opinionated commentary on literary matters - from the complete review

The Literary Saloon Archive

1 - 10 February 2022

1 February: Dublin Literary Award longlist | Parliamentary Book Awards shortlists
2 February: Westland Books shutting down | Whitbread Costa Book of the Year | PEN/Faulkner Award longlist | 41-Love review
3 February: Jalal Al-e Ahmad Literary Awards | Abolhassan Najafi Award | Olga Tokarczuk Q & A | The Pages review
4 February: Virtual book tours | Victorian Premier's Literary Awards | Dylan Thomas Prize longlist
5 February: PEN/Nabokov Award | Jason Epstein (1928-2022) | The Books of Jacob as Jewish novel ? | Countries That Don't Exist review
6 February: New format for EUPL Prize | On Sōseki's trail | Arabic non-fiction
7 February: Angélica Gorodischer (1928-2022) | Lonely Hearts Killer review
8 February: Walter Scott Prize longlist | Gentleman Overboard review
9 February: Gerhard Roth (1942-2022) | Literary magazine struggles ?
10 February: Folio Prize short- (and long-)list | Leipzig Book Fair canceled | Megan Walsh Q & A | Stalin's Library review

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       Folio Prize short- (and long-)list

       The Rathbones Folio Prize -- "open to all works of literature written in English and published in the UK" -- has announced both the eight-title shortlist and the twelve (additional) title strong longlist for this year's prize.
       I've only seen one (and reviewed none) of these titles .....
       The winner will be announced on 23 March.

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

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       Leipzig Book Fair canceled

       The Leipzig Book Fair was scheduled for 17 to 20 March, but they've now announced that they can't go through with it.
       At least the Leipzig Book Fair Prizes -- awarded for best work of fiction, non, and translation -- will be awarded, the winners to be announced 17 March; the finalists should be announced fairly soon.

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

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       Megan Walsh Q & A

       At The Diplomat Shannon Tiezzi has a Q & A with Megan Walsh on Understanding China Through Its Literature, speaking about her new book, The Subplot.

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

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       Stalin's Library review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Geoffrey Roberts on A Dictator and His Books, in Stalin's Library, just out from Yale University Press.

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

       Gerhard Roth (1942-2022)

       Austrian author Gerhard Roth has passed away; see, for example, the (German) report in the Kleine Zeitung.
       Several of his works have been translated into English, but that's only a small part of the wide range of his writing; the only one of his titles under review at the complete review is his novel, the autobiography of albert einstein.

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

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       Literary magazine struggles ?

       With The Believer set to be shuttered shortly, Leah Asmelash considers how Long-standing literary magazines are struggling to stay afloat. Where do they go from here ? at CNN.
       To state the obvious:

"There's no money in lit mags," said Travis Kurowski, a professor at York College who has studied literary publishing and its history.

       This is, of course, a big problem -- as the many depressing examples cited here demonstrate.

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

       Walter Scott Prize longlist

       They've announced the thirteen-title-strong longlist for this year's Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, a prize "rewarding writing of exceptional quality which is set in the past".

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

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       Gentleman Overboard review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Herbert Clyde Lewis' 1937 novel, Gentleman Overboard, just re-issued as the first title in Boiler House Press' new Recovered Books imprint.

       Brad Bigelow, of The Neglected Books Page, was instrumental in the revival of this work -- and his piece on Herbert Clyde Lewis and the Rescue of Gentleman Overboard offers a fascinating overview of the publication-history of the book, as well as its author.

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

       Angélica Gorodischer (1928-2022)

       Argentine author Angélica Gorodischer has passed away; see, for example, the El País report by Mar Centenera on Muere Angélica Gorodischer, estrella de la literatura de ciencia ficción argentina.
       Quite a few of her works have been translated into English -- not least Kalpa Imperial, translated by Ursula K. Le Guin; see also the Small Beer Press publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. See also 20 Questions with Angélica Gorodischer at Small Beer Press.
       I have several of her books and really should get around to psoting some reviews .....

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

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       Lonely Hearts Killer review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Hoshino Tomoyuki's 2004 novel, Lonely Hearts Killer.

