How I read the world in a year – Ann Morgan

BOOKSHELF: You have read books from 196 countries. What inspired you and how did you go about it?Ann Morgan: A chance comment someone made, made me realise that I used to read very few books by writers from nations other than the UK and US and that I never read books in translation. That didn’t […]

BOOKSHELF: You have read books from 196 countries. What inspired you and how did you go about it?
Ann Morgan: A chance comment someone made, made me realise that I used to read very few books by writers from nations other than the UK and US and that I never read books in translation. That didn’t make sense to me – I was sure there had to be a wealth of amazing stories I was missing out on. 2012 was set to be a very international year for Britain, with the Olympics coming to London, so I decided to spend it reading one book from every UN-recognised nation (plus Taiwan, which used to be a UN member).
How long did it take you to accomplish that?
It took me exactly a year from  January 1, 2012 to  December 31, 2012, although I did research and buy quite a few of the books before the start of the year. I was reading and blogging about an average of four books a week during the project.
Can you tell us about your upcoming book?
The book I’ve been writing based on the project is called ‘Reading the World: Postcards from my Bookshelf.’ It comes out next year and is being edited at the moment – I didn’t write it during the year, because it is a much bigger exploration of what reading the world means. I got the book deal in September 2012 and sent the latest draft to my publisher last month.
For Nigeria, you read seven books from both old and contemporary writers. Can you tell us how each book shaped your perception about the country?
I only read one book for each country (there wasn’t time for any more in a year!). The books you can see on the list are the suggestions people made for each nation. For Nigeria, I chose Lola Shoneyin’s ‘The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives.’ It was a fascinating, heart-rending and very clever story built around four women married to a polygamous man. For me, it was interesting, because polygamy is not something I am familiar with and it was intriguing to read a story set in a part of Nigeria where some men marry more than one woman and consider the social issues that come with that. However, I was careful not to read that book as a story that stands for all of Nigeria. One of your great writers, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – who is one of my favourite authors – has spoken powerfully about the danger of the single story and how important it is to remember that there are many sides to each culture and experience. That was something I kept in mind in all my reading that year – seeing each book as just one of many stories about life around the world.
Some non-Africans seem to view Africa as a continent of wild animals and jungles. What do you make of that now, even if you are not in that category?
Having been lucky enough to grow up in London with friends from all over the world, and to visit Ethiopia and Malawi some years ago, I can never remember looking at Africa in this way. However, it’s certainly true that there are some very narrow stereotypes presented by certain parts of the media and literature written by non-Africans – Chinua Achebe said that his first task when he was teaching African Literature to American students was to disabuse them of the limiting idea of Africa that he felt they grew up exposed to. As human beings we seem to have a natural tendency to diminish things, people and places that are far away from us, whether because of geographical distance or different life experiences. That’s true of all of us, wherever we come from, and at its worst it can make us very narrow-minded and intellectually impoverished, because it means we close our eyes to the richness and diversity other cultures have to offer. Stories can be keys to overcoming this.
By taking us into the heart of another person’s experience and showing us the world through their eyes, they enable us to look at life and our own values afresh. They make the world real in a way that no amount of facts and figures can do, because they help us to feel how it might be to live another way. That’s why I think reading as widely as we can is important, because doing so helps us to connect with each other across temporal, cultural, experiential and political divides.
You had some challenges with books not written in English. Can you share your experience?
Yes, this was a big challenge. I was particularly surprised to find how many African nations had almost no literature available in English translation. This is true not just for stories written in local languages but for places where stories are often written in widely spoken official languages such as French and Portuguese. It’s shocking, for example, to think that there is to date not a single novel by a writer from Madagascar translated into English. It’s a similar situation with literature from places like Guinea-Bissau and the Comoros, while many other nations, including Mozambique, Mauritania, Niger, Angola and Chad have only a handful of works available in the world’s most published language. To be able to read books from all these nations, I was very much dependent on the kindness of strangers. In some cases people sent me unpublished translations of works that they had translated for their own interest or for publishing projects that have not been able to go ahead. This was what happened when it came to the Comoros–A friend discovered the CV of an American academic who had translated a ‘The Kaffir of Karthala’ by Mohamed Toihiri, the nation’s first published novelist. I got in touch with him and he generously sent it to me. In other cases people went even further, sometimes writing or translating things specially, for me. I was particularly privileged to get into contact with nine volunteers in Europe and the US who translated a collection of short stories by the Saotomean writer Olinda Beja for me to read. Without their help, I would not have found anything to read from Sao Tome & Principe.
Which of the books rank amongst your top 10 list of favourites and what title is number one and why?
I am often asked this question and the truth is, I cannot give a true list of favourites– many of the books that were most special to me were important because of the efforts people put to send them to me. By popular demand, I have created a list of my 10 favourite commercially available reads from the year, but I certainly couldn’t pick out one book as the best. There were so many fabulous reads!
You had access to unpublished manuscripts. Can you tell us about them?
In addition to the Comoros manuscript, I was privileged to read quite a number of other unpublished English versions of books. I was particularly humbled by the number of established writers who sent me work. These included writers such as AkWelsapar from Turkmenistan and Juan David Morgan from Panama– authors with an impressive reputation in other languages but without a prose publishing deal in English. It was a great privilege to read their work.
Can you give us an insight into your upcoming book?
‘Reading the World: Postcards from my Bookshelf’ uses my project as a jumping-off point for considering what literature, culture and the world are and how reading can connect us. It will involve some of the extraordinary people and stories I encountered during that amazing year but will also feature lots more research and input from other writers I’ve read or spoken to since then. I hope it will have valuable things to say about what storytelling means for us as human beings and the role it can play in bringing us together.
Do you feel a sense of fulfilment after the project, or do you desire to add something else to your adventure?
It’s been great and I am pleased I managed to complete the project in a year, but I’m also aware it’s just the start. Reading a book from every country made me aware of how much is out there and how little time there is to sample the world’s incredible stories. Since finishing the quest, I have been reading lots and researching my book but I have also been lucky that lots of people have invited me to be involved in various projects and events related to world literature. It’s been a great pleasure to be part of these things and I hope it continues in the years to come. In many ways, I hope I’ll be reading the world for the rest of my life.
What words do you have for readers who may aspire to undertake the task of going the extra mile to read books across the world?
Go for it. You never know what you’ll find. As long as you set out with an open mind and a capacity for wonder, you’ll be in for an amazing journey, whether you stick to literature that you can buy in your local shops or online or venture further afield. Enjoy!