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Alone in BabelJune 12, 2012

Around the literary world in 80 words (#4)

In which lots of white men (and one Sri Lankan) receive prizes, Mr. Electrico’s impact on twentieth-century literature is fondly remembered, and I find a Christmas present for my girlfriend.

CANADA

The Griffin Trust were in a generous mood this week, handing out ‘the world’s largest prize for a first edition single collection of poetry written in, or translated into English, from any country in the world’ (deep breath, carry on, leave those commas alone)…  Ken Babstock won the Canadian prize for the intriguingly-titled Methodist Hatchet, while English poet David Harsent took home the International prize for the far less intriguingly-titled Night. Serial prize-winner Seamus Heaney received the Lifetime Recognition Award.

SPAIN

Bankrupt Spain managed to find €50,000 to give to Philip Roth, winner of this year’s Asturias Prize. Roth, the annual favourite for the Nobel Prize amongst people who haven’t yet realised that languages other than English still exist, was praised for his ‘complex view of contemporary reality torn between reason and feeling.’ Roth’s most memorable creations include Alexander Portnoy, who seems (to this reader at least) like an enormous tit, and Professor David Kepesh, who is literally an enormous tit.

SRI LANKA

Shehan Karunatilaka won the Commonwealth book prize for Chinaman: the Legend of Pradeep Mathew. Karunatilaka’s work strays into Hunter Thompson territory by employing an alcoholic journalist as the narrator, but it’s hard to imagine Hunter writing about Sri Lankan cricket. Don’t let the cricket put you off though: Karunatilaka promises that ‘if you can’t understand why anyone would watch, let alone obsess over, this dull game, then this is the book for you.’ That’s my girlfriend’s Christmas present sorted then…

USA

Ray Bradbury, who ‘fell into writing’ after being urged to ‘live forever!’ by a carnival magician called Mr. Electrico, has died at the age of 91. Bradbury was 12 at the time of the encounter with Mr. Electrico, and wrote every day from then on. He was prolific in various genres, but will probably be remembered for Fahrenheit 451, which references ‘the autoignition temperature of paper’ (don’t try this at home) and contains the greatest man-being-chased-by-robotic-dog scene in literary history.

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One last love letter...

April 24, 2021

It has taken us some time and patience to come to this decision. TMS would not have seen the success that it did without our readers and the tireless team that ran the magazine for the better part of eight years.

But… all good things must come to an end, especially when we look at the ever-expanding art and literary landscape in Pakistan, the country of the magazine’s birth.

We are amazed and proud of what the next generation of creators are working with, the themes they are featuring, and their inclusivity in the diversity of voices they are publishing. When TMS began, this was the world we envisioned…

Though the magazine has closed and our submissions shuttered, this website will remain open for the foreseeable future as an archive of the great work we published and the astounding collection of diverse voices we were privileged to feature.

If, however, someone is interested in picking up the baton, please email Maryam Piracha, the editor, at maryamp@themissingslate.com.

Farewell, fam! It’s been quite a ride.

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