opinionated commentary on literary matters - from the complete review

The Literary Saloon Archive

1 - 10 March 2022

1 March: EUPL nominees | PEN America Literary Awards | Stella Prize longlist | Wladimir Kaminer Q & A | Sour Grapes review7
2 March: FAF Translation Prize finalists | Writing in ... Nigeria | Q & As: Max Lawton | Ken Follett | New issue of Latin American Literature Today
3 March: Ockham NZ Book Awards finalists | Amazon shutting physical stores | Hafez in Love review
4 March: Publishing in ... Ukraine | Finnish 'weird' in translation
5 March: Nordic Council Literature Prize finalists | Usedomer Literaturpreis | Barnes & Noble in 2021
6 March: Translating Shahidul Zahir | Schreiben review
7 March: Bookselling in ... India | The Little Clay Cart review
8 March: Storm disruption
9 March: Women's Prize for Fiction longlist | Joyce Carol Oates Prize finalists | New editor coming to NYTBR
10 March: Conjunctions | Novelists on Substack | Parliamentary Book Awards | The Adventures of Ma Suzhen review

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       Conjunctions

       Founder and editor Bradford Morrow has announced that

For the last thirty of its forty years, Conjunctions has been published by Bard College. Sadly, I’ve been informed that the cost of continuing to publish the journal has become unsustainable for the college, which has made the decision to cease publication at the end of this calendar year. As a result, our fall 2022 issue, Conjunctions:79, Onword, will be the final issue published under the Bard imprint.

       That would appear not to close the window entirely on Conjunctions -- presumably they're looking around to see whether someone else will pick up the bill in the future -- but it doesn't look good.
       Like most things literary, literary magazines tend not to be money-making enterprises -- and apparently Bard felt they were spending/losing too much on this one. Sure, they announced only a few months ago that Bard College Receives $500 Million Endowment Pledge from Investor and Philanthropist George Soros, but that kind of money -- when and if it comes -- is apparently destined for other purposes.
       Sadly, it looks like Conjunctions is joining the growing list of prominent literary magazines that are shutting down -- a considerable loss for the literary and cultural scene.

       (Updated - 12 March): But things might be taking a good turn, as Bard now announces: "Having heard the immediate, widespread, and heartfelt reaction from readers, writers, and editors alike, the College is revisiting its decision with the intention of continuing its support for the journal".
       Good for them, good for Conjunctions, let's hope it all works out.

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

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       Novelists on Substack

       In Esquire Adrienne Westenfeld reports on "My Own Little Fiefdom": Why Some Famous Novelists Are All About Substack.
       With quite a few big names already there:

Substack has created a compelling case for novelists to come aboard, but the jury is still out on whether it's compelling enough to stay.

       And, Westenfeld suggests:

The more perfect Internet we all dream of -- one free of misinformation and abuse, one rich in community and meaningful connection -- is a reality on these novelists' Substacks.

       (I occasionally check out Substack posts -- at Chartbook, for example -- but haven't really taken a closer look at any of these (or other) authors' substacks .....)

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

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       Parliamentary Book Awards

       At The Bookseller Sian Bayley reports on the winners of this year's British Parliamentary Book Awards.
       Two of the three categories are reserved for actual parliamentarian authors, but there's also one for non-parliamentarians. Can't really imagine a US equivalent for members of congress .....

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

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       The Adventures of Ma Suzhen review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of An Heroic Woman Takes Revenge in Shanghai, the 1923 novel The Adventures of Ma Suzhen, recently out from Palgrave Macmillan.

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

       Women's Prize for Fiction longlist

       They've announced the longlist for this year's Women's Prize for Fiction, sixteen novels selected from 175 submissions.
       The only one of the titles under review at the complete review -- indeed, the only one of these I've seen -- is Louise Erdrich's The Sentence.
       The shortlist will be announced 27 April, and the winner on 15 June.

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

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       Joyce Carol Oates Prize finalists

       They recently announced the five finalists for this year's Joyce Carol Oates Prize, a $50,000 author-award for: "a mid-career author of fiction who has earned an extraordinarily distinguished reputation and garnered the widespread appreciation of readers"
       The finalists were selected from a big longlist -- thirty-seven authors !
       None of the books by any of the finalists are under review at the complete review .....

