opinionated commentary on literary matters - from the complete review

The Literary Saloon Archive

11 - 20 July 2021

11 July: Prix Jean Monnet de littérature européenne shortlist | Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize | Danielle Mémoire Q & A
12 July: Book sales in the US | Döblin's Mountains Oceans Giants
13 July: De Sade manuscript stays in France | The Death of Vazir-Mukhtar review
14 July: Warwick Prize entries | Hotlist 2021 | Birds review
15 July: 2022 International Booker Prize judging panel | Marie-Claire Blais profile
16 July: Japanese literary prizes | Miles Franklin Literary Award | The Millions' second-half of 2021 book preview | Midnight, Water City review
17 July: Ibrahim al-Koni Q & A | New Asymptote
18 July: International authors in English this summer | 'Translating sounds and signs' | Book-based sculptures
19 July: The Luminous Novel review
20 July: Tsitsi Dangarembga profile | AUC's Center for Translation Studies

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       Tsitsi Dangarembga profile

       In Prospect Catherine Taylor finds: 'The Zimbabwean novelist is today admired worldwide, but hounded at home -- and by the very regime whose postcolonial pathologies she has spent a lifetime documenting' as she profiles Tsitsi Dangarembga's trials of freedom.

       The only Dangarembga book under review at the complete review is Nervous Conditions.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       AUC's Center for Translation Studies

       The American University in Cairo's Center for Translation Studies, launched in 2009, sounds like a great and useful institution -- so it's all the more disappointing that, as ArabLit reports, AUC Shuts Down Center for Translation Studies; that seems like a big loss.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       The Luminous Novel review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Mario Levrero's The Luminous Novel, just about out from And Other Stories.

       I hope they go with this from the Publishers Weekly review for a blurb:

This is literature in the same way that John Cage’s 4’33” is music.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       International authors in English this summer

       In The Guardian several critics introduce the foreign "writers who are making waves", in Going places: The international authors to read this summer.
       Several of these nine authors have already had numerous titles published in English -- in fact, books by five of the nine are under review at the complete review -- so they're not exactly new to the scene; still, it's good to see some foreign writing being highlighted among all the summer-reading lists.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       'Translating sounds and signs'

       In The Hindu Mini Krishnan takes a look at Say it out loud: Translating sounds and signs, with a variety of interesting examples.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       Book-based sculptures

       Some neat pictures in The Guardian as Alice Fisher looks at Stephen Doyle's Sculptures that make novel use of books -- in pictures.
       Very impressive -- but it does also break my heart to see this kind of thing done to books.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       Ibrahim al-Koni Q & A

       At The Collidescope George Salis has A Bilingual Interview with Ibrahim al-Koni.

       Two of al-Koni's novels are under review at the complete review: The Fetishists and Gold Dust.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       New Asymptote

       The July issue of Asymptote is now up -- the usual extensive variety of great material, more than enough to get you through the weekend.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       Japanese literary prizes

       They've announced the latest batch of winners of the biannual Akutagawa and Naoki Prizes -- the best-known Japanese literary prizes. There were two winners for both prizes -- though so far English-language coverage has focused almost entirely on only one of the Akutagawa winners; see, for example, Satoshi Yamazaki's report in the Asahi Shimbun, Taiwan-born novelist Li Kotomi nabs Akutagawa Prize; for a report on all the winners you have to check out the Japanese coverage, e.g. the Bunshun report.
       Li Kotomi won the prize for 彼岸花が咲く島 ('An Island where Red Spider Lily Blooms'); she is only the second winner of the prize whose mother tongue isn't Japanese. Li shared the prize with Mai Ishizawa, who won for her book 貝に続く場所にて ('At a Place that follows Shellfish').
       The Naoki Prize was shared by Satō Kiwamu, who won for his テスカトリポカ, and Sawada Toko, who won for 星落ちて、なお.

       US/UK publishers have shown great interest in recent Akutagawa winners -- see how many are under review at the complete review -- and the Li sounds like a strong contender to get picked up sooner rather than later.

       (Updated - 23 July): See now also Nojima Tsuyoshi's profile at nippon.com Beloved Japanese: Taiwanese Writer Li Kotomi's Journey to Akutagawa Fame.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       Miles Franklin Literary Award

       They've announced the winner of this year's Miles Franklin Literary Award, and it is The Labyrinth, by Amanda Lohrey.
       It does not appear to be readily US/UK-available yet, but see, for example, the Text publicity page.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       The Millions' second-half of 2021 book preview

       The Millions has released their Most Anticipated: The Great Second-Half 2021 Book Preview.
       Yes, it's dominated by the big books you probably have/will hear of anyway, but is certainly useful as an overview of such.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       Midnight, Water City review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Chris McKinney's Midnight, Water City, just out, and the first in a planned trilogy.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       2022 International Booker Prize judging panel

       They've announced the judging panel for next year's International Booker Prize: translator Frank Wynne will chair the panel, and the other judges are: Merve Emre, Petina Gappah, Mel Giedroyc, and Jeremy Tiang.
       The longlist will be announced next March.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       Marie-Claire Blais profile

       At Quill & Quire Marie-Claire Blais reflects on her 10-book novel cycle, as Steven W. Beattie profiles the author.
       He notes that: "in English Canada, Blais is more spoken about (usually in hushed, reverent tones) than actually read". (Recall also Pasha Malla in The New Yorker, wondering a couple of years ago: Will American Readers Ever Catch on to Marie-Claire Blais ?.)

