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Irish Independent
43 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Wexford author Colm Tóibín awarded prestigous honorary degree from Oxford University
On Wednesday, June 25, Tóibín was awarded the honorary degree of Doctors of Letters for his contribution to literature and journalism from the University of Oxford. The degree honours individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the field of literature, the creative arts, and humanities. The university outlined the long list of accomplishments that made him eligible for the coveted award. "Professor Colm Tóibín, FRSL is an Irish novelist, writer, journalist and academic. He currently serves as the Irene and Sidney B. Silverman Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University. Professor Tóibín's work has been widely recognised and shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times. His novel Brooklyn (2009) was also adapted into an Oscar-nominated film. Professor Tóibín is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He was appointed Laureate for Irish Fiction 2022-2024 and in 2023 was awarded the Bodley Medal,' they said. Being awarded at the private ceremony alongside him was Dame Jacinda Ardern, Lord Melvyn Bragg, Clive Myrie, Professor Serhii Plokhii, Professor Timothy Snyder, Sir Mo Farah, Professor Robert S Langer and Professor Erwin Neher. On the morning of the ceremony, the heads of colleges, university dignitaries, holders of the Oxford degrees of Doctor of Divinity, Civil Law, Medicine, Letters, Science, and Music, and the honorands assemble, in full academic dress, in one of the colleges, where they enjoy Lord Crewe's Benefaction. They then walk in procession to the Sheldonian Theatre on Broad Street. The University dignitaries enter the theatre in procession; those who are to receive honorary degrees wait in the Divinity School where they sign their names in the Honorary Degrees Book. They are then escorted into the theatre by the Bedels. Once the proceedings have been opened by the Chancellor, each honorand is introduced by the Public Orator with a speech in Latin and admitted to his or her new degree by the Chancellor. The Orator then delivers the Creweian Oration on the events of the past year and in commemoration of the University's benefactors. In alternate years the Professor of Poetry delivers the second part of this speech. For over 100 years All Souls College has hosted a lunch after the ceremony for the honorands, their guests, and other senior members of the collegiate University and the local community. This is then followed by a garden party hosted by the Vice-Chancellor.
New Indian Express
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
A raze down in literary world
When the JCB Prize for Literature was launched in 2018, its Rs 25 lakh cash prize positioned it as India's answer to the Booker Prize. For six years, it was a coveted accolade that celebrated Indian-language and literature in a publishing landscape, overwhelmingly dominated by English. However, without any warning, it stopped. There was no 2025 long-list announcement, no press release, just a quiet government filing that dissolved its non-profit status. The literary world, partly, was left reeling. 'It felt like a real loss,' says Tamil writer Salma, who fondly remembers it as one of the awards that supported. Yet the silence surrounding its unprecedented demise points to deeper layered tensions. An open letter signed by more than 150 writers, including K Satchidanandan, Muhsin Parari, Meena Kandasamy, had earlier condemned the prize's corporate sponsor, JCB, for its alleged complicity in what they called 'bulldozer justice' against Muslim communities in India, as well as home demolitions in Palestine. 'This prize cannot wash off the blood on JCB's hands,' the letter declared. Now, with the award gone, India's literary community finds itself divided. Was the JCB Prize a vital platform for marginalised voices or merely a hypocritical public relations exercise? And what does its sudden collapse mean for the future of Indian literature?
NDTV
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- NDTV
On Pak Nobel Nomination For Trump, Chetan Bhagat's Liquor, Deaddiction Dig
Celebrated author Chetan Bhagat likened Pakistan's Nobel Prize nomination for US President Donald Trump to a liquor shop owner opening a de-addiction clinic. Speaking at NDTV Creators Manchester, Mr Bhagat was asked if he wishes to receiver a Booker Prize for his literary works. "Trump is not getting the Peace Prize, I'm not getting the Booker Prize. He (Trump) has said he should have gotten it four to five times by now. I also feel the same (about getting a Booker Prize)," he said. Pakistan's nomination Trump for the Nobel Prize is what Mr Bhagat said amuses him. "How can Pakistan nominate anyone for the Peace Prize? It is like a liquor shop opening a de-addiction clinic. I have not received any (Booker Prize) nomination yet from (Pakistan Army chief) Asim Munir type people. If it comes, then maybe I will get it," he joked. During the chat, Mr Bhagat also supported Punjabi star Diljit Dosanjh, who is in the middle of a raging controversy about the casting of Pakistani star Hania Aamir in his latest film Sardaar Ji 3. He said, "I love Diljit. he is one of the truly exceptionally talented individuals. I admire him. He sticks to his principles. He wanted to be in Bollywood, but he didn't cut his hair... He still became a star. It's not a joke, anyone can get tempted. His music, his concerts, his reels are hilarious." The 2 States author said that a film does not belong to just an actor, but the hundreds of people that work on it. "Even if you have an issue with Diljit, penalising those people is not fair, so much money has gone into it. Banning a film is too much. You don't like the film, don't watch it. The calls for his boycott are highly unfair," he said. Speaking to NDTV on the sidelines of the event, the author was asked about his opinion on the most overrated book. "I'm thinking... It's mine. If I say someone else's, I'll get beaten up," he quipped.
