Heritage: Get Literary on a Literary Tour

Books, books, books – can you travel without them? Take your favorite literary treasure for this journey to London, Oxford or even South Africa. No, books are not dead, and won’t be. Check out the famous literary festivals in the U.S., visit the birth house of Agatha Christie, Jane Austen as well as Alan Paton. Also, don’t forget to visit the little Pinocchio – naturally in Italy.

ARTICLES

Oxford Writers: From Shelley to Tolkien

Ashley Nault

Who would not be inspired to write amid Oxford’s famous ‘dreaming spires’, tranquil water meadows and timbered halls? Even the college architecture is structured to allow contemplation and thought: from the secluded gardens hidden behind high college walls to the cloisters, designed to allow light for study even in inclement weather. Oxford has been a fertile ground for many creative writers. From John Wycliffe, early translator of the Bible, and Geoffrey of Monmouth, recorder of traditional ...

Feasting on Literature: No “Death of Books”

Wayne M. Gore

Listen to some naysayers, and they say the printed word is dead. And advertisers in droves are fleeing newspapers for the Net. Their exodus would seem to be driving the final nails in its coffin. Apparently there are still quite a lot of event planners who are either contrarians or privy to insider information. Thanks to their faith in the power and pull of the printed word, literary lovers will find many events this year to satiate their lust for great books and the authors who pen them. Unl...

Have Book, Will Travel! Literary Tourism in KwaZulu-Natal

Ashley Nault

Literary tourism is a new field in South Africa. Whilst in England, the interested traveller can buy books on Hardy’s Wessex, Dickens’s London and Shakespeare’s Stratford-upon-Avon; and even go on guided walks through famous ‘literary’ places like Wordsworth’s Lake District; there is very little of the same for the South African literary fan. KwaZulu-Natal, a province on the east coast of South Africa, is particularly rich culturally speaking, offering a wide...

London: The Literature-Lover’s Dream

Daniel A. Tanner

For centuries, London has inspired authors, poets and playwrights. Arguably, the capital has had the greatest global influence on the English language of all the English-speaking places in the world. But how can you pack even a small part of all this into just a couple of days in London? Here are some suggestions to help you try. Hotels E. M. Forster apparently lodged in the Kingsley Hotel (now known as the Thistle Bloomsbury) from 1902 to 1904 – probably for its proximity to his Blooms...

Walking Through a Fairytale – Pinocchio’s Land

Larry Brain

The irresistible appeal of fairy tales is one of the most crucial things in a child’s life. Of course, each one of us has a favorite one. For many, Pinocchio is the most attractive character that they sympathize with. The ‘birthplace’ of Pinocchio and his tale, or of his father, Carlo Lorenzini, to be more precise, is in a little village in Tuscany. The little village of Collodi, Italy has long been attracting Pinocchio’s fans as an impressive park. Commemorating this cha...