Americans, how well do you know your global neighbors?

Americans ladies

having lunch with legendary journalist

Suzy Hansen (second from right),

after her reading at PAWI,

the Professional American Women of Istanbul

This month I had the joy of interviewing legendary American journalist Suzy Hansen and reviewing her first book for Lale Magazine, the bimonthly-publication of the International Women of Istanbul. Suzy Hansen's book is called, 'Notes on a Foreign Country : An American Abroad in a Post-American World.'

American author James Baldwin asked, 'has American prosperity come at the expense of the American Negro?' Suzy Hansen, whose admiration and interest in James Baldwin inspired her to move to Turkey, extends the question. She asks, 'does American prosperity and identity come at the expense of the world?'

You can read my review here on pages 32-34 of the January/February issue. 'Notes on a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World' was chosen by the New York Times as one of the 100 Notable Books of 2017. Excerpts appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Guardian.

Thank you to editor Monisha Kar for the opportunity. Thanks also to Monica Fritz, of Monica Fritz Photography, for the photos used in the story.

A Month of Turkish Literature for Global Literature in Libraries

On a ferry between two continents

 is a great place to read

In the last two years, one of the most fun things I have done is get involved in the fledgling Global Literature in Libraries movement. Did you know that around 3% of what is published each year in English has been translated from another language? It astonished me to learn that English-language readers read so provincially (for comparison, in Turkey, 42-50% of everything that is published has been translated from another language).

What could the world be like if English-language readers read more globally? Would there be more empathy? Less fear? Would there be more collaboration on big global problems? Would there be more international business and international travel? It's fun to think about.

In August, I served as the Turkish Literature Month editor for the Global Literature in Libraries blog. See, I was still blogging! Just in a different place. It was so much fun working with over nineteen different contributers from around the world to showcase 50 different titles. Gosh, that was fun. Here's the summation post with links to all the blog posts about Turkish Literature. 

You can follow along and read around the world too by following @GlobalLitinLibs on Twitter

or 'Global Literature in Libraries Initiative' on Facebook.