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Belletrista - A site promoting translated women authored literature from around the world
Photo of Herta Muller photo of beribboned books imagedescription

In Praise of Herta Müller: Winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize for Literature

Holiday shopping? Let us help you with the readers on your list!

Carolyn Kelly Muses about the Booker, the Frankfurt Book Fair, and the German Book Prize.

Welcome to the second issue of Belletrista! After the heady response to our launch issue, we're thrilled to be back to celebrate more astonishingly diverse works from talented women the world over. In this issue, you'll find alluring reviews of books from Mexico, Iceland, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Russia, and more. Don't miss the informative feature on the Ugandan women writers' association, Femrite, and the enlightening companion article profiling meritorious Ugandan authors. We've also, in our unique way, endeavored to shed some light on the Booker, Nobel and Giller Prizes. Finally, with the holidays in mind, we offer a host of gift suggestions to help you find the best picks for yourself, and the book-loving folk in your life. Happy (armchair) travels!

Reviews
Below are a tantalizingly small selection of this month's reviews....
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SOME DREAM FOR FOOLS
Faiza Guene
Translated from the French by Jenna Johnson

This mostly-optimistic young lady is not your typical youth. She is a streetwise tomboy who has learned to take care of herself...
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Reviewed by Akeela Gaibie-Dawood
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THE SECRET HISTORY OF MOSCOW
Ekaterina Sedia

The Secret History of Moscow is an urban fantasy set — as the title might lead you to suspect — in, and under, Moscow.
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Reviewed by Tim Jones
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DREAM OF REASON
Rosa Chacel
Translated from the Spanish by Carol Maier

Dream of Reason is an astounding philosophical novel in the tradition of Sartre and Proust, writers to whom Chacel does not suffer by comparison.
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Reviewed by Andy Barnes
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WHERE THE LINE BLEEDS
Jesmyn Ward

Jesmyn Ward's debut novel is set in the world she herself grew up in – small-town Mississippi, right on the Gulf of Mexico. It's not an area of the world I knew much about...
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Reviewed by Rachel Hayes
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DEPARTING AT DAWN
Gloria Lisé
Translated from the Spanish by Alice Weldon

Although Departing at Dawn is about a horrible, brutal period, it is not a book about horror and brutality. In the opening sentence, Berta watches as her lover...
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Reviewed by Andy Barnes


FEMRITE and Ugandan Women Writers
Map of Uganda A peek into an dynamic organization created to nurture women writers and a deeper look at five of its splendid writers.
Women Writers Dominate the Giller Prize
Photo of Kim Echlin, Annabel Lyon and Alice Munro An unprecedented ten of the twelve long-listed books were written by women writers. Three remain on the shortlist. Joyce Nickels takes us on a whirlwind tour of the authors and their books...
New Biographies of Women Authors
Photo of actor representing the Alcott family 2009 has been a great year for biographies (and at least one documentary). Check out our list.
New and Notable Books
Photo of a pile of books Our latest collection of intriguing titles for November and December.

Belletrista - Issue 2
November/December 2009

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