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This would either confuse an alien who had just set foot on Earth, or maybe explain everything: the NSA haiku generator.

For more of this morning’s roundup, click here.

treebystream

André François - Roland by Nelly Stéphane,1958

harpersmagazine

"If we parents do not supplement what is given by the usual schools, our sons will come out of them mere Christian stockbrokers with an abnormal craving for bodily exercise. If we want our sons to be able to drive a car, speak French fluently, play the piano, set a broken leg, and make horses do their bidding we shall have to look outside of the schools and colleges. And I submit that he who cannot do these things is not completely educated."

Robert Littell’s “What the Young Man Should Know,” Harper’s Magazine 1933

(via harpersmagazine)

odditiesoflife

Egyptian City Found Underwater

1,200 years ago the ancient Egyptian city of Heracleion disappeared beneath the Mediterranean. Founded around 8th century BC, it is believed Heracleion served as the obligatory port of entry to Egypt for all ships coming from the Greek world.

Prior to its discovery in 2000 by archaeologist Franck Goddio and the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology, no trace of Thonis-Heracleion had been found (the city was known to the Greeks as Thonis).

The IEASM were able to locate, map and excavate parts of the city of Thonis-Heracleion, which lies 6.5 kilometers off today’s coastline about 150 feet underwater in the western part of Aboukir Bay.

Findings to date include: - The remains of more than 64 ships buried in the thick clay and sand that covers the sea bed - Gold coins and weights made from bronze and stone - Giant 16-ft statues along with hundreds of smaller statues of minor gods - Slabs of stone inscribed in both ancient Greek and ancient Egyptian - Dozens of small limestone sarcophagi believed to have once contained mummified animals - Over 700 ancient anchors for ships

To figure out how the city was completely lost and submerged in the ocean, researchers have developed a number of ideas. Most scientists suggest that the site was affected by geological and cataclysmic phenomena, such as earthquakes, tidal waves and changes in sea level. Analysis of the site also suggests great pressure on the soil with a high clay and water content which can cause sudden submergence under the sea-level.

These factors, whether occurring together or independently, may have caused significant destruction and explain the submergence of Thonis-Heracleion.

(*sources for all posts are located in the upper right corner of the post, otherwise they are located below the post when viewed on my site.)

vintagebooksdesign

WE NEED NEW NAMES - Noviolet Bulawayo

A brilliant debut novel in which ten-year-old Darling and her shantytown friends Stina, Chipo, Godknows, Sbho and Bastard spend their time playing ‘Find bin Laden’, stealing guavas and smiling photogenically for visiting NGOs. It’s down or out for these kids but, as Darling soon discovers, ‘out’ comes with its own set of problems.’

Noviolet Bulawayo has such an authentic voice it was important to portray this in the cover design. We researched African shop signage and textiles and the title font was drawn from that. The resulting layout allowed for the American part of the novel to be suggested within the design. Painting onto tin helped give the cover that raw energy that was needed, and we commissioned Georgina Potier who explains more below:

“I was lucky enough to come across some old etching plates outside a London Art School, I found these were a perfect distressed surface to create the images using model makers paints. I turned the original guides into reality…the paints were very difficult to work with however - like painting with nail varnish, and I had to use the tiniest paintbrush I could find! BUT I really enjoyed the whole process. It was great fun finding different implements to create the various textures, from cocktail sticks to an old rubber!“

www.georginapotier.com

litquake

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New audio treats for your literary ears!

Litquake’s Lit Cast Episode 23 - NoViolet Bulawayo NoViolet Bulawayo is the winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing, and is a current Stegner Fellow at Stanford. Her critically acclaimed debut novel, We Need New Names, calls to mind the great storytellers of displacement and arrival who have come before her—from Junot Diaz to Zadie Smith to J.M. Coetzee—while she tells a vivid, raw story all her own. In conversation with Sarah Ladipo Manyika, author of In Dependence. Recorded live at Litquake’s Epicenter at Lone Palm, and co-presented by Books Inc.

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