Monday, April 15, 2013

Spain’s “Move Your Money!” Campaign Advocates for Ethical Banking

The "Move your money!" logo. Taken from its <a href="http://remuevetudinero.net">homepage</a>.…from the splendid Global Voices. Open a window on the world and cultivate a global perspective by following it if you are not already. 

PS great other language reading practice too when you
Various organizations have joined together to launch the “Move your money!“ [es] initiative in Spain, aiming to convince citizens to transition from traditional banks, which are in large part responsible for the current economic crisis, to emerging financial institutions commonly called “ethical banks.”
Read the rest of Spain’s “Move Your Money!” Campaign Advocates for Ethical Banking ~ Global Voices

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Edinburgh literature festival that could change history

Heart of Midlothian
Heart of Midlothian, title of a Sir Walter Scott historical
novel and  symbol for Edinburgh football team, Hearts
…books are places along the way too…either place in books OR places and books are doubly so…

The first festival of historical fiction could mean that the 'problematic' historical novel will soon be a thing of the past. The genre-defying historical novel can come in the form of a crime novel, a romance, a political thriller, a biography or a literary novel.

This weekend, the Summerhall arts venue in Edinburgh is hosting the first ever literary festival devoted to historical fiction. It's the brainchild of Iain Gale, the art critic and author of several works of military historical fiction in the vein of Bernard Cornwell and Patrick O'Brien, and Allan Massie....


The "historical novel" isn't really a genre – since every genre can be made historical. Steampunk is really just historical SF; and Adam Roberts has written superb works, such as Yellow Blue Tibia, featuring science fiction tropes in a historical setting. And steampunk begat flintlock fantasy: I'm rather fond of Naomi Novik's Temeraire series (Napoleonic sagas with dragons). Kim Newman's Anno Dracula series gives us historical horror. I have so far been unable, much to my chagrin, to obtain a copy of Peter H Cannon's 1994 intersection of PG Wodehouse and HP Lovecraft, Scream for Jeeves.

Even within literary fiction, the idea of the "historical novel" is problematic.
The Edinburgh literature festival that could change history | Stuart Kelly | Books | The Guardian