[07.10.06]
Fans of or newcomers to the witty feminist magical realism of the late Angela Carter can enjoy a reassessment of the British author's œuvre via an article in the Independent Online by Michele Roberts. From the header: "Angela Carter's playful retelling of fairy tales and her witty feminism won her legions of fans. But 14 years after her death, is she still essential reading or has the world moved on?"

[07.02.06]
Gabo lovers who haven't heard this tidbit must have been on vacation (as I was): The residents of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's birthplace, Aracataca, Columbia, arranged a vote on July 2 to determine whether to change the town's name to Macondo in order to honor him. But in a strange ironic twist, a majority of residents failed to show up to vote. Writes Joshua Goodman in Guardian Unlimited: "In Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude, the residents of the fictitious tropical hamlet of Macondo sleep through the midday swelter in porch hammocks. Fact imitated fiction on Sunday…" Isn't that a hoot? Fewer than half the minimum needed to vote showed up, though the town's mayor, Pedro Sanchez, reported that 93% of those who did vote opted for the change.

[06.19.06]
The futurists all predicted the 21st century as the wellspring for Indian culture. Here's more evidence: Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi's new lyrical fiction debut, The Last Song of Dusk. The Los Angeles Times has already blessed Shanghvi as the literary world's next young rising star for her sweeping, modern fairy tale, which "includes elements of magic realism."

[06.18.06]
Rebecca Assoun recently discussed Argentine author Alberto Gerchunoff's new nonfiction book, Jewish Gauchos in European Jewish Press as a "series of vignettes about shtetl life in Argentina. Praised for its depiction of how two entirely different cultures could coexist in a symbiotic relationship, Jewish Gauchos was written about a decade after Jewish immigration to Argentina began in earnest," all written in a style which "mixes prose and magical realism, lyricism and the story-telling."

A LITTLE LIGHT HOUSEKEEPING…

ESPECIALLY FOR WRITERS: Our reading period is closed.

GENERAL REMINDER: Margin's staff is on hiatus through mid-October 2006. Any e-mail we receive during this time will receive replies as necessary, but there may be delays.

ESPECIALLY FOR READERS:

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