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

       New format for EUPL Prize

       I hadn't realized that the European Union Prize for Literature has announced a new format.
       Previously, each of the nations involved in each cycle (a third of the 41 participating countries each year, i.e. 13 or 14 at a time) announced a winner. Now:

The 2022-2024 cycle introduces a new format for the EUPL Prize: initial book selection for each participating country will be conducted by national organisations, each entitled to submit one book that is of high literary quality with potential for translatability. A second round of selection will be conducted by a seven-member European jury, who will thus select an overall Prize winner and five special mention awards.

       I've always had some difficulties with this prize, not least because it is decided by national juries; I'm not sure that this will be a big improvement (though at least it will be a single prize now, for just one book, rather than the dozen or so we got each time previously).
       Meanwhile, the European Writers' Council -- part of the consortium that coördinates the prize -- also takes issue with the changes, to the extent that they've now announced that they have withdrawn from the consortium, complaining that:

Furthermore, as the selection processes have changed considerably at national as well as pan-European level, the EWC Board concluded that the new EUPL concept does not promote multilingualism as key to the European language diversity, and is not following our convictions of equal treatment for all countries.

Discovering a wide range of new authors every year was a highlight for us and the core meaning of the EUPL. As this approach has now changed, the EWC no longer wishes to endorse this format.

       It will be interesting to see whether the EUPL reconsiders -- specific aspects, or perhaps the whole prize(-procedure).

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

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       On Sōseki's trail

       In The Hawai‘i Herald Stacy Lee writes at some length about Following Natsume Sōseki's Trail

       There are nine Sōseki-titles under review at the complete review -- e.g. The Gate --, as well as John Nathan's biography, Sōseki.

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

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       Arabic non-fiction

       With the CIBF ending today, ahramonline has an overview of New titles at the 2022 Cairo International Book Fair.
       Just non-fiction -- but still, always interesting to see what is being publkished in other languages.

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

       PEN/Nabokov Award

       They've announced the career achievement award winners for this year's PEN America Literary Awards -- and the PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature will go to Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, which is certainly a fine choice.
       The awards will be handed out at the Literary Awards Ceremony, on 28 February.

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

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       Jason Epstein (1928-2022)

       Jason Epstein, who played a significant role in the founding of The New York Review of Books and the Library of America, has passed away; see, for example, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt's obituary in The New York Times.
       The only one of his books under review at the complete review is Book Business .

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

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       The Books of Jacob as Jewish novel ?

       At the Jewish Telegraph Agency Jonah Goldman Kay considers In ‘The Books of Jacob,’ Polish Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk tells a story about Jews. But is it a Jewish novel ?
       He suggests:

In Poland, Jewish culture is the epitome of liminal: It is both omnipresent, in the sense that Jewish cemeteries and synagogue buildings scatter the country and the Holocaust looms large, and distant. Encounters with living Jews are few and far between. This has led many intellectuals, including Tokarczuk, to become fascinated with Jewish culture.

       (See also my review of The Books of Jacob.)

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

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       Countries That Don't Exist review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Selected Nonfiction by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky, Countries That Don't Exist, just out in Columbia University Press' Russian Library-series.

       And good to see that they have more Krzhizhanovsky coming -- Stravaging “Strange”, due out in September; see their publicity page.

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

       Virtual book tours

       At the BBC Jill Martin Wrenn looks at how some authors are sticking to virtual book promotion, even as travel and public appearances are again an alternative, in 'I have had more time, silence and solitude to write'.
       The director of the University of Texas at Austin's Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations adds:

Dr Tindall also wants to see writers continue with their digital connections with readers. "My hope is that we don't forsake this in this rush to go back [to in-person events] and then we leave some people behind."

       Ah, digital connections .....

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

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       Victorian Premier's Literary Awards

       They've announced the winners of this year's Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, which include "the overall Victorian Prize for Literature, Australia's richest single literary prize worth $100,000" -- which went to Veronica Gorrie's memoir, Black and Blue; see also the Scribe publicity page.
       The prize for fiction went to Smokehouse by Melissa Manning; see also the University of Queensland Press publicity page.

