulgarian to win the prize. It was published in the U.S. by Liveright in May 2022.

Have a great month!

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COMPETITION NEWS

Congratulations to LuAnn Morgan, who won a copy of Dylan Dover: Into the Vortex by Lynne Howard.

Congratulations also to Anita Yancey who won a copy of The Fruit You’ll Never See by Gail Brenner Nastasia.

Our new site giveaway is for a copy of Toward the Corner of Mercy and Peace by Tracey Buchanan. To win send me an email at maggieball@compulsivereader.com with the subject line: “Mercy and Peace” and your postal address in the body of the email.

We also have a copy of Hope for the Worst by Kate Brandt. To win send me an email at maggieball@compulsivereader.com with the subject line: “Hope for the Worst” and your postal address in the body of the email.

Finally, we have a copy of The Lord’s Tusks by Jeff Ulin. To win send me an email at maggieball@compulsivereader.com with the subject line: “The Lord’s Tusks” and your postal address in the body of the email.

Good luck!

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