opinionated commentary on literary matters - from the complete review

The Literary Saloon Archive

11 - 20 March 2023

11 March: Eurovision Book Contest | David Atherton Q & A
12 March: Nuruddin Farah profile | Margaret Atwood Q & A | Literature and politics in ... Nepal | '100 best books by women authors' list
13 March: Ōe Kenzaburō (1935-2023) | 'Classics in Translation' | Translating Zakaria Tamer
14 March: International Booker Prize longlist | Pope Francis' 'reading path' | Wingate Prize | Carol Shields Prize longlist
15 March: Wortmeldungen Prize | Richard Wagner (1952-2023) | Arabic literature abroad | Literary magazines in ... Ireland
16 March: Griffin Poetry Prize longlist | Prix Orange shortlist | Dralyuk and Croft Q & A
17 March: EBRD Literature Prize shortlist | Isabel Colegate (1931-2023) | Arno Schmidt review
18 March: Dubravka Ugrešić (1949-2023) | Jorge Edwards (1931-2023) | Hernán Díaz profile
19 March: Bookselling | Schrijvers ! review
20 March: Publishing in ... Ukraine | New issue of Latin American Literature Today | Die Denunziantin review

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       Publishing in ... Ukraine

       At Publishers Weekly Ed Nawotka reports the unsurprising news that War Has Taken Its Toll on Ukrainian Publishing, with the number of titles dropping from 17,000 in 2021 to under 9000 last year -- while: "the total number of books printed in Ukraine fell from 25.7 million in 2021 to 9.2 million in 2022".
       Still, it's quite amazing -- and admirable -- that they're getting as much done as they are.

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

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       New issue of Latin American Literature Today

       The March, 2023 issue of Latin American Literature Today is now available, with a load of material, including on featured author Mónica Ojeda, Children's Literature, as well as translation previews and the always interesting book review section.

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

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       Die Denunziantin review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Brigitte Reimann's first novel, Die Denunziantin, -- finally published, some five decades after the author's death.

       With her Siblings just out in English -- and getting some good attention -- and some new German editions of several of her works, it's good to see her getting her due -- and fascinating to be able to see this very early work. It seems unlikely that this will be translated into English -- certainly, there are several other works to get to first (not least, Franziska Linkerhand !), but what an interesting literary-historical piece of work this is (in an excellent edition, providing a lot of supporting material).

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

       Bookselling

       Via I'm pointed to Masaaki Morioka's report in Nikkei Asia on how in Japan Shared bookstores let bibliophiles meet owners with a passion, as:

Shared bookstores, where each shelf is operated by a different owner, are cropping up in Japan's big cities

       And one also has to admire the business plan where:

We only offer books that we really want to sell, not the ones that sell well.

       Meanwhile, in The Age, Christopher Bantick writes on how Melbourne bookshops like Readings and Paperback Bookshop are part of the city's culture.
       Apparently: "Melbourne was once a city where bookshops were common. It is a city now reduced to a handful".
       One former bookseller suggests:

“The new book trade generally has deteriorated and I think publishers are largely to blame,” he said. “In any shop now you will find stacks of books left by publishers on sale or return. We spend half our time clearing up publishers’ mistakes.”

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

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       Schrijvers ! review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Jessica Durlacher's novel, Schrijvers !.

       I'm always up for fiction about writers and writing, but I have to admit a major reason for reviewing this -- or at least a -- book by Jessica Durlacher is because there are already books by her husband, Leon De Winter (e.g. Hoffman's Hunger), and their daughter Solomonica (Over the Rainbow) under review, and I believe this is now the first related-trio under review. (There are several duos under review, such as husband and wife Ross Macdonald and Margaret Millar.)
       Now to do the Mann family .....

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

       Dubravka Ugrešić (1949-2023)

       Very sad to hear that Dubravka Ugrešić has passed away; not many English-language reports yet, but see, for example, Vuk Tesija on Well-Known Croatia-Born Writer Dubravka Ugresic Passes at BalkanInsight.

