Enniskillen Mounts Oscar Wilde Installation Inspired by THE HAPPY PRINCE
Enniskillen in Northern Ireland, where Oscar Wilde spent his youth, is honoring the author with an installation of gold-leaf sculpted swallows around the town. The gold-leaf swallows are a reference to one of Wilde’s most beloved stories The Happy Prince, in which a statue of a Prince asks a swallow to give his gold leaf and jewels to the poor people of the town. The installation is a literary tourism project from Arts Over Borders, which has mounted 150 gold-leaf sculpted swallows on 86 buildings around Enniskillen. Some of the swallows are positioned around town in places that were important to Oscar Wilde’s own life story. Many are places around the town center where a new mural of of The Happy Prince by Jordan Shaw was recently added.
Melinda Gates Starts Nonfiction Imprint
Melinda French Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and founder of Pivotal Ventures, has formed a nonfiction imprint with Flatiron Books, a division of Macmillan. The new imprint, called Moment of Lift Books, will kick off with three nonfiction releases about women in girls, starting in 2023. In a statement, Gates said that while many advancements for gender equality have taken place in recent years, women’s lives and livelihoods were disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Gates said, “As the world works to advance an equitable recovery, Moment of Lift Books will publish visionaries who are helping ensure women’s voices and perspectives are not left behind. I hope their stories will inspire readers to join in the global fight for equality.” The first three release from the imprint include a book about refugee women by Jina Krause-Vilmar; and a book about allowing pregnant women attend school in Sierra Leone, by David Moinina Sengeh.
Tahereh Mafi Shares the Cover of Her New Novel, the Start of a New Trilogy
On Thursday, Tahereh Mafi posted the cover of her new novel on Instagram. Mafi’s new book, This Woven Kingdom, will be the start of a new trilogy inspired by Persian mythology. Mafi said in her Instagram post, “[I] really can’t wait to share this book with you all!” The cover for The Woven Kingdom features artwork by Alexis Franklin. The novel is available for preorder now and will be out on February 1st, 2023.
“Domestic Terrorists” Challenge Books in Texas, Indiana, Maine, and More
There are even more developments in censorship from this week, following book bans, challenges, and other attacks on intellectual freedom in the U.S.