The Asian Prizes has revealed the shortlist for the inaugural Asian Prize for Poetry 2025. Five exceptional poems from Ukraine, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Malaysia have been selected from the longlist, each powerfully engaging with this year’s theme, “The Earth,” through distinct cultural perspectives and artistic excellence.
As October 9 approaches, the literary world anticipates the 2025 Nobel Prize announcement. Australian novelist Gerald Murnane leads predictions, while Mexican writer Cristina Rivera Garza emerges as a surprise contender. The Swedish Academy’s selection will likely favor experimental voices over mainstream favorites, potentially honoring underrepresented regions and innovative storytelling approaches.
The Asian Prizes announces the long list for the inaugural Asian Prize for Poetry 2025, featuring ten works from nine countries exploring the theme “The Earth.” The international jury, chaired by Ukrainian poet Iryna Vikyrchak, selected diverse voices spanning Ukraine, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Botswana, Vietnam, India, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
Today marks the International Day of Remembrance of the Genocide in Srebrenica, commemorating the victims of this atrocity. The UN General Assembly adopted the resolution establishing 11 July as this day of remembrance in May 2024, despite opposition from Serbia, China, Russia, Belarus, and Nicaragua.
Writers can compete for £5,000 in prizes across four categories: Open Poetry, Short Story, Book for Children, and Young Poets. Submit your original, unpublished work by 30 June 2025. Prize winners receive professional recognition worth its weight in gold. Visit wellsfestivalofliterature.org.uk for guidelines.
Seán Ó Faoláin International Short Story Competition opens for 2025 submissions, offering a €2,000 first prize and featured reading at Cork International Short Story Festival. Running until 31st July, the competition welcomes unpublished stories up to 3,000 words from writers worldwide, judged by acclaimed Australian author Laura Jean McKay.
Ethos Literary Festival returns on 7th June 2025 at Ambassador Hotel, featuring prestigious book launches, interactive pitch sessions with leading literary agent Suhail Mathur, and ceremonial presentations by renowned professors. The day-long poetry celebration, organised by Harwal Publishers, concludes with the coveted Ethos Literary Award 2025 presentation ceremony.
Marianna Kyanovskaya’s poetry today is one of the most important voices of struggling Ukraine. Struggling for what? After February 24, 2020, we faced the threat of a world war. We understand that the heroic sacrifice made today by Ukrainians, including poets fighting on the front lines, is done not only on behalf of the freedom of the Ukrainian people, but also in the name of the civilisation of freedom.
Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, who transformed African literature by writing in his native Gikuyu language, has died aged 87. The Nobel Prize contender, imprisoned and exiled for his political views, spent decades championing indigenous African voices. His revolutionary decision to abandon English challenged colonial literary dominance forever.
” And this reminds me of a quote attributed to Toni Morrison which goes something like “If there is a book you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it”.
Arundhati Roy exists as literature’s most uncompromising truth-teller, a writer whose pen serves simultaneously as artistic instrument and political weapon. Her singular career trajectory—from Booker Prize-winning novelist to fearless activist-essayist—represents one of contemporary literature’s most compelling arguments for the writer as public intellectual, refusing comfortable boundaries between art and politics.
‘Contours of Him’ brings remarkable depth to our understanding of men and their bodies, helping to redefine masculinity in ways that are more compassionate, complex, and authentic. By inviting readers into intimate relationships with the physical male form as experienced across diverse cultures, this anthology advances our collective conversation about gender and embodiment
The fact that Café Europa was born during the war is telling. Poetry and war should walk separate paths. Yet it is from their intersection that the word-in-action, or poesis, arises. The Greek root of this word is close to the Sanskrit term for compassion – karuna.
When you are fighting for livelihood and life, the language and idioms acceptable are those used by power structures and governments.
The title Anatta, a Pali word meaning “not-self,” points towards a central theme in the anthology: the impermanence of all things, including the self. Buddhist philosophy challenges the notion of a fixed, unchanging self. Anatta proposes instead a fluid, ever-changing entity, constantly shaped by our experience as a body-mind (Nama-Tula) and the world in which it lives.
The Asian Journal of Literature is an annual publication by The Asian Group, the published edition of The Asian Journal, which is located in Gargaon, India. The Asian Journal offers two distinct editions: one for Literature and another for Science. The Journal for literature is now open for submissions.
Addonia’s emphasis on the body as the primary site of both oppression and liberation distinguishes his approach. Unlike the cool intellectual distance that characterizes much postcolonial critique, Addonia insists on the primacy of physical experience.
” In an era when gadgets and media are conspiring to shorten the attention spans of readers, turning human beings into cyborgs, or even worse- living, breathing AI models, I see the act of sitting in your favorite spot with your favorite beverage and sinking into your book as an act of silent rebellion. “
An aspiring writer who used to address complex issues strategically and confidently through my work, Olvens Louissaint is mainly committed to standing for the well-being of humanity and awarded with many international accolades. Some of his poems appeared in many international Anthologies and Magazines and his short stories and essays are also published in several journals
What can be done about it? More than one thing. Every form of solidarity and help is essential. It is important to understand that military aid in Ukraine is not a separate form of support, but part of humanitarian aid, which determines the existential to be or not to be.
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