       With a dozen of her titles under review at the complete review -- see that author page -- I've been a long-time fan, and also had the pleasure of meeting her several times. She was a wonderful writer whose work really deserves more attention than it's gotten.

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

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       Jorge Edwards (1931-2023)

       Chilean author Jorge Edwards -- winner of, among other prizes, the Cervantes Prize, the leading Spanish-language author prize -- has passed away; see, for example, Chile's Jorge Edwards, 1999 Cervantes Prize winner, dead at 91.
       Not much of his work appears to be available in English -- except, unsurprisingly, his best-known work, Persona Non Grata ('A Memoir of Disenchantment with the Cuban Revolution'); get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.

       The Acantilado Foreign Rights site only touts one of his novels -- but they describe Oh, maligna as following: "the trail of the young poet Pablo Neruda in Burma (now Myanmar) where he arrived in 1927 to take up the post of Honorary Consul of Chile" and how: "he embarked on a relationship that was so fiery, so stormy, that he ended up being forced to flee to Ceylon", so, yes, please, let's see this in translation.

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

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       Hernán Díaz profile

       In El País Eduardo Lago profiles Hernán Díaz, in The inventor of capitalist realism is an Argentine who writes in English.
       Díaz explains why he writes in English:

To use an analogy from the plastic arts, why does one sculptor choose to work in bronze while others choose marble or wood ? Something about the material -- its give, malleability, texture, strength and temperature -- works differently for each sculptor. I feel the same way about languages.

       He also thinks: "David Markson is the best American writer of the last 30 years, although nobody pays much attention to him anymore". (With seven of his titles under review at the complete review -- e.g. Reader's Block -- there's certainly some love for Markson hereabouts.)

       I only recently got my hands on a copy of Trust, but I do expect to get to it soon.

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

       EBRD Literature Prize shortlist

       The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has announced the (not-so-)shortlist of ten titles left in the running for this year's EBRD Literature Prize, awarded to a book by an author from a country where the EBRD operates available in English translation.
       Three of the titles are under review at the complete review:

• The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Jennifer Croft
• Nights of Plague by Orhan Pamuk, translated by Ekin Oklap
• Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov, translated by Angela Rodel

       The winner will be announced on 15 June.

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

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       Isabel Colegate (1931-2023)

       Author Isabel Colegate -- apparently best-known for The Shooting Party -- has passed away; see, for example, Polly Pattullo's obituary in The Guardian.
       The only works by her under review at the complete review are the three novels of The Orlando Trilogy:

• Orlando King
• Orlando at the Brazen Threshold
• Agatha

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

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       Arno Schmidt review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Sven Hanuschek's biography of the master, Arno Schmidt.

       As long-time readers can guess, I've been very eager to get my hands on this and read/review it.
       This probably won't make it into English -- not any time soon, anyway. So I guess English-speaking readers will continue to have to make do with my Arno Schmidt: a centennial colloquy .....

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

       Griffin Poetry Prize longlist

       They've announced the longlist for this year's now-consolidated Griffin Poetry Prize -- it used to be a two-category prize, Canadian and international, but now it's just one big free-for-all, with the winner to get CS$130,000 ("making it the world's largest international prize for a single book of poetry written in, or translated into English").
       The ten titles were selected from: "602 books of poetry, including 54 translations from 20 languages". I haven't seen any of these.
       The shortlist will be announced on 19 April, and the winner on 7 June.

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

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       Prix Orange shortlist

       They've announced the shortlist for this year's prix Orange du livre en Afrique -- a prize noteworthy because, while (limited to being) Francophone, it is for books published by a publisher based in Africa; see, for example, the Livres Hebdo report.
       The finalists were selected from 38 titles, from 29 publishers from 12 countries.

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

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       Dralyuk and Croft Q & A

       In The Los Angeles Times David L. Ulin has a Q & A with the translating couple (but not team) of Jennifer Croft and Boris Dralyuk, in Two of the country's best translators are married -- and competing for the same big prize.
       The prize is the National Book Critics Circle Gregg Barrios Book in Translation Prize, which Croft is nominated for for Olga Tokarczuk's The Books of Jacob and Dralyuk for Andrey Kurkov's Grey Bees.
       Among their observations:

American culture is notoriously resistant to works in translation.