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

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       Dylan Thomas Prize longlist

       They've announced the longlist for this year's Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize, a prize for: "for the best published literary work in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under".
       I haven't seen any of these.
       The shortlist will be announced on 31 March, the winner on 12 May.

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

       Jalal Al-e Ahmad Literary Awards

       They've announced the winners of this year's Jalal Al-e Ahmad Literary Award, "Iran's most lucrative literary prizes" (paying out a billion rials or more ! a billion ! (well, yes, that's only a couple of thousand dollars, but still ...)), and ... there weren't many; as the Tehran Times report has it, Documentation category books sole Jalal Literary Award winners.
       Yes, the novel category went without a winner, just two 'honorable mentions'. No short story winner, either.
       Meanwhile, the documentary (non-fiction) category had two winners -- a biography of Reza Shah, and داغ دل‌رُبــا ('Fascinating Grief'), described as: "a comprehensive account of what happened during Lieutenant-General Qassem Soleimani's funeral procession across Iran in 2020"; see also the House of Resistance Discourse publicity page. (I don't think we can expect to see the latter in English translation any time soon.)

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

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       Abolhassan Najafi Award

       They've announced the winners -- yes, there were two -- of this year's Abolhassan Najafi Award, a leading Iranian prize for a work in translation, and they are the Persian translations of Laurent Binet's HHhH and of Kate Chopin's The Awakening; see also the Tehran Times report.

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

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       Olga Tokarczuk Q & A

       Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk's The Books of Jacob is now also out in the US, and at the Yale Review Rhian Sasseen now has a Q & A with the author about the novel.

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

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       The Pages review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Hugo Hamilton's The Pages, now also out in a US edition.

       This novel is narrated by ... a novel -- a first edition of Joseph Roth's Rebellion --, which is certainly a fun idea.

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

       Westland Books shutting down

       Amazon has many publishing imprints -- notably translation-focused Amazon Crossing --, most of which are homegrown; in India, however, they bought established publisher Westland Books in 2016; despite some big names (Chetan Bhagat !) and many bestsellers, they've now decided to shutter it; see, for example, the Scroll.in report, Amazon to close Westland Books, the publishing company it acquired five years ago.
       As they note:

This is the first time that the closure -- and not sale -- of a major English language publishing company has been announced in India in recent years.

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

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       Whitbread Costa Book of the Year

       They've announced the winner of the 2021 Whitbread Costa Book of the Year, selected from the five category winners, and it is the poetry category winner, The Kids, by Hannah Lowe that took the prize.

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

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       PEN/Faulkner Award longlist

       They've announced the longlist for this year's PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.
       I haven't seen any of these ten titles.
       The winner will be announced 2 May.

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

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       41-Love review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Scarlett Thomas writing On Addictions, Tennis, and Refusing to Grow Up, in her memoir, 41-Love.
       (There are also nine of her novels under review at the site.)

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

       Dublin Literary Award longlist

       They've announced the longlist for this year's Dublin Literary Award -- 79 titles nominated by libraries from around (much of) the world, with 30 of them works in translation.
       Nine of the titles are under review at the complete review:

• At Night all Blood is Black, by David Diop
  
  
• The Disaster Tourist, by Yun Ko-eun
  
  
• The Employees, by Olga Ravn
  
  
• Klara and the Sun, by Kazuo Ishiguro
  
  
• Kraft, by Jonas Lüscher
  
  
• Miss Iceland, by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
  
  
• October Child, by Linda Boström Knausgård
  
  
• Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke
  
  
• Your Story, My Story, by Connie Palmen

       This year's 79 titles is way up from last year's 49 -- but I kind of miss the good old days, when the list was really huge (in 2020 there were 156 books, for example).

       The shortlist will be announced 22 March, and the winning title on 19 May.

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

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       Parliamentary Book Awards shortlists

       In The Bookseller Sian Bayley reports that Hale, Sanghera and Brown make Parliamentary Book Awards shortlists.
       The Parliamentary Book Awards are for political writing, and: "are awarded across three categories and voted for by parliamentarians". Two of the categories are also for works by parliamentarians, but at least there's also a Best Political Book by a Non-Parliamentarian-category
       The winners will be announced on 9 March.

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

previous entries (21 - 31 January 2022)

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