Wednesday's Writerly Happenings

Lately we’ve been thinking about freedom. We love the freedom to roam, the freedom to live life on our own terms, even though many things often interfere. Be it work or other obligations, we are regularly shackled by someone or something. Our soon-to-be-brother in law Erik Antonson agrees when we trumpet the freedom to live and work where we choose. Hell, he moved to Nosara, Costa Rica, and started a family and a successful business there. That’s the freedom we’re talking about. Some people aren’t so lucky, though. Oppression has a storied past in China. Odd, then, that that country’s literature is waving its liberated flag in Germany. Speaking of Germany, the Berlin Wall fell 20 years ago. Read more in Salon. Author Michael Greenberg is in Berlin, talking books at that city’s Literary Festival. African short story writers might not always enjoy the recognition they deserve. The 10th annual Caine Prize aims to put that to an end. Then, of course, there’s academic freedom, which is a slippery slope. Just ask former professor Ward Churchill. Or Kurt Vonnegut, whose mysterious mind was sent a-swirling by a certain Chicago-based anthropologist.  – Kevin Murphy

– In 2007, the University of Colorado fired ethnic studies professor Ward Churchill based on accusations of plagiarism, falsifying research, and academic misconduct. Few doubted that the real cause of the firing was an article in which Churchill had (among other colorful assertions) described those who were killed by the September 11 attacks as “little Eichmans” culpable for their role in “America’s global financial empire.” — Academic Freedom in HNN

It's Huge In Germany

– “Chinese literature, more than Asian literature in general, is still considered pretty exotic on the literature scene in Germany,” Hans-Peter Hoffmann, who translates Chinese books into German and lectures on Chinese literature at the University of Tuebingen, told Deutsche Welle. — Chinese Literature in DW-World

– Last year when Michael Greenberg published Hurry Down Sunshine, it seemed impossible that anything new could come out under the classification of Memoir / Mental Illness. It had long been the territory of competitors, writers battling it out to be crowned the king of all misery. The writing was often an odd brand of machismo, and the scars brought out for display were often unhealed, still festering wounds. — Michael Greenberg Interview in Bookslut

– At the front of “Look at the Birdie,” a new collection of unpublished early fiction by Kurt Vonnegut, Delacorte Press reproduces a rousing letter the young author wrote to a friend in 1951. In it, Vonnegut describes how James Slotkin, an anthropologist at the University of Chicago, interested him in the notion of artistic “schools.” — Kurt Vonnegut in Paper Cuts

– Africa’s highest literary reward – known as the African Booker has bolstered and launched the careers of a number of many of Africa’s best young writers. Past winners have gone on to publish novels and reach the shortlist for other esteemed literary prizes. This tour is a unique opportunity for a wider audience to engage with some of Africa’s finest talent, and showcases the intelligence, ingenuity and irreverence of these young writers. — African Short Fiction in The Caine Prize

Browser At Large

– I have read that more books in the United States are now sold online than in bookstores, and have noticed—and assume a causal connection—that there are less books on the shelves of stores. Since I almost never want to buy a book until I have held it in my hands and riffled through the pages, this means that I shall be purchasing fewer books in the future. Just as well, I suppose, as there is no space on my shelves. — Browsing in the NYR Blog

– When the Berlin Wall fell 20 years ago this November, it seemed, from the outside, to have simply melted away like the Wicked Witch of the West after a good dousing. Like the witch, the Soviet Union and its Eastern bloc had appeared to be an implacable and wily adversary, an aspect of modern life as inevitable as death and taxes. — Berlin Wall in Salon

Video: Fall of the Berlin Wall

– Tired of boring old book news? Here’s something new. It’s called Surfing Nosara. Check it out for the latest on Costa Rica’s surfing and community news, as well as Nosara real estate.