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

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       New editor coming to NYTBR

       The New York Times has announced that The New York Times Book Review's editor is moving on -- and up ? --, in Pamela Paul's Next Chapter: Times Opinion Columnist -- yes, she's joining former husband Bret Stephens on the Opinion-roster .....
       Paul has led the NYTBR since 2013 -- and during her tenure all The New York Times' book coverage was consolidated (previously the daily newspaper's and the NYTBR's were separate).
       It'll certainly be interesting to see who takes over next -- and whether there will be radical changes to the Sunday section (and the book coverage in The New York Times generally).

       (Updated - 10 March): They've now placed the job announcement for the vacated editor position. They note:

And it demands an editor with nerve, an editor wary of trends, invested in style, someone uninterested in puffery and cliché. Someone bold. Is that you ?

       (Not sure how honest they're being with themselves here -- I'd think that as an editor of a section of The New York Times it's practically an obligation to scour for and jump on trends .....)
       No mention of salary, however. But you bold folk, go on and apply !

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

       Storm disruption

       Storm last night => power and internet outage until morning, so no posting today.
       My apologies !

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

       Bookselling in ... India

       At Scroll.in Venkatesh M Swamy explains at some length Why India's bookshops can thrive despite online giants only if publishers support them

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

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       The Little Clay Cart review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Śūdraka's classic drama, The Little Clay Cart, in Diwakar Acharya's translation, published in NYU Press' Clay Sanskrit Library.

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

       Translating Shahidul Zahir

       V Ramaswamy and Shahroza Nahrin's translation of two of Shahidul Zahir's novellas has just been published as Life And Political Reality -- see the HarperCollins India publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk -- and at the publisher's site they now have a Q & A with the translators on Transcending Borders and Binaries: Translating Shahidul Zahir.

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

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       Schreiben review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Carolin Amlinger's 'Sociology of Literary Work', Schreiben: Eine Soziologie literarischer Arbeit, recently out from Suhrkamp.

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

       Nordic Council Literature Prize finalists

       They've announced the fourteen titles nominated for this year's Nordic Council Literature Prize, the leading Scandinavian book prize; nine previous winners are under review at the complete review.
       There are titles by authors from the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Åland, and Sami language area, but the best-known finalists are Kerstin Ekman, with Löpa varg (see also the Bonnier foreign rights page -- rights have been sold to all the major European language-markets (including Ukraine), but English rights are apparently still up for grabs ... ), and Grace-author Linn Ullmann, with Jente, 1983.
       The winner will be announced on 1 November.

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

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       Usedomer Literaturpreis

       They've announced the winner of this year's Usedomer Literature Prize, an author-prize awarded to a writer who feels strongly committed to European dialogue, in the past and present, and it is A Biography of a Chance Miracle-author Tanja Maljartschuk; among the jurors was 2012 prize-winner Olga Tokarczuk.

       The impressive list of previous winners includes, in recent years: The Physics of Sorrow-author Georgi Gospodinov (2021), Where You Come From-author Saša Stanišić (2020), Visitation-author Jenny Erpenbeck (2019), and The Collector of Worlds-author Ilija Trojanow (2018).

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

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       Barnes & Noble in 2021

       In Publishers Weekly Jim Milliot hears from B&N CEO James Daunt about Barnes & Noble's 'Solid' 2021.
       Among the most ... surprising titbits:

Backlist titles drove the overall sales increase, sparked by the impact of BookTok, according to Daunt. The success of BookTok in getting young people interested in books is in keeping with a trend he said he has been seeing for years: teenagers and young adults are the main drivers of book sales. “I don’t make money from old people, I make money from young people,” he explained.

       (Am I doing this all wrong ? Should I be 'BookToking' ?)

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

       Publishing in ... Ukraine

       Obviously the priority at the moment is dealing with and repelling the illegitimate invaders, but in The Bookseller Emma Shercliff also looks at Publishing in Ukraine: a personal response, which includes a link to the relatively recent British Council report on Publishing in Ukraine: a review of the sector (warning ! dreaded pdf format !); both are well worth a look.
       Clearly, a lot of rebuilding will be necessary after Putin's marauders have been dealt with and sent packing, but one certainly looks forward to a revitalized and restored publishing industry emerging from all this.

