The Bookworm » Podcasts

The Art of Translation

kadi — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 07:53:20 +0000

Is something always lost in translation? If so, how do you choose what to lose and who should choose – the author or the translator? Literary translation is fraught with pitfalls and difficulties, yet it enables important cultural exchange and understanding. Ouyang Yu has translated Hanif Kureishi, Anna Enquist and Kingsley Bolton. They discuss and debate the art of translation with Paper Republic’s Eric Abrahamsen.

Ouyang Yu is brought to you by the Australian Embassy of Beijing’s Australian Writers’ Week.

This event was part of The Bookworm International Literary Festival 2012 in Beijing.

Introduction music: Song Etrange (奇怪) written by Zhang Si’an (Djang San, Jean-Sébastien Héry). Extract from the album One Man Live Orchestra Vol 1.

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Life to the Fullest -The Faster I Walk, the Smaller I Am

kadi — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 08:12:24 +0000

Novelist Kjersti Skomsvold is one of Norway’s most acclaimed young writers. Her debut novel, The Faster I Walk, The Smaller I Am, is the tragicomic story of Mathea Martinsen, a recluse nearing the end of her life who is afraid that she will die without anyone knowing she lived. With a mix of naïveté and gallows humour, Mathea vainly attempts to make her mark. Skomsvold talks about blending the macabre and the whimsical to create this original and compassionate tale about the loneliness of being human.

Brought to you by NORLA.

This event was part of The Bookworm International Literary Festival 2012 in Beijing.

Introduction music: Song Etrange (奇怪) written by Zhang Si’an (Djang San, Jean-Sébastien Héry). Extract from the album One Man Live Orchestra Vol 1.

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Men and Monsters

kadi — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 06:21:12 +0000

Characters in Carol Birch’s Jamrach’s Menagerie and Albert Sánchez Piñol’s Cold Skin travel deep into the heart of darkness and come face to face with human nature’s most wicked parts. In Jamrach’s Menagerie, a sea voyage gone awry forces sailors to decide just what they will sacrifice in order to survive. Sánchez Piñol’s unsettling Cold Skin pits a lonely weather observer on a remote and deserted island against his deepest fears and darkest demons. What happens to humans when we are pushed beyond our breaking point? At the edge of the world with civilization far behind, are we able to remain men or do we become monsters? Birch and Sánchez Piñol discuss with Jenny Niven, Associate Director of the Wheeler Centre.

Albert Sánchez Piñol is brought to you by the Cervantes Institute of Beijing, the Embassy of Spain and the Institut Ramon Llull.

This event was part of The Bookworm International Literary Festival 2012 in Beijing.

Introduction music: Song Etrange (奇怪) written by Zhang Si’an (Djang San, Jean-Sébastien Héry). Extract from the album One Man Live Orchestra Vol 1.

Download Now!

Ideas Travel: Voice

kadi — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:54:01 +0000

BLF and its Word Alliance partners are teaming up to present “Ideas Travel” – a panel discussion held at all eight Word Alliance festivals (Beijing, Melbourne, Edinburgh, New York, Berlin, Toronto, St. Malo and Jaipur). A different panel of international authors will debate the same issue at each festival. “Ideas Travel” is a real-time experiment in what happens to an idea as it travels around the globe. How do ideas change depending on their location? And how do they stay the same? Join us as we launch the inaugural “Ideas Travel” as Albert Sánchez Piñol (Catalonia), Zhang Lijia (China) and Luka Lesson (Australia) debate the writer’s role of giving voice to the voiceless – whether due to a disappearing language, social disenfranchisement or something yet unknown.

This event was part of The Bookworm International Literary Festival 2012 in Beijing.

Introduction music: Song Etrange (奇怪) written by Zhang Si’an (Djang San, Jean-Sébastien Héry). Extract from the album One Man Live Orchestra Vol 1.

Download Now!

Desire, Despair & Transformation

kadi — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:36:39 +0000

In Orpheus Lost, Janette Turner Hospital’s modern day reworking of the ancient tale, a young mathematician falls hopelessly in love with a gifted Australian subway musician. Their love idyll bursts when an explosion rocks the subway and tests their bond – and their very identities. Margo Lanagan’s Sea Hearts heads to Rollrock Island, a lonely rock populated by gulls, blunt fisherman, homely wives and selkies – seals that transform into beguiling women. A fisherman may be the master of a “sea bride,” but magic always has its price. Turner Hospital and Lanagan discuss retelling the old tales, tragic heroes and why myths matter.

