Anna Olson - my favourite baker

I believe that much of what I know about scrumptious sweet recipes is due to this wonderful and superb baker: Anna Olson.

Although she was born in Atlanta, Georgia, she grew up in Toronto and, as far as I know, she currently lives in Ontario. I've watched all her cookery programmes, I follow her in social networks to be up-to-date with recipes and I have some of her recipe books. She's worth it!! :)

You can enjoy her creations in her Youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr_RedQch0OK-fSKy80C3iQ

This is her official website: http://www.annaolson.ca/ with full recipes, photos and useful videos.

And this is my favourite book:

Did you know Anna Olson? Have you ever tried any of her recipes? If you feel like baking this weekend, why don't you try any of Olson's recipes? :)

Tererai Trent - women's empowerment

Last 8th March (Women's Day), I shared with colleagues from an online course this information about an examplary Zimbabwean-American woman. She has changed education in Africa (and around the world, as well). She is Tererai Trent. I knew about her last term while dealing about education around the world with my upper secondary students.

Despite having a difficult childhood and youth, he was able to achieve her dreams, and for me, she is a model.

You can watch an interview here, which is worth watching!: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=649&v=Ewh1zT8VpQo

Happy Women's Day!!

Doris Lessing - one of my favourites

 I'm really happy to share this post with you :)  because Doris Lessing is one of my favourite writers in the whole world and I think her pieces of work must be required reading.

 

For you to know a little bit about her life, I can tell you that although her parents were British, she was born in Iran but she grew up in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and spent her life there until she was 30 years old approximately. Therefore, she is considered a British-Zimbabwean novelist. Her literary work is mainly autobiographic because she was influenced by her experiences in Zimbabwe, such as her strict education, her discovery of nature or even her feelings about racial discrimination.

Doris Lessing was one of the rare authors to have won all the major literary prizes in Europe, for instance:

Somerset Maugham Award (1954)

Prix Médicis étranger (1976)

Austrian State Prize for European Literature (1981)

Shakespeare-Preis der Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F. V. S., Hamburg (1982)

WH Smith Literary Award (1986)

Palermo Prize (1987)

Premio Internazionale Mondello (1987)

Premio Grinzane Cavour (1989)

James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography (1995)

Los Angeles Times Book Prize (1995)

Premi Internacional Catalunya (1999)

Order of the Companions of Honour (1999)

Companion of Literature of the Royal Society of Literature (2000)

David Cohen Prize (2001)

Premio Príncipe de Asturias (2001)

S.T. Dupont Golden PEN Award (2002)

Nobel Prize in Literature (2007)

Order of Mapungubwe: Category II Gold (2008)

I'd tell you about all her novels; for me it's almost impossible to select just one. But, let's have a look at these two:

1. The Grass is Singing

This was her first novel, and also the first piece of work that I read by Doris Lessing in my adolescence. It mainly deals with the racial politics between whites and blacks in Zimbabwe and I must confess the story grabbed me from the very beginning. 

A curiosity about the title is that it is a phrase from T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land. You can listen to this wonderful poem here:

 

Cargado: 0.00%

Tiempo restante -25:20

 

Here you have Doris speaking about how this novel was created: 

Furthermore, there is a film adaptation of the book: 

2. The Golden Notebook

Considered one of the 100 best English-language novels since 1923, it is a book that I deal with my advanced-level students coinciding with the celebration of Women's Day because one of the main themes covered by Lessing is women's liberation movements.

To finish this post, I'd like to share two famous quotes by Doris Lessing:

 

HAPPY READING! :)

Enlace permanenteResponder