2nd MINI SAGA CONTEST RESULTS

Now that the voting process is closed, let us announce the WINNERS of the 2nd MINI SAGA CONTEST:

1st PRIZE: "Superman" by LUIS ANXO SÁNCHEZ GARCÍA


2nd PRIZE: "Cries of Pain" by TATIANA RODRÍGUEZ BLANCO


3rd PRIZE: "Always Together" by BEGOÑA RODRÍGUEZ DE LA FUENTE

Here you a photo of the authors with their prizes:

SPECIAL THANKS to the other FINALISTS for their wonderful mini sagas. And thanks as well to all of you who have voted for your favourite, thus helping us to choose the winners.

FINALISTS

"American Logic" by Paul David Silva Pérez


"A War Tragedy" by Carolina Núñez Balirac


"Such is Life" by María Dolores López Rodríguez


"Honey for the King To Be" by Paul David Silva Pérez


"How Things Change" by Alicia Souto Vecino


"Motherly Love" by Verónica Boo Martínez


"A Clear Issue" by Encarna Mariño Villa


"A Young Girl's Hopeless Dream" by Pedro Millán Pérez


"The Missionary Position" by Paul David Silva Pérez


LONG LIVE STUDENTS' MINI SAGAS!!

TWILIGHT, The VAMPIRE DIARIES, TRUE BLOOD v DRACULA - Vampires Past and Present

If vampires once represented a fear of sexuality, what do they mean to our more liberated era? Why is the vampire such an attractive character to us?

Here's a comment:

"I may be biased as it was my suggestion that came out of the hat but I'm glad that we're looking at these books. For me, Dracula by Bram Stoker is the scarier of the vampires - I first read it when I was 18 during a really hot summer and refused to sleep with the window open at night just in case. Wasn't until I got to the end of the book that I allowed air into my bedroom. I want my vampires to scare me and Dracula definitely did – a big part of this was because he didn't actually appear that often. So much of the terror and suspense was in the perceptions of the Harkers, Lucy, Van Helsing and so on. This made it scarier for me, as a big part of terror is fear in the mind and often the reality is less scary. Not having Dracula around so much meant that he could be as scary as the imagination would let him be. And all the gothic associations add to that.
On the other hand, Edward and the Cullens are around and by getting to know them you sympathise with them and see that they are just misunderstood. And the other vampires that the Cullens meet who aren't as pleasant and vegetarian still don't have that scare factor, and secretly even when the blood hits the fan you know that everyone will be all right at the end and come through unscathed …
I like them both, but as for me vampires are meant to be scary and I want to be frightened so much I daren't open the window until I reach the end of the book, Dracula wins the fight. Having said that, I probably would prefer it if Robert Pattinson appeared on my window sill rather than Christopher Lee …"

 Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/apr/27/twilight-dracula-vampires-reading-group

As for me, I LOVE Dracula's novel, and the characters in it (not only the Count himself, but also Renfield, Van Helsing,...). I recently re-read it after 8 years from my first read and the novel is still charming and the characters haven't lost their allure. However, it scares me to death and I have dark thoughts when driving across the woods on foggy nights - no kidding.

I haven't read Twilight, but I have watched the first two movies, which I didn't care for too much. I am currently watching The Vampire Diaries and I don't especially love it either... I guess I'll stick to the original!

What about you? Do you prefer good old-fashioned Dracula, Edward Cullen, Stefan and Damon Salvatore or none of them?

GUARDIAN BOOKS PODCAST: Dracula's Literary Legacy

To mark the centenary of Bram Stoker's death, we joined a conference at Keats House in London's Hampstead where the great and the ghouls of vampire scholarship joined up for two days of talks.
Stoker's great-grandnephew Dacre Stoker and the scholar Elizabeth Miller introduced their new book based on the discovery of a set of journals written by Stoker in his early years.

Christopher Frayling explains why he regrets vampires becoming mainstream, and writers Kevin Jackson and Marcus Sedgewick exchange little-known vampire facts. We pay a visit to the columbarium at Golders Green Crematorium where Stoker's ashes are kept. Plus, we talk to the film critic and novelist Kim Newman about the reissue of his cult series Anno Dracula.

Go HERE to listen to the podcast.

2nd MINI SAGA CONTEST: VOTE FOR YOUR FAVOURITE MINI SAGA

The finalists of the 2nd mini saga contest have already been chosen. 

Thanks a lot to all the 66 participants for their great stories!

 It has been really difficult to pick out just 10 so in the end we have chosen 12 finalists.

Please, read the finalists below and vote for your favourite one with the gadget on the right.

The  finalists with the highest number of votes will become the winners. There will be three prizes which will be announced on Wednesday, 25th April.

Thanks for your collaboration and ENJOY YOUR READING!

A clear issue It comes again and again over its origin. After continuous and unavoidable changes, unappreciated, defiled, after walking long distances, It has the strength to come back and face its uncertain destiny, perhaps lost into the wet crowd or up in the sky. Renewable, clear, pure...straightforward, it´s water.

A war tragedy April, 1937. A Spanish town. Roberto, aged 16, is playing a football match in a forbidden pitch. Suddenly, gunshots are heard so the players start running. Soldiers chase them and soon shoot them all. When the captain approached he could recognize Roberto, his only son, among the dead boys.

A young girl’s hopeless dream. A sad regret broke the silence, It came from a lonely maiden. She stopped reading the book And looked at the flowing brook, “Oh!, tell me more, please, And I’ll give you a kiss”. “I read it”, sounded in the fog “I read it, I read it”, answered the frogs.

Always Together  I have patiently waited, having it so close... There is no way back, this is the time…I already feel it inside me, such a warm sensation... The waiting is turning me mad. I finally surrender to the smell. All my body is shaking. I can´t resist it!  God Bless Caffeine!!!!