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       Warwick Prize entries

       The Warwick Prize for Women in Translation is awarded for a literary work written by a woman in English translation and published by a UK or Irish publisher.
       They also do what far too few literary prizes do (and, indeed, what every one of them should): reveal all the titles actually being considered for the prize, and they've now released this year's list of eligible titles entered (warning ! dreaded pdf format !). 115 titles, translated from 28 languages, with French easily leading the way (27), ahead of Spanish (15), German (9), and Dutch (8).
       The list also makes for a great resource to see what's been published in translation in the past year -- yes, only books written by women, but you (and I ...) read far too few of these, so it's good to see what the possibilities are.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       Hotlist 2021

       They've announced the German "Hotlist' for 2021 -- 30 titles selected from submissions by 179 independent German publishers (each gets to submit one title). Admirably, they also reveal all 179 submitted titles; somewhat disappointingly they only provide that information on a supremely annoying page where they divide the submissions into twelve categories and you have to click on the category to learn what the books are. (Lists, folks; simple lists. Really. Everything on one page. It's not that hard.)
       Quite a few of the 30 titles on the Hotlist are works in translation and/or available in English; as best I can tell, only two of the titles are under review at the complete review: How to Order the Universe by María José Ferrada and I am a Japanese Writer, by Dany Laferrière.
       Readers can now vote (until 20 August) for their favorites; the three top vote-getters are guaranteed a place among the ten finalists, from which the jury will then select the winning title.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       Birds review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Aristophanes' classic comedy, Birds -- the Loeb Classical Library edition, in Jeffrey Henderson's translation.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       De Sade manuscript stays in France

       In France The Ministry of Culture announces the acquisition by the State of major literary manuscripts that enter the collections of the BnF following their classification National Treasures.
       The manuscripts include several by André Breton, and the Marquis de Sade's (in)famous roll-manuscript of The 120 Days of Sodom. The latter was purchased for €4.55 million -- provided entirely by Emmanuel Boussard, facilitated by: "the use of the tax system for the acquisition of national treasures provided for in Article 238a 0A of the General Tax Code", i.e. he got a big tax write-off.
       The de Sade has now gone to the Bibliothèque nationale de France -- see their press release -- and:

This manuscript will be presented at a conference in 2022, bringing together specialists and intellectuals, aiming to question the figure of Sade, the reception of his work over the centuries and its reading today.

       Sounds good !

       See also the AFP report at France 24, France acquires de Sade's 'Sodom' manuscript for over $5 mn.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       The Death of Vazir-Mukhtar review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Yury Tynyanov's 1927 novel The Death of Vazir-Mukhtar, recently out from Columbia University Press in a new translation in their Russian Library series.

       The Vazir-Mukhtar of the title is Alexander Griboedov -- whose Woe from Wit is also available in the Russian Library.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       Book sales in the US

       At Publishers Weekly John Maher has an overview of The Bestselling Books of 2021 (So Far) -- helpfully including actual numbers.
       None of the top twenty adult bestselling titles are under review at the complete review; interesting to see that Orwell's 1984 makes the top 20, at eighteenth, with 230,763 copies sold.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       Döblin's Mountains Oceans Giants

       Alfred Döblin's Mountains Oceans Giants is now out in English from Galileo -- see their publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk -- and it's good to see some coverage at the Los Angeles Review of Books, where Alex Langstaff reviews it, in Alfred Döblin's Anthropocene.
       Great to see this English -- and, perhaps even more impressively, Manas, too; see the Galileo publicity page. I'm a big fan; so was Arno Schmidt (his library (warning ! dreaded pdf format !) was well-stocked with Döblin; he had a first edition of Manas); when Günter Grass endowed a literary prize, he called it the Alfred-Döblin-Preis (and it's had a pretty solid list of winners).
       I actually have these two at hand, in the original German; I really should get around to returning to them and reviewing them.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       Prix Jean Monnet de littérature européenne shortlist

       They've announced the three finalists for this year's prix Jean Monnet de littérature européenne -- A cause de l'éternité, by Georges-Olivier Châteaureynaud; From a Low and Quiet Sea by Donal Ryan; and The Hummingbird by Sandro Veronesi.
       The winner will be announced on 20 November.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize

       They've announced the winner of this year's Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize, awarded for comic writing, and it is The Accidental Collector by Guy Kennaway; see, for example, the British Comedy Guide report.
       See also the Mensch publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       Danielle Mémoire Q & A

       At The Collidescope George Salis has This Is Not an Interview / Ceci n'est pas une interview: A Bilingual Interview with Danielle Mémoire.
       Dalkey Archive Press recently brought out Mémoire's Public Reading Followed by Discussion.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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