The Guardian
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood audiobook review – a puzzle waiting to be decoded
It's 25 years since the publication of The Blind Assassin, Margaret Atwood's intricately plotted, multi-narrative novel which led to her first Booker prize win. Blending romance, pulpy sci-fi and family drama, it opens with octogenarian Iris Chase Griffen recalling the moment she was told her sister, Laura, had driven off a bridge. The police inform her that two people witnessed Laura deliberately swerve off the road. Though Iris believes this to be true, she insists to the officers that it was an accident. We go on to hear about Iris's privileged upbringing and marriage of convenience to Richard Griffen, the wealthy owner of a button factory, and her estrangement from her granddaughter with whom she hopes to reconcile. The book also contains excerpts from Laura's posthumously published novel which features clandestine romantic encounters between an unnamed man – seemingly a fugitive – and a wealthy woman. During their trysts, they concoct a wild fable about life on a distant planet. All this is interspersed with newspaper items reporting on the lives of the Chases and Griffins over 60 years. This is one of a series of new audio recordings of Atwood novels made exclusively with Canadian actors; others include Alias Grace, Cat's Eye, The Robber Bride and the Oryx and Crake trilogy. The Blind Assassin comes with three narrators: Emma Love reads the novel-within-a-novel; David Attar delivers the newspaper reports; and Jennifer Higgin is the inscrutable, complex Iris whose actions are a puzzle to be decoded. 'You want the truth of course,' she says, addressing the listener. 'You want me to put two and two together. But two and two doesn't necessarily get you the truth.' Available via Little, Brown Audio, 23hr 2min When the Going Was GoodGraydon Carter, WF Howes, 12hr 29minThe former Vanity Fair editor documents his star-studded career in magazine publishing. Read by the author. Missing White WomanKellye Garrett, Simon & Schuster Audio, 11hr 59minAriel Blake narrates this thriller in which a woman wakes up during a romantic weekend break to find a body in her holiday rental and her boyfriend nowhere to be found.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood audiobook review – a puzzle waiting to be decoded
It's 25 years since the publication of The Blind Assassin, Margaret Atwood's intricately plotted, multi-narrative novel which led to her first Booker prize win. Blending romance, pulpy sci-fi and family drama, it opens with octogenarian Iris Chase Griffen recalling the moment she was told her sister, Laura, had driven off a bridge. The police inform her that two people witnessed Laura deliberately swerve off the road. Though Iris believes this to be true, she insists to the officers that it was an accident. We go on to hear about Iris's privileged upbringing and marriage of convenience to Richard Griffen, the wealthy owner of a button factory, and her estrangement from her granddaughter with whom she hopes to reconcile. The book also contains excerpts from Laura's posthumously published novel which features clandestine romantic encounters between an unnamed man – seemingly a fugitive – and a wealthy woman. During their trysts, they concoct a wild fable about life on a distant planet. All this is interspersed with newspaper items reporting on the lives of the Chases and Griffins over 60 years. This is one of a series of new audio recordings of Atwood novels made exclusively with Canadian actors; others include Alias Grace, Cat's Eye, The Robber Bride and the Oryx and Crake trilogy. The Blind Assassin comes with three narrators: Emma Love reads the novel-within-a-novel; David Attar delivers the newspaper reports; and Jennifer Higgin is the inscrutable, complex Iris whose actions are a puzzle to be decoded. 'You want the truth of course,' she says, addressing the listener. 'You want me to put two and two together. But two and two doesn't necessarily get you the truth.' Available via Little, Brown Audio, 23hr 2min When the Going Was Good Graydon Carter, WF Howes, 12hr 29min The former Vanity Fair editor documents his star-studded career in magazine publishing. Read by the author. Missing White Woman Kellye Garrett, Simon & Schuster Audio, 11hr 59min Ariel Blake narrates this thriller in which a woman wakes up during a romantic weekend break to find a body in her holiday rental and her boyfriend nowhere to be found.
