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Monday

Television

Franz Kafka's life wasn't so kafkaesque after all, TV miniseries shows

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with lead actor Joel Basman and director David Schalko about his German-Austrian miniseries Kafka on early 20th century author Franz Kafka, released in the U.S. from June 6.

KAFKA - Joel Basman, David Schalko or Daniel Kehmann

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Tuesday

Wednesday

Gabriel García Márquez's last novel is published against his wishes

Gabriel García Márquez greets journalists and neighbors on his birthday outside his house in Mexico City on March 6, 2014. Edgard Garrido/Reuters hide caption

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Edgard Garrido/Reuters

The Americas

Gabriel García Márquez's last novel is published against his wishes

Until August is the last novel of the Nobel Prize-winning author, a work he asked his sons to destroy. But, nearly 10 years after his death, they have decided to publish his final novel.

Gabriel García Márquez's last novel is published against his wishes

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Wednesday

Meg Medina is the first Latinx ambassador for young people's literature

Meg Medina was named a national youth ambassador by the Library of Congress. Scott Elmquist hide caption

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Scott Elmquist

Books

Meg Medina is the first Latinx ambassador for young people's literature

The Library of Congress has named a Cuban American writer as its new national ambassador for young people's literature. Meg Medina is the first Latinx ambassador in the program's history.

Meg Medina is the first Latinx ambassador for young people's literature

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Tuesday

Literature ambassador Jason Reynolds knows young people have a story of their own

Jason Reynolds, pictured at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in 2019, has spent the last three years speaking with students across the United States in his role as national ambassador for young people's literature. Roberto Ricciuti/Getty Images hide caption

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Roberto Ricciuti/Getty Images

Books

Literature ambassador Jason Reynolds knows young people have a story of their own

NPR's A Martínez talks to writer Jason Reynolds, who is ending his term as the national ambassador for young people's literature. The Library of Congress appointed him to the post three years ago.

Literature ambassador Jason Reynolds knows young people have a story of their own

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Friday

This 19th-century short story might help combat racism against refugees today

A still from the 1961 Hindi film Kabuliwala, directed by Hemen Gupta. Kabuliwala (1961) hide caption

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Kabuliwala (1961)

World

This 19th-century short story might help combat racism against refugees today

India's Rabindranath Tagore was the first nonwhite writer to win the Nobel Prize in literature. His 1892 story, "The Kabuliwala," fostered empathy for migrants and refugees. It still resonates today.

This 19th-century short story might help combat racism against refugees today

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Wednesday

War Poems Revisited

Tim and Felisa Tim Kirk hide caption

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Tim Kirk

Rough Translation

War Poems Revisited

As the U.S. pulls out of Afghanistan, we look back at a time when Taliban poetry and a local cooking show became part of the war. And the U.S. had the perfect person to fight on that front.

War Poems Revisited

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Friday

Wednesday

The Undocumented Americans

Author Karla Cornejo Villavicencio. Talya Zemach-Bersin hide caption

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Talya Zemach-Bersin

Code Switch

The Undocumented Americans

In her new book, The Undocumented Americans, Karla Cornejo Villavicencio writes about delivery men, housekeepers, and day laborers — the undocumented immigrants who are often ignored while the media focuses its attention on Dreamers. "I wanted to learn about them as the weirdos we all are outside of our jobs," she writes.

The Undocumented Americans

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Friday

Pakistani Author Comes Under Fire For Satirical Novel After Urdu Edition Is Published

Pakistani author Mohammed Hanif says copies of the Urdu translation of his irreverent novel, A Case of Exploding Mangoes, were seized from his publisher's office this week. The book was published in English in 2008 to wide international acclaim and was translated into Urdu in September. Diaa Hadid/NPR hide caption

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Diaa Hadid/NPR

World

Pakistani Author Comes Under Fire For Satirical Novel After Urdu Edition Is Published

Copies of a new Urdu edition of Mohammed Hanif's 2008 novel, A Case of Exploding Mangoes, were seized Monday. Rights groups say it's another sign that freedom of expression is threatened in Pakistan.

Tuesday

When Tea Reaches Its Boiling Point In Fiction, So Too May The Story

Quilp, the epitome of evil in Charles Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop, seen here with Little Nell, is a dwarf with the head of a giant and a "few discolored fangs" for teeth. But his most grotesque trait is his trick of drinking "boiling tea without winking" and eating "hard eggs, shell and all." Culture Club/Getty Images hide caption

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Culture Club/Getty Images

The Salt

When Tea Reaches Its Boiling Point In Fiction, So Too May The Story

Across tea-drinking cultures, writers have milked hot tea for all its worth to add a splash of narrative panache to comic or erotic scenes or to build mood, momentum and character.

Friday

Friday

Tuesday

Monday