Croft: There’s still some resistance from editors of a certain generation -- to translation itself, to properly crediting and remunerating the translator -- but I think people are less phobic than they once might have been.

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

       Wortmeldungen Prize

       They've announced the winner of this year's Wortmeldungen Ulrike Crespo Literaturpreis für kritische Kurztexte, a German prize for short, critical texts, and it is Schwankende Kanarien, by The Giraffe's Neck-author Judith Schalansky. [Bless them for making it available in not-just-pdf format !]
       The prize is noteworthy also for its pay-out -- €35,000. At 6400 words (including footnotes), Schalansky's is already a *longer* text for this competition, but that still works out to nearly €5.50 per word, a rate no fiction prize comes close to and, at best, the occasional poetry prize does.

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

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       Richard Wagner (1952-2023)

       German-writing Romanian-born author Richard Wagner is perhaps best known as the former husband of Nobel laureate Herta Müller but was a significant author in his own right; he has now passed away; see, for example, Herbert Wiesner's obituary in Die Welt.
       Not much of his work was translated into English, but Verso did bring out his Exit: A Romanian Story in 1990; get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.

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

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       Arabic literature abroad

       In The National Saeed Saeed reports on Why more international partnerships are key for Arabic literature to thrive abroad.
       I always wish it were just about the words and books, but unfortunately connections, of various sorts, remain a significant part of this very peculiar industry.

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

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       Literary magazines in ... Ireland

       In the Irish Examiner Mary Morrissy offers Words of wonder: A look behind the scenes of Ireland's thriving literary magazines.
       Somewhat oddly, the first one profiled -- The Moth -- is, as Morrissy notes, actually closing shop ..... But, yes, there are quite a few others, going strong and on .....

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

       International Booker Prize longlist

       They've announced the longlist for this year's International Booker Prize. The longlist was selected from 134 (not revealed ...) titles
       Four of the titles are under review at the complete review:

• The Birthday Party by byLaurent Mauvignier, translated by Daniel Levin Becker
• Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv by Andrey Kurkov, translated by Reuben Woolley (and, yes, I'll have to update that review-page, posted long before there was an English translation ...)
• A System So Magnificent It Is Blinding by Amanda Svensson, translated by Nichola Smalley
• Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov, translated by Angela Rodel

       I have several more of these and should be getting to them.
       The shortlist will be announced on 18 April, and the winner on 23 May.

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

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       Pope Francis' 'reading path'

       In La Civiltà Cattolica Antonio Spadaro considers (at length) Bergoglio's Map: Literature in the formation of Pope Francis, reconstructing: "the path of his reading along with the literary references scattered throughout his texts and interviews" -- always a fun exercise.
       Jorge Mario Bergoglio (as the pope used to be known as) certainly did show a quite impressive range of reading -- showing, for example: "great interest in Leopoldo Marechal", the author of the great Adam Buenosayres.

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

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       Wingate Prize

       They've announced the winner of this year's Wingate Literary Prize, "given to the best book, fiction or non-fiction, to translate the idea of Jewishness to the general reader", and it is The Island of Extraordinary Captives, by Simon Parkin.
       See also the publicity pages from Sceptre and Scribner, or get your copy at Amazon.com, Bookshop.org or Amazon.co.uk.

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

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       Carol Shields Prize longlist

       I'm a bit late to this, but they've announced the first longlist for the new Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, celebrating: "creativity and excellence in fiction by women and non-binary writers in the United States and Canada" -- noteworthy also for the prize money, the winner taking home US$150,000.
       Fifteen titles have been longlisted (none of which I have seen ...); "selected from more than 250 eligible entries" (none of which, except the longlisted titles, are revealed ...).
       The shortlist will be announced on 6 April, and the winner on 4 May.