American Logic Jesus and Mary had everything they needed but they decided to remodel everything in their kitchen. They used the best materials and installed the best and most sophisticated appliances in the market. When the Kitchen was ready, Mary asked Joseph: What do you want to order, pizza or Chinese food?

Cries of Pain I was there, surrounded by cries of pain. Making my way through that dark and wet place. I could feel I was being called out, someone was urging me to get out, to be free. Suddenly, there was light and silence began; my  mother was tucking me in her arms.

Honey for the King-to-be Princes John and James set off to hunt bears, but once in the forest each went his own way. John found a bear eating bee hive. He fired but missed the animal. A cry was heard. The bear and the bees fled. Brotherless, John savoured the royal honey all alone.

How things change He’d never imagined he’d end up his days in a place like that. Through the window he could see the forest he used to walk through. He was a very good runner. Always the best. -       Hello, Mr. Wolf, you have to take your medicine, said Little Red Riding Hood.

Motherly Love  She runs through the forest. Branches hit her face. She breathes with difficulty. Sometimes, she stops and hears his strides. Suddenly, a shot crosses the air. Darkness. Her last thought is for her babies who are sleeping safely into her den. “Who will look after my five cubs?” she wondered.

Such is life In the end she had to give up. After listening carefully to that monologue explaining the rules she tried to do the task once and again. It was an unreachable number. Fifty, no more, no less. She was only able to write stories of twenty five words with double meaning.

Superman? A walk along Arenal Beach in Mallorca is always surprising. This time, pedestrians are looking up; the shouting and music from a hotel window are deafening. Suddenly, something falls down to the street. People are screaming: It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No!  Plaff! It was a German doing balconing

The missionary position Before leaving, the missionaries gave saws to the natives so that they could saw trees easily. Years later, the missionaries returned. The natives gave thanks to them. The missionaries, excited, asked: Have you created a timber industry? No, we haven’t! We have spent the time we saved with our women.

E-PAPER

LG has made no secret of its fondness for flexible e-paper, but those dreams became a reality, with the announcement of a six-inch display that promises to "revolutionize the e-book market." The malleable plastic display sports a resolution of 1024 x 768 and can bend at an angle of up to 40 degrees.

At just 0.7 millimeters thick, it's about one-third thinner than similarly-specced glass displays, and weighs in at 14 grams -- about half the weight of its glassy competition. LG also claims that the display is super durable, as evidenced by a series of successful drop tests from a height of 1.5 meters.

The plan going forward is to supply the display to ODMs in China, in the hopes of bringing final products to Europe by "the beginning of next month." For more details, check out the full press release after the break.

US sues Apple and publishers over e-book prices

Hot off the press!

Technology giant Apple and major book publishers are being sued by the US Department of Justice over the pricing of e-books.

The US accuses Apple and Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Simon and Schuster and Penguin of colluding over the prices of e-books they sell.

This lawsuit is over the firms' move to the agency model where publishers rather than sellers set prices.

Read the whole article here.

And, what do you, e-book users, think about its prices? Who should set them? Publishers? Sellers?

J.K.ROWLING - The Casual Vacancy

Hey there, Harry Potter fans! I guess you must be expecting J.K. Rowling's new book. Much to my shame I must admit I haven't read any Harry Potter books (and in fact, none of her other novels).

In case you can't wait until September 27th, here's a heads-up on The Casual Vacancy:

"When Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty fa?ade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?"

Rowling's first novel following the mega success of the seven Potter novels, which center around the adventures of the beloved boy wizard, will be published as a hardcover and as an e-book.

The Casual Vacancy, the publisher says, will be "blackly comic."

SOURCE: USA TODAY (read the whole article here).

EOI SANTIAGO BOOK FAIR: April, 23, 24 and 25

The school is organizing a CHARITY BOOK FAIR to celebrate the BOOK DAY. It will take place Monday 23rd, Tuesday 24th and Wednesday 25th of April and you'll be able to buy donated books in different languages for a symbolic price. The money collected will be given to the Cocina económica de Santiago de Compostela.

You can donate the books you no longer use by leaving them in conserxería in Vite no later than Friday, 20.

For more information, please go to:

http://www.eoisantiago.org/activos/pdf/feirasolidariadolibro_doazons.pdf

Cheers!

SHORT STORIES: INTERVIEW WITH EUGENIA RICO

Do you like reading short stories? I loooove them! Eugenia Rico has really good ones too.

Here's an interview with her with some interesting thoughts on the genre, such as this one:

"El cuento es literatura en estado puro. El cuento es como un relámpago que ilumina la noche y nos deja recordando lo que vimos con los ojos cerrados. El cuento es una historia que comienza a suceder en tu cabeza en el mismo momento en que se termina su última página."

WORLD THEATRE DAY

Last week the International Theatre Institute (ITI) celebrated the WORLD THEATRE DAY.

John Malkovich was invited by the ITI in Paris to deliver a message on the power of theatre to intensify cultural exchanges worldwide and expand our view of ourselves and the world around us.

Here you have his speech:

Why not celebrate this day going to the theatre? I recommend the adaptation of HAMLET performed in three languages (English, Galician and Spanish) in ZONA C in Santiago de Compostela. For more information, go to:

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dotgalicia.com%2FDot-Magazine-hamlet-en-santiago-de-compostela-1672.php%3Fpagina%3D1%26tag%3D1%26at%3D1%26ab%3D0%26user%26id%3D1672%26fecha%3D2012-1-3%26plb&h=SAQFiXKVDAQEGfb7MyjUqlR4wOAErSmGd3CtGGGL2RWOZOQ