1thorold
We need your input to decide what we're going to do for theme reads in 2023!
If we stick to what we've done in previous years, we need to pick four quarterly theme reads, and/or possibly a looser topic for the whole year. If we feel that that wasn't working optimally for us, then we need concrete suggestions for other structures. Everything should be open for discussion, but it's most productive if we think in terms of "could we try...?" rather than "I don't like ..."
As in other years, topic suggestions are needed for both themes and geographic regions. Mixtures of the two could be good as well, like the 2020 “Russians write revolutions” theme.
Obviously not all suggestions will be of interest to all readers, but by selecting both regions and themes, it is more likely that at least one topic will get you reading during the year.
Here is a list of previous topics: https://www.librarything.com/groups/readinggloballyficti (click on "See More"!)
Readers wander in and out of this group. If you're fairly new to the group, perhaps there are topics from previous years you may have missed and would like to see revisited. If so, I would suggest going back five years or more, but a revisit is always worthwhile.
Start posting your ideas below, and we will vote on them in due course.
Sorry I'm a bit late with this question this year, but I hope you've all been thinking about this independently! I'd like to open the ballot somewhere early in December, that seems to have worked well in the past, and gives the person running the Q1 thread time to prepare.
If we stick to what we've done in previous years, we need to pick four quarterly theme reads, and/or possibly a looser topic for the whole year. If we feel that that wasn't working optimally for us, then we need concrete suggestions for other structures. Everything should be open for discussion, but it's most productive if we think in terms of "could we try...?" rather than "I don't like ..."
As in other years, topic suggestions are needed for both themes and geographic regions. Mixtures of the two could be good as well, like the 2020 “Russians write revolutions” theme.
Obviously not all suggestions will be of interest to all readers, but by selecting both regions and themes, it is more likely that at least one topic will get you reading during the year.
Here is a list of previous topics: https://www.librarything.com/groups/readinggloballyficti (click on "See More"!)
Readers wander in and out of this group. If you're fairly new to the group, perhaps there are topics from previous years you may have missed and would like to see revisited. If so, I would suggest going back five years or more, but a revisit is always worthwhile.
Start posting your ideas below, and we will vote on them in due course.
Sorry I'm a bit late with this question this year, but I hope you've all been thinking about this independently! I'd like to open the ballot somewhere early in December, that seems to have worked well in the past, and gives the person running the Q1 thread time to prepare.
2thorold
Extra stuff to seed the conversation:
The 2022 nominations thread is here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/336529#
Themes that were voted out last time but might be due for a revisit, possibly:
— Wars, Revolutions and Uprisings
— Plagues and pestilence around the world
— Ancient Literature - The World Without Latin?
And these nominations didn't make it in 2021:
Regional:
— Writing from countries beginning with “B”
— reads from newly-independent countries (or countries that claimed themselves independent)
Thematic:
— “Orientalism”: the classical Arabic and Persian traditions and their modern echoes
— Banned books around the world
— Books published or published in translation during 2020 or 2021
— Regionally Focused Publishers
— Crime and Mysteries from around the world
— Anthologies
— Ancient Literature (BCE)
— Writing based on Oral and Epic traditions
— Fakes, forgeries, fictional manuscripts and factitious fictions
— 20th & 21st century Genocides
— Prison writing
— Women and time (or various alternatives )
The 2022 nominations thread is here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/336529#
Themes that were voted out last time but might be due for a revisit, possibly:
— Wars, Revolutions and Uprisings
— Plagues and pestilence around the world
— Ancient Literature - The World Without Latin?
And these nominations didn't make it in 2021:
Regional:
— Writing from countries beginning with “B”
— reads from newly-independent countries (or countries that claimed themselves independent)
Thematic:
— “Orientalism”: the classical Arabic and Persian traditions and their modern echoes
— Banned books around the world
— Books published or published in translation during 2020 or 2021
— Regionally Focused Publishers
— Crime and Mysteries from around the world
— Anthologies
— Ancient Literature (BCE)
— Writing based on Oral and Epic traditions
— Fakes, forgeries, fictional manuscripts and factitious fictions
— 20th & 21st century Genocides
— Prison writing
— Women and time (or various alternatives )
3thorold
Some ideas I’ve been tossing around myself:
I think the themes we’ve put together around bodies of water (the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean) have all worked well, because of the way they bring together cultures with different linguistic and political roots and a shared geography. There are plenty of seas left, so the choice is a bit arbitrary, but how about one of these?
— The Black Sea (a chance to put together Turkey, Slavic cultures, Georgia and Romania)
— The Baltic (Western Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Nordic countries, one or more Germanys)
— The South China Sea (definitions vary, but Wikipedia has it bordered by the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Vietnam.)
