literature

Pakistan: Women and Fiction Today

by Uzma Aslam Khan

With three acclaimed novels behind her, writer Uzma Aslam Khan undoes formulaic assumptions of her homeland. Read More »

The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World

Jacqueline Novogratz  |  Rodale Books, 2009  |  Global

In her powerful new memoir, The Blue Sweater, Acumen Fund founder Jacqueline Novogratz reflects on her personal fight against global poverty and the future of sustainable philanthropy. Read More »

Burnt Shadows

Kamila Shamsie  |  Picador, 2009  |  Global

Pakistani writer Kamila Shamsie’s latest novel, Burnt Shadows, is an epic story of new beginnings. It opens in 1945 when Hiroko Tanaka, a young Japanese woman, and Konrad Weiss, a German man, fall in love and plan to marry. But their plans are obliterated in an instant when Konrad is killed in the bombing of Nagasaki. Read More »

Dragon Fighter: One Woman’s Epic Struggle for Peace with China

Rebiya Kadeer with Alexandra Cavelius  |  Kales Press, 2009  |  China/Uyghur Nation

Rebiya Kadeer’s memoir, Dragon Fighter, exposes the bravery of one woman determined to find justice for her people. Sharing a struggle similar to Tibet’s fight for autonomy, the Uyghur Nation has suffered from 60 years of Chinese occupation, including harassment, forced abortions, and even massacre. Read More »

Finding Beauty in a Broken World

Terry Tempest Williams  |  Pantheon, 2008  |  Global

Terry Tempest Williams has pieced together another literary masterpiece with her latest work, Finding Beauty in a Broken World. Her story begins with an answered prayer: Off the coast of Maine, she asks the sea to give her “one wild word” and the word it returns to her is “mosaic.” Read More »

This Child Will Be Great: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa’s First Woman President

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf  |  HarperCollins, 2009  |  Liberia

The rise to power of Africa’s first female president is the subject of this long-awaited memoir from President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The year is 2005, and after 14 years of civil conflict, the Republic of Liberia has made its call for change manifest in the election of Johnson Sirleaf, the former Minister of Finance. Read More »

My Hope for Peace

Jehan Sadat  |  Free Press, 2009  |  Egypt

Jehan Sadat is a mother, distinguished professor, peace advocate, activist, leader, and the widow of slain Egyptian president and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Anwar Sadat. Here, she brings us a collection of essays with her second book, My Hope for Peace, published to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Israeli-Egyptian Peace Treaty that her husband pushed into being. Read More »

Returning to My Mother's House: Taking Back the Wisdom of the Feminine

Gail Straub  |  High Point, 2008  |  Global

In Returning to My Mother’s House, Gail Straub, an empowerment leader and compassionate mother to us all, encourages men and women everywhere to seek and to reclaim their own inner compasses using the wisdom of the feminine. Read More »

The Geometry of Uzma Aslam Khan

World Pulse looks to Pakistani writer and rising star Uzma Aslam Khan to learn about her forthcoming book, The Geometry of God, her meditations on Obama, and her vision for her homeland. Read More »