Ohio State University Libararies
The Literary Map of Africa

“The Literary Map of Africa is a bio-bibliographical database, designed to be a comprehensive research and information tool on African literature. It does not focus on selected authors or national / regional literatures, nor does it follow the sometimes rigid North – sub-Saharan Africa divide; instead, the database seeks to cover the whole continent. This wider scope makes it possible for writers from different regions and countries, with varied histories and cultures, and who produce works in diverse African and European languages to be represented in one project. One objective this project hopes to fulfill is to include as many emerging writers as possible, especially those based in Africa. Many in this category of creative writers do not have a readership beyond their national boundaries and are therefore hardly represented in many bibliographies and encyclopedias.”

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[Text and graphic from Ohio State University Libararies website. Cross-posted to The Data Stream.]

Dr. Seuss’s environmentally conscious, ahead of its time picture book, The Lorax is scheduled to be made into a 3-D feature film collaboration from Universal Studios and Illumination Entertainment. And who could think of a better time to be reminded of Seuss’s prolific 1971 character who “spoke for the trees”. 

For anyone who hasn’t read the book (though I can’t imagine that would be many), it “drew condemnation from the logging industry as an ideological, anti-business tract posing as a children’s book. The title character is a blunt-speaking creature who speaks for the Truffula Trees as he warns the industrialist against ravaging the forest; the businessman pays no heed and creates a cycle of pollution and environmental devastation that he comes to regret.” This sounds kind of familiar, doesn’t it? Maybe the movie will open some eyes to the fact that the environment doesn’t seem to be getting any better on its own. 

Because the book was such an influential piece of environmental literature, 2008 saw the creation of the Lorax Project, a conservation group dedicated to protecting forests around the world through raising funding, awareness (the project is mentioned on the cover of every newly printed Lorax book) and inspiration to create “generations of passionate individuals worldwide”. Dr. Seuss has left quite a legacy.

Americans Who Tell The Truth is a book by artist Robert Shetterly, containing fifty portraits and short biographies of Americans who uphold the values of America and speak the truth even in times where this may be difficult. It is aimed at middle and high school students for use in classrooms, but can be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in art or politics. Shetterly was inspired to create the book after September 11th, when in the wake of tragedy, he saw not a reassessment of our economic, environmental and military goals, but rather “a validation of terrorism…because if one looks at US foreign policy, the common denominator is energy, oil in particular.” On a search for American icons that have, rather than leading us into conflict, lead us into truth, restraint, compassion and wisdom, he wanted to share the people that he found. He tells more about his story and inspiration in his artist’s statement. In addition, the website has an exhibit itinerary and he frequently visits middle schools, high schools and colleges around the US. 

His book obviously includes beautiful portraits (a sampling shown below), but is especially unique because it is geared for a learning environment – for young adults who need good examples of what it means to be a leader in society. In the wake of blasphemies like this absurd debate in Texas, books like this that combine beautiful art and education about the true heroes of America are much needed. For more information about Americans Who Tell The Truth or to donate to the project, follow the first link to the main page. 

Hipnostasis, a collaborative installation by Raymond Pettibon and Yoshua Okon, currently at the Armory Center for the Arts in Los Angeles has been described as both “celebratory and baleful”, using several cultural images and ideas to examine what it means to live a life of freedom. The installation, which features three elements – several TVs featuring videos of six scraggly, bearded men; a large phallus-like structure upon which the words “dead end” flash in and out of view; and pages from books by Jack Kerouac, Rudyard Kipling and Laurence Sterne as well as Samuel Beckett’s novel “Malone Dies”. The word “Hipnostasis” is scrawled somewhat haphazardly on the wall. 

The installation “reads like a mash-up of hippies, hypnosis and hypostasis” and obviously has a masculine feel to it, due to the phallic symbol, videos of men and “lost boyish” writings all by male authors, however  the deeper message is something most can relate to – aging, wanting to be free forever – these are classic desires of all humans that have been explored in art and literature for ages. Pettibon and Okon’s work seeks, it seems, to examine the all the good, bad, melancholy and beautiful sides to this desire, as well as pay homage to those who have explored it.

Last week, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz allowed some of Israel’s best writers and poets to take over the paper and report the news their way. Everything from front page news to weather was covered in beautiful prose and poetry – a great idea I think. With all the depressing stories in the news today, I appreciate the idea of presenting it in a new and perhaps more stomachable way. 

An example from the weather page: “Summer is the pencil / that is least sharp / in the seasons’ pencil case” – Roni Somek

Aside from spicing up the daly paper and making the news that day a bit easier to read, editor Don Alfon calls it “a bit of a humility lesson for journalists…thirty-one writers decided, what are the real events of the day?”  I would love to see a paper in the US get this creative with their reporting.

There’s a great PR case study-in-waiting about how a large online company handled themselves in the face of a controversial alteration in their service.
From Jezebel: “At least in books-and-mortar stores you have to actually burn the books to keep them away from people — on Amazon, you can just make them invisible.”

More here and here.

[From 826 Valencia, the brilliant writing|education initiative disguised as a Pirate Store:]

March 6 | 4–7 m
49 Stories

“Please join us for an evening of interactive storytelling as we launch “49 Stories,” the result of a collaboration between students from John O’Connell High School, new media artists JD Beltran + Scott Minneman, author Stephen Elliott, and 826 Valencia.

Student authors will read their work from this exciting new project, which allows viewers to immerse themselves in stories throughout the 49-square-mile geography of San Francisco by interacting with a “story table” that fuses maps, text, images, and even the storytellers’ own

“49 Stories” will be exhibited at 826 Valencia from noon to 6 pm every day, from March 6th through March 20th.”

[photo from Onomy Labs, developers of the story table. Best wishes to colleagues Scott and J.D.! Note cross-posted to the Data Stream.]