Arabian Nights and the Indian Ocean World Literatures. This was the theme of a public seminar featuring three distinguished scholars and judges of the 2015 Man Booker International Prize. Professors Elleke Boehmer, Wen-chin Ouyang and Dame Marina Warner (chair of the international judging panel) visited the University of Cape Town in March as part of a Man Booker International discussion series. They were also in the country to announce this year’s finalists for the prestigious literary prize. 

Wednesday’s lunch-time seminar was hosted by the Department of English Language and Literature and was open to staff and student. Speaking at the event, Prof. Ouyang described her childhood fascination with the Arabian Nights text and how this early encounter had informed her academic research in Arabic and comparative literature. 

As part of the visit, a Public Panel Discussion was held on 26 March in Jameson Hall in recognition of Man Booker's first partnership on the African continent and the global scope of the International Prize. The 2015 judging panel discussed world literature from the perspective of the south and the role of the Man Booker International Prize in shaping the global literary field.