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

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       Finnish 'weird' in translation

       At Tor.com Jonathan Thornton offers a useful A Readers' Guide to the Finnish Weird in Translation.
       Shamefully, I still haven't gotten around to posting reviews of any of Leena Krohn's impressive work, but there are reviews of several Sinisalo titles (e.g. Not before Sundown) and Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen's The Rabbit Back Literature Society at the complete review.

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

       Ockham NZ Book Awards finalists

       They've announced the finalists for this year's Ockham New Zealand Book Awards -- four titles in each of the four categories.
       The winners will be announced 11 May.

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

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       Amazon shutting physical stores

       As Jeffrey Dastin reports for Reuters, Amazon to shut its bookstores and other shops as its grocery chain expands, as it: "plans to close all 68 of its brick-and-mortar bookstores, pop-ups and shops carrying toys and home goods in the United States and United Kingdom".
       So -- food sells, in physical stores; books ... not so much, at least not, presumably, with the margins and volume Amazon is looking for. No doubt lots of booksellers are breathing at least a small sigh of relief.

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

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       Hafez in Love review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Iraj Pezeshkzad's Hafez in Love, recently out from Syracuse University Press.
       Pezeshkzad just recently passed away -- at age ninety-four -- and is one of these authors basically known for one work, My Uncle Napoleon -- but he did write a great deal more, and it's good to see (at least a little) more now available in English.

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

       FAF Translation Prize finalists

       The French-American Foundation has announced the finalists -- five each in the two categories, fiction and non -- for their annual Translation Prize. for the best translations from French into English.
       Only two of the finalists are under review at the complete review -- one in each category: Emma Ramadan's translation of Anne Garréta's In Concrete, and Ruth Diver's translation of Charif Majdalani's Beirut 2020.

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

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       Writing in ... Nigeria

       In the Irish Times Sally Hayden reports on ‘We have a lot of stories to tell’: inside Nigeria’s thriving literary scene.

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

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       Q & A: Max Lawton

       At his weblog The Untranslated has an Interview with Max Lawton: on reading Russian literature, translating Sorokin, books in need of translation and retranslation, learning languages, and ambitious projects
       Several of Lawton's Sorokin translations are coming out soon -- certainly among the most eagerly anticipated translations this year.

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

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       Q & A: Ken Follett

       At Deutsche Welle Christine Lehnen has a Q & A with Author Ken Follett on the war in Ukraine: 'Our only hope is de-escalation'.
       His recent novel Never imagines international conflict that escalates ... well, as far as it can go, and while China and the US are the main players in the novel, it's still a scenario that currently feels way too close for comfort: "the story is essentially the same: a story of conflict and escalation".

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

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       New issue of Latin American Literature Today

       The February issue of Latin American Literature Today is now available.
       A lot of good content -- including “More like Buster Keaton than Pablo Neruda”: A Conversation with Alejandro Zambra on Chilean Poet; see also my review of the novel..
       And don't forget the book review section.

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

       EUPL nominees

       The European Union Prize for Literature has radically overhauled its format; rather than selecting winners from each of the thirteen or fourteen of 41 countries that the prize rotates through, year by year, each country in each cycle selects one book which then is a finalist for the single prize to be awarded. They've now announced the fourteen nominated titles for the 2022 edition of the prize -- one title each from Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Georgia, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, and Ukraine.
       The winner will be announced 21 April.

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

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       PEN America Literary Awards

       They've announced the winners of this year's PEN America Literary Awards.
       The PEN Translation Prize went to Julia Sanches' translation of Mariana Oliver's Migratory Birds; see also the Transit Books publicity page.

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

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       Stella Prize longlist

       The Stella Prize -- an Australian prize for the best work, in any genre, authored by a woman ("cis, trans, and non-binary inclusive") -- has announced its twelve finalists, selected from 220 submissions.
       The shortlist will be announced 31 March, and the winner on 28 April.

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

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       Wladimir Kaminer Q & A

       At Deutsche Welle Rayna Breuer has a Q & A with the German-writing Russian born author, Wladimir Kaminer: 'Putin lives in the past'.
       He notes:

When you shed a little light on this dark head, you see how incredibly backward, uncivilized and unqualified Putin and his colleagues, former KGB officers, are. It is a catastrophe that such unqualified personnel run the government of a country.

       It is indeed.

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

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       Sour Grapes review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Dan Rhodes' new novel, Sour Grapes, a satire of the literary establishment, now also out in the US.

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

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