Brought to you by the Australian Embassy of Beijing’s Australian Writers’ Week.

This event was part of The Bookworm International Literary Festival 2012 in Beijing.

Introduction music: Song Etrange (奇怪) written by Zhang Si’an (Djang San, Jean-Sébastien Héry). Extract from the album One Man Live Orchestra Vol 1.

Download Now!

Hot Art

kadi — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:05:59 +0000

Canadian journalist Joshua Knelman immersed himself for four years in the enigmatic high-stakes world of international art theft. His investigation took him around the globe – from Cairo to New York, Montreal, London and Los Angeles – and up close with slippery thieves and the dogged detectives who follow hot on their trail. In his latest book, Hot Art, he brings to light this mysterious world filled with cunning and eccentric characters. Knelman talks with Affordable Art China’s Tom Pattinson about the art of the heist and just how deep international art crime corruption goes.

This event was part of The Bookworm International Literary Festival 2012 in Beijing.

Introduction music: Song Etrange (奇怪) written by Zhang Si’an (Djang San, Jean-Sébastien Héry). Extract from the album One Man Live Orchestra Vol 1.

Download Now!

Ana Clavel in conversation

kadi — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 09:59:58 +0000

In Mexican author Ana Clavel’s latest novel Shipwrecked Body, Antonia wakes up in the body of a man. As Anton, she sets out to explore the hyper-masculine world of Mexico City from a new perspective – changing everything she thought she knew about herself. Join us for a special multimedia event featuring videos and more as Clavel discusses gender identity, the complicated labyrinth of the male body and the inspiration behind her work.

Brought to you by the Embassy of Mexico.

This event was part of The Bookworm International Literary Festival 2012 in Beijing.

Introduction music: Song Etrange (奇怪) written by Zhang Si’an (Djang San, Jean-Sébastien Héry). Extract from the album One Man Live Orchestra Vol 1.

Download Now!

Spicy, Sweet, Bitter, Salty, Sour

kadi — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:42:05 +0000

Beijing is a foodie’s paradise, chronicled by bloggers, food writers and cookbook creators. With cuisines from around the world and from every region of China, our capital city has something for every palate. Time Out Beijing’s food editor Lillian Chou and some of Beijing’s top food experts, including multi-Time Out Food Award winning chef Max Levy; cheese-maker and founder of Le Fromager de Pékin, Liu Yang; and Therese Rose (aka Zhang Zhimin), organic farmer and founder of God’s Grace Garden – will take us through their experiences of being involved with the local organic food movement.

Made possible with the support of Time Out Beijing.

This event was part of The Bookworm International Literary Festival 2012 in Beijing.

Introduction music: Song Etrange (奇怪) written by Zhang Si’an (Djang San, Jean-Sébastien Héry). Extract from the album One Man Live Orchestra Vol 1.

Download Now!

The Death of Mao & the Birth of a New China

kadi — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 10:56:05 +0000

Summer 1976. One of the worst earthquakes on record struck Tangshan, killing over a quarter of a million people. In nearby Beijing, the Communist Party was being torn apart as various factions vied for power. In the wake of Mao’s death, would the Gang of Four take control or would Deng Xiaoping bring about reform and reopen China to the world? James Palmer’s latest work of non-fiction, The Death of Mao, recreates the tensions of that tumultuous summer when China’s fate hung in the balance and discusses how these events created the New China.

This event was part of The Bookworm International Literary Festival 2012 in Beijing.

Introduction music: Song Etrange (奇怪) written by Zhang Si’an (Djang San, Jean-Sébastien Héry). Extract from the album One Man Live Orchestra Vol 1.

Download Now!

Unnatural Selection: the Consequences of a World Full of Men

kadi — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 10:23:45 +0000

There are over 160 million females “missing” from Asia’s population. This gender imbalance, caused in part by sex selective abortions, has dire consequences for the entire world. In Unnatural Selection, Science magazine correspondent Mara Hvistendahl looks at how we arrived at such a dangerous imbalance and what will happen when all these “extra” boys grow up. Reporting from China, India, Vietnam and other countries, Hvistendahl interviewed prostitutes, mail-order brides, militant nationalists, geneticists, activists and more to piece together the complicated story of why we continue to choose boys over girls and the danger this brings.

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Introduction music: Song Etrange (奇怪) written by Zhang Si’an (Djang San, Jean-Sébastien Héry). Extract from the album One Man Live Orchestra Vol 1.