World Book Club Around the world in 12 titles

World Book Club

Around the world in 12 titles 2022

A monthly book group that reads and discusses contemporary literature 

(currently via Zoom) 

£90 for six months / £15 per session

Meet first Thursday of the month, 2.30pm

April to September 2022

 Perfume by Patrick Suskind, Penguin 272pp, GERMANY  April 7

 

Grey Bees by Andrei Kurkov translated from the Russian by Boris Dralyuk, Maclehose Press 330pp UKRAINE May 5

God Help the Child by Toni Morrison, Vintage, 192pp, US June 2

 

That Old Country Music (short stories) by Kevin Barry, Canongate 192pp, IRELAND, July 7 

Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga, translated from French by Melanie Mauthner

Daunt Books 220pp, RWANDA, August 4

Fragile Monsters by Catherine Menon, Penguin 250pp, MALAYSIA, September 1

 

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Previous titles include: Bonjour Tristesse, Francoise Saigon FRANCE; The Pear Field, Nana Ekvtimishvili GEORGIA; Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys JAMAICA; My Sister, the Serial Killer, Oyinkan Braithwaite NIGERIA; As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner US; Stories - collected short fiction, Helen Garner AUSTRALIA.

Previous titles include: Everything Inside by Edwidge Danticat, stories (Riverrun) HAITI;  Ali and Nino Kurban Said (Penguin) AZERBAIJAN; Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie (Bloomsbury) PAKISTAN; The Brothers by Asko Sahlberg, transl by Emily and Fleur Jeremiah (Peirene Press) FINLAND; A Hundred Million Years and a Day by Jean-Baptiste Andrea, transl Sam Taylor (Gallic Books) FRANCE; My Sweet Orange Tree by Jose Mauro de Vasconcelos transl by Alison Entrekin (Pushkin Press) BRAZIL. 

 

The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein (Europa Editions) ITALY; The Quarter by Naguib Mahfouz, translated by Roger Allen (Saqi) EGYPT; Man Tiger by Eka Kurniawan, translated by Labodalih Sembiring (Verso) INDONESIA; People from my Neighbourhood by Hiromi Kawakami, translated by Ted Goossen (Granta) JAPAN; Spilt Milk by Chico Buarque, translated by Alison Entrekin (Atlantic Books) BRAZIL; Girl by Edna O Brien (Faber) IRELAND/NIGERIA; Love by By Hanne Ørstavik, NORWAY; Under the Tripoli Sky by Kamal Ben Hameda, LIBYA; Silk By Alessandro Baricco, ITALY/JAPAN; El Llano in Flames by Juan Rulfo, MEXICO; The Lives of Animals by J.M. Coetzee, SOUTH AFRICA; The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, INDIA; A Life’s Music by Andrei Makine, RUSSIA/FRANCE; Running in the Family Michael Ondaatje, CANADA/SRI LANKA; Exit West by Mohsin Hamid, PAKISTAN; Happiness, Like Water by Chinelo Okparanta, NIGERIA; Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie, CHINA; Down the Rabbit Hole by Juan Pablo Villalobos, MEXICO.

 

Who is the group for?

All those interested in international contemporary fiction and with a desire to discover new authors from a diverse range of countries and cultures. 

Also for aspiring writers: regular reading is crucial to fire the imagination, explore language and develop your own writing skills.

You do not need to have studied literature to enjoy reading and examining fiction in a relaxed, safe environment. The course is aimed at improving your analytical skills and widening your literary knowledge, but it is also intended to be a fun setting where you can enjoy and share your love of good books. This will be a culturally diverse experience. You will read a wide range of contemporary novels by international writers from Juan Pablo Villalobos (Mexico), Chinelo Okparanta (Nigeria) to Dai Sije (China) and Hanne Ørstavik (Norway).  These are short books/quick reads; generally under 200 pages.