Since 1996, the Dublin Literary Award has honoured excellence in world literature.  Presented annually, the award is one of the most significant literature prizes in the world and unique in that the books are nominated by libraries from cities around the world.  The award is worth €100,000 for a single work of international fiction written or a work of fiction translated into English.  The 2023 winner is:  Katja Oskamp for Marzahn, Mon Amour.  https://dublinliteraryaward.ie/ 

May 25, 2023  Sardinian poet Nanni Falconi watched as translators zoomed in from Paris, Montreal, Iowa City and numerous parts of Italy for the multilingual kickoff of his new book of poems, Su Cantu de su Ciddicoa.  “You do not understand that my stubby hands also take care of the flocks of words, in the wild countryside of your consciences,” the former shepherd and award-winning poet had admonished in one of his poems, written in his native Sardinian language.  The global celebration of Falconi’s new collection, published by the Archivi del Sud Edizioni, served as a reminder of the island’s long-standing role as a wellspring of poetry that has transcended borders for centuries—actually, for millennia.   “The Sardes are almost all born poets,” Charles Dickens’ Household Words magazine declared in 1856.  The British magazine reminded readers that virtually every traveler noticed the deep-rooted place of poetry and song in the daily ways of the second-largest island in the Mediterranean, as if Sardinia was a floating island of narration.  Jeff Biggers  https://lithub.com/the-land-of-the-muses-how-sardinia-became-italys-island-of-poets

Teachers liked talented students because talented students made teachers look good while requiring no effort on the part of the teacher.  Potboiler, a novel by Jesse Kellerman   

A blivet, also known as an "impossible fork," is an optical illusion and an impossible object.  It appears to have three cylindrical prongs at one end which then mysteriously transform into two rectangular prongs at the other end.  Often, upon first glance, the blivet looks entirely possible, but upon closer inspection quickly becomes undecipherable.  Other impossible figures include the impossible cube or Penrose triangle, which also initially appear to be two dimensional representations of real objects.  On closer inspection, however, such figures are found to have parts drawn from incompatible perspectives.  The blivet is often used to amuse, entertain, and fascinate the viewer, revealing humankind's endless fascination with the creative and unusual.  The blivet is often cited as having various origins.  Many claim that it originated as an illustration on the cover of the March 1965 issue of Mad Magazine, from a contributor who claimed the illustration was original.  It was later discovered that the figure had been previously published in several aviation, engineering, and science-fiction periodicals during May and June of the previous year.  Also in 1964, D.H. Schuster published the figure in an article for the American Journal of Psychology, leading many to refer to the figure as a "Schuster Fork."  Some erroneously refer to artist M.C. Escher when discussing the origins of the blivet; this is most likely due to the fact that Escher is famous for works that contain similar optical illusions.  See picture at https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Blivet 

Fava beans and lima beans are not the same.  While they both come from the Fabaceae family, fava beans (broad beans) originated in Northern Africa, while lima beans (butter beans) originated in South America.  Note that while fava beans can be bought in the less mature green version, they eventually mature to a brown colored bean.  Dale Cudmore  https://vegfaqs.com/fava-beans-vs-lima-beans/   

The meteoric rise of ChatGPT is shaking up multiple industries–including law, as one attorney recently found out.  May 28, 2023  Roberto Mata sued Avianca airlines for injuries he says he sustained from a serving cart while on the airline in 2019, claiming negligence by an employee.  Steven Schwartz, an attorney with Levidow, Levidow & Oberman and licensed in New York for over three decades, handled Mata’s representation.  But at least six of the submitted cases by Schwartz as research for a brief “appear to be bogus judicial decisions with bogus quotes and bogus internal citations,” said Judge Kevin Castel of the Southern District of New York in an order.  The fake cases source?  ChatGPT.  https://www.toledoblade.com/business/technology/2023/05/28/lawyer-chatgpt-faces-sanctions-unprecedented-circumstance-court/stories/20230528162    

May 30, 2023 comic strip humor  “An apology is the superglue of life!”    https://www.gocomics.com/forbetterorforworse 

After you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, and so on--have found that none of these finally satisfy, or permanently wear--what remains?  Nature remains. - Walt Whitman, poet (31 May 1819-1892)  

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2677  May 31, 2023