Lonely Planet’s Ranking of the World’s Greatest Bookshops

In What's the Buzz by Edward Nawotka

By Edward Nawotka Lonely Planet has put out a top ten list of the world’s greatest bookshops, which is led by San Francisco’s City Lights Books. The top three are rounded-out by Librería El Ateneo Grand Splendid in Buenos Aires and Livraria Lello in Porto. Also on the list, are several stores which we’ve covered here, including London’s Daunt Books, Shakespeare & Co. in …

Book Review: The Elephant’s Journey by José Saramago

In Book Review by Gwendolyn Dawson

By Gwendolyn Dawson José Saramago’s novel The Elephant’s Journey, published after his death earlier this year, borrows its action from an actual historical event: the gift of an elephant by the king of Portugal to the Archduke of Austria in 1551 and the elephant’s subsequent journey to its new home. Filled with charm and whimsy, it reads like an adult …

“The Best Tool Available”: Portugal’s José Rodrigues dos Santos on Truth vs. Fiction

In Guest Contributors by Guest Contributor

• José Rodrigues dos Santos, one of Portugal’s best known journalists and novelists, discusses the relationship between truth and fiction. • “If I was doing journalism, I should tell the truth, right?” he posits, only to reveal that sometimes fiction is, indeed, “the best tool available” — the proverbial lie that tells the actual truth. By José Rodrigues dos Santos LISBON: …

Saramago Dumps German Publisher Over Disputed Blog

In German Buch News by Siobhan O'Leary

By Siobhan O’Leary Portuguese Nobel Prize winner and international bestseller José Saramago, who has been published in German by Rowohlt Verlag to this point, is moving houses to Hoffmann und Campe. In a statement to the Boersenblatt, Rowohlt spokeswoman Regina Steinicke revealed that the split resulted from a disagreement over the publication of Saramago’s blog in printed form under Rowohlt …

New ARTErra Artist Colony in Portugal Taking Applications

In What's the Buzz by Edward Nawotka

By Edward Nawotka I have several friends who are writers who don’t seem to have a home, but instead travel from artist colony to artist colony — with irregular stops at universities for teaching gigs and home to sort the mail. Thinking of those homeless nomads, I thought it would be a good idea to starting highlighting opportunities for writers …