World Book Club Around the world in 12 titles

World Book Club

Around the world in 12 titles 2020 - 21

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

(currently via Zoom) 

£90 for six months

 

September: The Quarter by Naguib Mahfouz, translated by Roger Allen (Saqi) EGYPT 

 

October: Girl by Edna O Brien (Faber) IRELAND /NIGERIA

 

November: Spilt Milk by Chico Buarque, translated by Allison Entrekin (Atlantic Books) BRAZIL

 

December: Man Tiger by Eka Kurniawan, translated by Labodalih Sembiring (Verso) INDONESIA 

 

January: People from my Neighbourhood by Hiromi Kawakami, translated by Ted Goossen (Granta) JAPAN

 

February: The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein (Europa Editions) ITALY

Previous titles include:

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.

Thursdays 2.30pm to 4.30pm

FIRST THURSDAY OF EVERY MONTH

£90 for 6 months

£15 drop in. Those who pay for 6 months in advance will take precedence if I get any freebies from the publishers and /or if a session becomes full.

Thursday 3 September 

Thursday 1 October

Thursday 5 November 

Thursday 3 December

Thursday 7 January                                                                                           

Thursday 4 February 

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.