Great Ape Fundraising

We raised funds for a single four year scholarship for a deserving Indonesian student as part of the successful Orangutan Caring Scholarship Program through The Orang Utan Republik Foundation. The purpose of the program is to award tuition to talented and needy Indonesian students on a competitive basis enabling them to attend local universities in the fields of Forestry or Biology. We are happy to report that as of 5 December 2017 the scholarship was fully funded. Thanks for your support. Press release here.

Pictured here is Mega, the scholarship recipient and the highest scoring student. Dr. Gary Shapiro is on Mega's left, and her father is on her right. 

To understand the important, ground-level work of the foundation in terms of orangutan caring and biodiversity preservation, please watch this short video of Dr. Gary Shapiro, its president. For more information about The Orang Utan Republik Foundation, go here and please consider making a donation: http://www.orangutanrepublik.org/

Please make your contribution in the name of Prof. Gregory F. Tague. Thanks for your support!

Some Reading

Our readers might be interested in two books by former Bibliotekos contributors. Patty Somlo’s short story collection, The First to Disappear; and Janyce Stefan-Cole’s new novel, The Detective’s Garden.

1. Here’s what reviewer Jenny Bhatt has to say, in part, about Somlo’s collection. (Full review here)

“The true beauty...of this collection is that each story is an actual ‘story’ - by which, I mean, that each one has something interesting and different to offer. As Mark Haddon recently wrote in his now-famous Guardian article on short stories: ‘I have read too many beige short stories in my life, too many short stories that feel like fivefinger exercises. There are limits to what can happen in the real world. In fiction there are no limits: anything is possible on paper. It seems to me that if you are writing a short story and it is not more entertaining than the stories in that morning's newspaper or that evening's TV news, then you need to throw it away and start again, or open a cycle repair shop.’ These stories are anything but beige. They shimmer with all the colors of the rainbow, and they are definitely more interesting than what goes viral in news or social media these days. It is clear that Somlo writes for the sheer pleasure of writing and storytelling, and that pleasure transfers easily to us, her readers

2. Here are some testimonials praising Stefan-Cole: “A mystery both gruesome and metaphysical, this is a story that entertains while delving into the deepest conundrum of all—the tragedy that make us human.”  -Ed Falco, The Family Corleone. “Fine, suspenseful writing.” -Bob Shacochis, The Woman Who Lost Her Soul. “Dreamlike, ruminative, and filled with questions impossible to answer.”  -Kirkus Reviews. There is also a review from Publishers Weekly here.