I think the themes we’ve put together around bodies of water (the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean) have all worked well, because of the way they bring together cultures with different linguistic and political roots and a shared geography. There are plenty of seas left, so the choice is a bit arbitrary, but how about one of these?
— The Black Sea (a chance to put together Turkey, Slavic cultures, Georgia and Romania)
— The Baltic (Western Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Nordic countries, one or more Germanys)
— The South China Sea (definitions vary, but Wikipedia has it bordered by the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Vietnam.)
4SassyLassy
>3 thorold: Love that Seas idea and would be happy to read books from any of them.
Meanwhile, I'll think about additional ideas. One might be refugees, thinking here of books like Transit and All for Nothing. Unfortunately refugees come from many countries, so there should be lots there.
Meanwhile, I'll think about additional ideas. One might be refugees, thinking here of books like Transit and All for Nothing. Unfortunately refugees come from many countries, so there should be lots there.
5thorold
>4 SassyLassy: Yes, refugees sounds like a good idea. We did “migration” ten years ago, nothing similar since then.
>3 thorold: I’m leaning towards the South China Sea — we’ve not done East Asia for some time, whilst we have had a couple of Russian-related threads in recent years. And I’ve read very little from any of the countries in the list.
Something else I’ve been thinking about is to put together a theme about writers and music around the world. It probably needs a bit more than that to give it some focus, though.
>3 thorold: I’m leaning towards the South China Sea — we’ve not done East Asia for some time, whilst we have had a couple of Russian-related threads in recent years. And I’ve read very little from any of the countries in the list.
Something else I’ve been thinking about is to put together a theme about writers and music around the world. It probably needs a bit more than that to give it some focus, though.
7labfs39
When thinking about this year's theme of "Prize winners in their own language," I began thinking about the opposite, "Writers banned in their own country." Perhaps too similar to the 2016 theme of Writers at risk?
8thorold
>7 labfs39: Sounds like a good idea to me.
2016 was some time ago, and more writers have got into trouble with regimes since then… Also, the theme didn’t attract a huge amount of attention at the time, so I don’t think we exhausted it by any means. Let’s put it on the nomination list.
2016 was some time ago, and more writers have got into trouble with regimes since then… Also, the theme didn’t attract a huge amount of attention at the time, so I don’t think we exhausted it by any means. Let’s put it on the nomination list.
9AnnieMod
A few things that had been rattling around my head:
“New fiction from around the world” - books originally published in 2014-2023
“The translation awards” - books which won awards for their translations (in the language you are reading it in)
“Out of the capital” - books not set in the capital of the country they are set in.
“New fiction from around the world” - books originally published in 2014-2023
“The translation awards” - books which won awards for their translations (in the language you are reading it in)
“Out of the capital” - books not set in the capital of the country they are set in.
10thorold
>9 AnnieMod: Didn’t we do translation awards last year? I like the other two.
11AnnieMod
>10 thorold: Maybe? If so, ignore that one. :)
I was looking at some awards lists and was thinking that I have a few books I should read.
I was looking at some awards lists and was thinking that I have a few books I should read.
12cindydavid4
>4 SassyLassy: well last year was outcasts and castaways which included refugees. Would a refugee theme be too similar? Or does that even matter?
I like the Black Sea and Baltic Sea, esp because I get them mixed up! I feel like that we covered the South China Sea in the Asian challenge, but again,not sure that matters.
would love Orientalism”: the classical Arabic and Persian traditions and their modern echoes
Banned books around the world would certainly be timely, unfortunately
I like the Black Sea and Baltic Sea, esp because I get them mixed up! I feel like that we covered the South China Sea in the Asian challenge, but again,not sure that matters.
would love Orientalism”: the classical Arabic and Persian traditions and their modern echoes
Banned books around the world would certainly be timely, unfortunately
13thorold
>12 cindydavid4: Ah, yes I didn’t get involved in the Asian challenge: I hadn’t thought about that. Maybe we need to go for “seas beginning with B”, then…
I’m going to close this thread and set up a ballot on Friday evening, I think — if anyone else has something to add, speak now. The provisional list of candidates is:
— “New fiction from around the world” - books originally published in 2014-2023
— “Out of the capital” - books not set in the capital of the country they are set in.
— "Writers banned in their own country."
— writers and music around the world
— refugees
— The Black Sea (Turkey, Slavic cultures, Georgia and Romania)
— The Baltic (Western Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Nordic countries, one or more Germanys)
— “Orientalism”: the classical Arabic and Persian traditions and their modern echoes
— Banned books around the world
I’m going to close this thread and set up a ballot on Friday evening, I think — if anyone else has something to add, speak now. The provisional list of candidates is:
— “New fiction from around the world” - books originally published in 2014-2023
— “Out of the capital” - books not set in the capital of the country they are set in.
