Apparently this has also blown up into a huge internet mess, which I totally missed until Justine linked to it all. Gah. Just a quick note for those bewildered by the silence of professionals in the field -- I hadn't heard about any of this until Justine's post. Many of us don't hang out on Livejournal or in the relevant communities.
Please don't assume that there are tons of professional writers supporting outing of pseudonyms or whatever other nonsense has been going on. I've barely had time to read the initial posts so far, and probably won't get through most of the comments anytime soon, if at all.
But connected to the original post, if you're interested in supporting books in developing countries, I've been pretty impressed with Room to Read. I've been wanting DesiLit to do more around supporting literacy in South Asia, and have been talking to some orgs about partnership possibilities (since I don't want to waste time trying to reinvent the wheel). No decisions yet, but here's Room to Read's mission:
Room to Read partners with local communities throughout the developing world to provide quality educational opportunities by establishing libraries, creating local language children's literature, constructing schools, and providing education to girls. We seek to intervene early in the lives of children in the belief that education empowers people to improve socioeconomic conditions for their families, communities, countries and future generations. Through the opportunities that only education can provide, we strive to break the cycle of poverty, one child at a time.
No no, that’s the wrong link for “huge internet mess.” You want THIS listing for “huge internet mess.” Please dial again.
It’s a fascinating and yet very disheartening conversation. The most disheartening part is how a group of people are continually trying to turn the fascinating parts into a mudslinging flame war as a distraction tactic.