Spanish-speaking academics, and some international students, are not into it. An admininstrator: "We’re convinced that we can express ourselves in Catalan and become internationally renowned for our universities. We embrace the world — in Catalan." - The World
"Am I, a brown-skinned immigrant daughter who never got to read about or see characters like me in novels and films, simply reclaiming these beloved stories as my own? ... Or am I actually letting these stories off the hook, ignoring their oppressive aspects in their very recasting?" - LitHub
"Both were among the losing bidders to Penguin Random House's $2.2 billion offer. PRH's acquisition, of course, was blocked by the government last fall." - Publishers Weekly
For example, if we talk about “wasting” or “saving” time, we treat time as if it were a commodity. Or, if we say that we’re “going through” a difficult period, we’re treating time as if it were space through which we move. Like time, language is one of these really complex concepts. - The Conversation
Libraries were once places to access books. They are now places to access everything? The last place to access anything? As the social safety net has frayed, libraries have found themselves filling in the gaps. - The Walrus
Some writers invite haters and court controversy; Gilbert writes books that want to be loved. Being accused of complicity with a regime accused of genocide can’t have felt very nice. But by withdrawing the book, she has set a terrible precedent. - The Atlantic
This language variety came about through sustained contact between Spanish and English speakers, particularly when speakers translated directly from Spanish. - The Conversation
Certain books (Psalms, Song of Songs, Lamentations) are generally understood as poetry, but the historical books, Gospels, and letters all include a great deal of verse. Scholar Michael Edwards argues that awareness of this poetry, more precise and self-conscious than prose, should affect how we understand Scripture. - The Paris Review
A dialect of Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus, Syriac has been used for centuries for Bibles, church services, and literature as well as everyday speech. But with the war-torn country's Christian community shrinking rapidly due to emigration, many fear that Syriac could go the way of Latin. - Yahoo! (AFP)
"Armed with a bamboo ink pen and a steady hand, … at the Hamere Berhan Institute in Addis Ababa, Ethiopian Orthodox priests and lay worshippers work by hand to replicate sometimes centuries-old religious manuscripts and sacred artwork." - Yahoo! (AFP)
"Curators at Hever Castle were conducting research ahead of an exhibition comparing Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn when they realized Cromwell owned a version of the same Christian prayer book. … The Hever Castle curators took their hunch to Trinity College," Cambridge, where the volume was found. - Artnet
The uproar that drove Elizabeth Gilbert’s decision to pull her novel, which is set in 20th century Siberia, suggests that the debate has broadened to include the question of how the country should be represented in fiction. - The New York Times
Events in the U.S. lead to the question. "Following the implementation of legislation prohibiting 'pornographic or indecent' literature in Utah’s public schools, a complaint was lodged against The Old Testament and its less racy – but still occasionally outré – sequel." - Irish Times
The screenwriter had to turn the author's "dense first-person prose, which featured its hero monologuing at length on CB radio and offering long sections of exposition about Klaxon Oil’s sideline in arms dealing, into a screenplay." And then there's the daughter. - LitHub
