Without strong copyright laws and treaties to protect computer programs as literary works a controversial development only 15 years ago Bill Gates might have a lot less market power now.

ECONOMIST: Nuclear fallout

Ms Nafisi's earlier memoir did an excellent job of exploring the absurdities of life under the ayatollahs, using the vehicle of a literary discussion group that dissected the works of writers such as Vladimir Nabokov and Henry James.

ECONOMIST: Memoir of Iran

And it's also cresting a wave of enhanced electronic books as one of the most high-profile literary works to take advantage of the new abilities of readers such as Apple's iPad and other tablet computers.

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For the English language standards, Wilhoit said, the plan isn't to hand out a list of recommended reading, but to let the states make their own choices of literary works, with an eye toward certain criteria.

CNN: State, federal education experts mull nationwide standards

On a slightly lesser comedic level, the 50, 000-volume literary center has also recently installed lyrical works in Little Rock and New Orleans and hosted such notables as Anne Carson and Thomax Lux, shown above, reading poetry on the Brooklyn Bridge.

FORBES: A Poetry Bonanza in Lower Manhattan

Numerous Spanish celebrities and well known public figures are taking part in a marathon 48-hour reading session of one of the Spanish-speaking world's most famous literary works, Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote.

BBC: Marathon read for Don Quixote

All those artistic and literary greats cavorting in a city that seems purpose-built to inspire how could they not create works we hold up as true art?

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In Wales, there will be a theatre tour of A Child's Christmas in Wales, new productions of some of the poet's works including Under Milk Wood, a series of activities centred on the Boathouse in Laugharne, including a literary public tour.

BBC: Dylan Thomas