— "Writers banned in their own country."
— writers and music around the world
— refugees
— The Black Sea (Turkey, Slavic cultures, Georgia and Romania)
— The Baltic (Western Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Nordic countries, one or more Germanys)
— “Orientalism”: the classical Arabic and Persian traditions and their modern echoes
— Banned books around the world
14thorold
The voting thread is now open for business here https://www.librarything.com/topic/346244#
Vote early, vote often!
Vote early, vote often!
15thorold
…just a few hours left to vote! I’ll close the voting at around 22.00 Dutch time today, Saturday, that’s 16.00 Eastern Time for those in the US…
16thorold
...and the polls are now closed. That means the themes for 2023 are: {Drum-roll...}
—New fiction from around the world: books originally published in 2014-2023
—Banned books around the world
—Reading around the Baltic
—Reading around the Black Sea
"Writers banned in their own country" got the same number of Yes votes as the two maritime topics, but falls out of the boat when we count the No votes.
The full results can be seen in the voting thread.
Many thanks to all who voted!
Now all we need are volunteers to introduce the four themes during the year. Don't all shout at once, but don't forget that you're liable to be tapped on the shoulder in a private message if you don't volunteer first. :-)
As far as timing goes, I think it makes most sense to have the fairly open "New fiction" topic in Q4. The two seas probably shouldn't directly follow each other, so we could have those in Q1 and Q3, with banned books in Q2. But I'm open to other schemes.
I'm happy to volunteer to do one of the two seas myself.
—New fiction from around the world: books originally published in 2014-2023
—Banned books around the world
—Reading around the Baltic
—Reading around the Black Sea
"Writers banned in their own country" got the same number of Yes votes as the two maritime topics, but falls out of the boat when we count the No votes.
The full results can be seen in the voting thread.
Many thanks to all who voted!
Now all we need are volunteers to introduce the four themes during the year. Don't all shout at once, but don't forget that you're liable to be tapped on the shoulder in a private message if you don't volunteer first. :-)
As far as timing goes, I think it makes most sense to have the fairly open "New fiction" topic in Q4. The two seas probably shouldn't directly follow each other, so we could have those in Q1 and Q3, with banned books in Q2. But I'm open to other schemes.
I'm happy to volunteer to do one of the two seas myself.
17AnnieMod
As the New Books was my idea, I can host it - it will also be the easiest to host because it is essentially a wide open topic. :) But of someone else wants it, go for it.
18cindydavid4
Looking forward to participating! Not interested in leading these however this time
19thorold
Thanks to the first couple of volunteers, a provisional plan is starting to form, subject to confirmation:
—Reading around the Baltic — Q1 labfs39
—Banned books around the world — Q2 (tbd)
—Reading around the Black Sea — Q3 thorold
—New fiction from around the world: books originally published in 2014-2023 — Q4 AnnieMod
—Reading around the Baltic — Q1 labfs39
—Banned books around the world — Q2 (tbd)
—Reading around the Black Sea — Q3 thorold
—New fiction from around the world: books originally published in 2014-2023 — Q4 AnnieMod
20Tess_W
>19 thorold: as quick question as I'm planning my reads....Baltic..are these books set in the Baltic, the authors from the Baltic, or both?
21markon
>20 Tess_W: I think it is by authors from any country bordering/with coastline on the Baltic Sea.
22thorold
>20 Tess_W: >21 markon: — Yes, authors from countries around the sea. But maybe slightly weighted for the larger countries to emphasise the region close to the sea (e.g. Petersburg rather than Moscow or Vladivostok).
23markon
Found this one as a book banned in the country it is from because it features a lesbian teen - La Bastarda by Trifonia Melibea Obono, Translated from Spanish by Lawrence Schimel (frist novel by a woman from Equitorial Guinea to be translated to English). Per Book Riot, the author is a bisexual journalist, academic, political scientist & activist.
She has also written a nonfiction book that is not translated, Yo No Quería Ser Madre: Vidas Forzadas de Mujeres Fuera de la Norma, in which she interviews 30 women from her country, the majority of whom are gay or gender-nonconforming, about their experiences.
She has also written a nonfiction book that is not translated, Yo No Quería Ser Madre: Vidas Forzadas de Mujeres Fuera de la Norma, in which she interviews 30 women from her country, the majority of whom are gay or gender-nonconforming, about their experiences.
24labfs39
The first quarter theme read, The Baltic Sea, is now up (with the exception of Germany). I wanted to post what I had a few days before the first in case it helps with your planning. I look forward to your suggestions and reviews. Happy New Year, almost!