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

       Ōe Kenzaburō (1935-2023)

       Sad to hear that Nobel laureate Ōe Kenzaburō has passed away; see the official announcement (warning ! dreaded pdf format !) from his publisher Kodansha, and reports from The Japan Times and Reuters. (Sidenote: kind of amazing that in this day and age it is still possible to keep the death of such a prominent person basically under wraps for ten days (he passed away on 3 March).)
       Several of Ōe's works are under review at the complete review -- though I have more to get to:

• 治療塔
• Death by Water
• さようなら、私の本よ!

       (Yes, amazingly and shockingly, quite a few of his works have not been translated into English yet .....)

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

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       'Classics in Translation'

       An interesting two-part piece at Antigone, where Wolfgang de Melo considers Classics in Translation ? A Personal Angle, looking first at Translation in Antiquity and the Present and then Translation in Anglophone Universities.
       A lot here of interest, both about ancient Greek and Latin and about translation.

       See also the Latin and ancient Greek works under review at the complete review.

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

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       Translating Zakaria Tamer

       Two titles by Syrian author Zakaria Tamer are under review at the complete review -- Breaking Knees and The Hedgehog -- and I am very much looking forward to seeing the new volume of his stories that is coming out from Syracuse University Press, Sour Grapes -- see their publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com, Bookshop.org or Amazon.co.uk. At ArabLit Tugrul Mende now has a Q & A with one of the translators of this volume, Finding the Music and Rhythm of Zakaria Tamer in English: A Conversation with Alessandro Columbu.
       Since I do have my issues with story collections, I am particularly pleased to hear: "The beauty of Sour Grapes is that you could read it as a novel".

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

       Nuruddin Farah profile

       In the Financial Times David Pilling profiles Nuruddin Farah: ‘I can live without my books. They make their own friends’.

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

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       Margaret Atwood Q & A

       In The Guardian Lisa O'Kelly has a Q & A with Margaret Atwood: ‘It would be fun to talk to Simone de Beauvoir’.
       Among her responses:

At 83, you are still publishing a book every year. Can you see yourself ever slowing down ?

What is this word “ever” ? Yes, there’s a ticking clock. You may have noticed. But you keep on until you’re finished, you know ? Until you don’t have anything more to say or do. Lying on the beach has never been my idea of a good time.

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

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       Literature and politics in ... Nepal

       In The Kathmandu Post Abhi Subedi reflects on Literary responses to politics in Nepal -- finding that:

One characteristic of Nepali literary writing today is that despite a plethora of publications of literary works of various genres, very few of them directly address the fluid political situation. There is a sense of dichotomy between literary writings and politics in Nepal

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

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       '100 best books by women authors' list

       Of lists there can never be enough, and at Good Housekeeping the 'team' there and their books editor now offer 100 best books to read by women authors. (One has to appreciate that specificity -- differentiating this from all those other best books lists which are apparently not limited to books 'to read'.)

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

       Eurovision Book Contest

       They've announced: "a special project to explore and celebrate European literature: the Eurovision Book Contest" -- as part of the Hay Festival, no less.
       Anyone can submit titles for consideration -- whereby: "All genres and languages are welcome, but we're looking for suggestions published anytime since the song contest began in 1956". And:

A final selection of one book from each country will be made by an expert panel on the eve of Hay Festival in Wales this spring (25 May-4 June), with a special event planned on site to debate the list and crown an overall winner...

       I am very much hoping that the submissions will be in the spirit of the songs (and performances) of the song contest -- ABBA-lit, as it were -- and am very curious as to what kind of mess this turns into.

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

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       David Atherton Q & A

       In the Harvard Crimson Benjy Wall-Feng has Fifteen Questions: David Atherton on Japanese Literature, Creativity, and Remembering to Breathe.
       Some interesting responses, mainly about Japan and Japanese literature -- including an Ogawa Yōko-endorsement: "She’s fantastic, not as well known in the U.S." (though a dozen of her titles are under review at the complete review, e.g. The Memory Police) --, but also:

FM: You also have an MA in Thai literature, right ?

DA: I do. That’s where the big money is.

       Sadly, he follows that up by noting: "I would have continued with it if there was the possibility of a job further down the line, but there’s no real field for Thai literary studies in the U.S." .....

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

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