Beyond the back yard

Bits of international lit news:

• Salon has asked eight popular novelists to write about Moammar Gadhafi’s fall:

"A fall so sudden and dramatic is perhaps best told in fiction. So we asked eight top novelists to imagine this moment from Gadhafi's perspective. What is the "King of Kings" thinking as he fights for his life?"

• Javier Celaya, whose credentials include vice president of the Spanish Digital Magazines Association (ARDE), writes about advances in the Spanish electronic publishing market:

"Spanish is the third most spoken language in the world after English and Chinese, and the revenue potential from a market made of 500 million Spanish speakers will not be overlooked. . . . Spanish publishers, booksellers and librarians will have their hand forced and will henceforth need to make strategic decisions in reaction to the arrival of these international competitors."

• About 50 events worldwide will take place between September 5 and October 18 to mark the launch of Granta 116: Ten Years Later. Events include parties, panels, exhibitions, and most are free.

• The Edinburgh International Book Festival is curating a four-volume set of works by over fifty authors on the theme of “elsewhere.” This new writing has been commissioned and funded by the Scottish government and will be published by Glasgow-based Cargo.

• Jason Goodwin, a scholar on Turkey, recommends his top ten books on Turkey. Interestingly, only some are written by Turkish authors. The comments that follow the article stir the pot a bit.

• The subject of the summer issue of Action, Yes is Sweden.

• The Publishers Weekly news blog has “uncovered the cemeteries that can boast the most about the literary quality of their residents.” Locations include Paris, Moscow, and Concord, Massachusetts.

Let us know if you have any other world news of the word to share.