World Book Club Around the world in 12 titles

World Book Club

Around the world in 12 titles 2021 - 2022

A monthly book group in north London that reads and discusses contemporary literature 

(currently via Zoom) 

£90 for six months / £15 per session

Meet first Thursday of the month, 2.30pm

Bonjour Tristesse, Francoise Saigon (Penguin) 108 pp FRANCE 2 Sept

 

The Pear Field, Nana Ekvtimishvili, transl Elizabeth Heighway (Peirene) 160pp GEORGIA 7 Oct

 

Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys (Penguin) JAMAICA 4 Nov

 

My Sister, the Serial Killer, Oyinkan Braithwaite (Atlantic Books) 240pp NIGERIA  2 Dec

 

As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner (Penguin) 200pp US 6 Jan

 

Stories - collected short fiction, Helen Garner (Text publishing) 184pp AUSTRALIA 3 Feb

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.