We’ve been in a bit of a funk on the blogging end but guess what? We won the Best Literature Blog category at the Pakistan Blog Awards 2011 and we are NOT going to let this blog slide after that amazing achievement! So here we are, kicking off the new year in the DWL way, i.e. full of plans, a little crazy and ALWAYS late.
Two of our team members have set personal literary challenges for this year. Omer Wahaj, Papercuts Articles Editor, was inspired by this book to write a novel composed entirely of tweets. The paradigm changing feature about tweeting a book, of course, is that it’s written in blocks of no more than 140 characters, and each tweet must be able to stand on its own. There is an enormous discipline involved in this style of writing, so we’re excited about seeing where this goes! The first tweet for The Just In Case Files of Shandar Misttry, Inventive Generalist by Omer Wahaj went up on Twitter today, the 1st of February 2012. Follow the author on Twitter (@omerwahaj) if you want to be a part of this awesome project.
The second literary challenge has been taken up by Afia Aslam, Papercuts Editor, and is a little less challenging and a little more cheesy than the one you’ve read about above. (This is where I start talking about myself in the third person.) Fresh from completing Swapna Krishna’s South Asian Challenge in 2011, which involved finishing more than 10 books by desi authors before year end, Afia decided to read at least one book every month in 2012 that would start with the same letter as the month in which it was being read. Thus the progression of books will be J, F, M, A, M, J, J, A, S, O, N, D. The challenge was put up on DWL’s Facebook page and several suggestions came in for titles, which are listed below. You’re welcome to give your own suggestions as well!
1. Maps for Lost Lovers by Nadeem Aslam
2. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
3. Justice and Remembrance by Reza Shah Kazemi
4. Silas Marner by George Eliot
5. Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder
6. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
7. Jo’s Boys by Louisa May Alcott
8. Julius Caesar (play) by William Shakespeare
9. Silencing the Past, Michel-Rolph Trouillot
10. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
11. Snow by Orhan Pamuk
12. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
13. Fools Die by Mario Puzo
14. The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye
15. Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides
Here’s to 2012, then! If you’re inspired to start your own reading challenge, share it here!