C. M. Rosens

When I deleted my Twitter, I also managed to lock myself out of my TikTok (cmrosens). So I’ve started again with the same handle as Insta and Threads (cm.rosens), for a bit of consistency.

I’m currently posting:

1. Snippets of the Author Spotlight Interviews to boost the authors a bit more
2. Tours of our bookshelves and introducing you to some of my favourite fiction and non-fiction books
3. My own books

I may also post normal life TikToks – walks through my small medieval city, for example. I want to keep it chill, and a safe bookish space.

I’ve got a few Author Interview photo slides up, mixing and matching interviews, but I’ve just started showing off some great poetry, folklore, and non-fiction books we have.

Bookshelf Tour highlights so far:

War Songs, by ‘Antarah Ibn Shaddad (The Library of Arabic Literature) – this is a bilingual 6th-century Arabic/English facing translation poetry book, hardcover.

From the sixth-century highlands of Najd in the Arabian peninsula, on the eve of the advent of Islam, come the strident cries of a legendary warrior and poet. The black outcast son of an Arab father and an Ethiopian slave mother, ‘Antarah ibn Shaddad struggled to win the recognition of his father and tribe. He defied social norms and, despite his outcast status, loyally defended his people.
‘Antarah captured his tumultuous life in uncompromising poetry that combines flashes of tenderness with blood-curdling violence. His war songs are testaments to his life-long battle to win the recognition of his people and the hand of ‘Ablah, the free-born woman he loved but who was denied him by her family.

Amazon blurb of the English-only edition, https://www.amazon.co.uk/War-Songs-Library-Arabic-Literature/dp/147985879X

Te Wehenga: The Separation of Ranginui and Papatūānuku, by/nā Mat Tait(Allen & Unwin) – this is an absolutely gorgeous retelling of the Māori creation story, about the separation of Ranginui, sky-father, and Papatūānuku, earth-mother, by the children trapped between them in their eternal embrace.

Award-winning illustrator Mat Tait has written and illustrated this stunning retelling of the Māori creation story for a new generation.

Te reo Māori and English are woven together in a seamless bilingual approach to the text, with the visceral illustrations powerfully underlining the mana of the story.

Goodreads blurb, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61756543-te-wehenga

The Hole in the Stone / Men-at-Tol, by Joana Varanda & Tania A. Cardoso – this is a bilingual Kernewek/Cornish and English comic, with the legend of Men-at-Tol told in the same style in both languages.

It is absolutely gorgeous and you can get a copy here: https://cornish-language.org/product/the-hole-in-the-stone/ to support the work of Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek, which promotes this minority language.

The Life and Struggles of Our Mother Walatta Petros: A Seventeenth-Century African Biography of an Ethiopian Woman, by Galawdewos, trans. and ed. by Wendy Laura Belcher & Michael Kleiner (Princeton) – The first English translation of the earliest book-length biography of an African woman, from the 17th Century.

This is the hardcover scholarly edition of the award-winning English translation of the earliest-known book-length biography of an African woman, and one of the few lives of an African woman written by Africans before the nineteenth century. As such, it provides an exceedingly rare and valuable picture of the experiences and thoughts of Africans, especially women, before the modern era. It is also an extraordinary account of a remarkable life—full of vivid dialogue, heartbreak, and triumph.

The Life and Struggles of Our Mother Walatta Petros (1672) tells the story of an Ethiopian saint who led a successful nonviolent movement to preserve African Christian beliefs in the face of European protocolonialism. When the Jesuits tried to convert the Ethiopians from their ancient form of Christianity, Walatta Petros (1592–1642), a noblewoman and the wife of one of the emperor’s counselors, risked her life by leaving her husband, who supported the conversion effort, and leading the struggle against the Jesuits. After her death, her disciples wrote this book, praising her as a friend of women, a devoted reader, a skilled preacher, and a radical leader. One of the earliest stories of African resistance to European influence, this biography also provides a picture of domestic life, including Walatta Petros’s life-long relationship with a female companion.

Richly illustrated with dozens of color illustrations from early manuscripts, this groundbreaking volume provides an authoritative and highly readable translation along with an extensive introduction. Other features include a chronology of Walatta Petros’s life, maps, a comprehensive glossary, and detailed notes on textual variants.

Princeton University Press, https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691164212/the-life-and-struggles-of-our-mother-walatta-petros?srsltid=AfmBOoo_vP3nyuWLDpFW332Q6egRXOI44XGW2Iv6SrjlLyJkjUboKPfM

This is really fun, so I might do a couple more. I’m stuck in 200 views jail but that’s ok. If you like them, give me a follow and a repost!

I will be doing some fiction books and talking-to-the-camera videos as well – and some medieval city walks if anyone’s interested in that! I can take you to the post office with me or something

Anyway – if you’re on TikTok, come and say hello to me @cm.rosens! I repost stuff like Norwegians taking their reindeer for walks, Europeans talking about self-regulation, Indians talking about Hindu Temple architecture, medieval British church doors, Germans going for walks through the Black Forest, Chinese ladies making tea, Icelanders showing off the scenery, South African comedy and a range of creators from across Africa I never found before on my old account, Australian comedy, Aotearoan creators, social justice things from around the world, and crochet. Also book stuff.

WorldTok is where it’s at, folks.

• TikTok