opinionated commentary on literary matters - from the complete review

The Literary Saloon Archive

1 - 10 June 2023

1 June: Ama Ata Aidoo (1942-2023) | Naveen Kishore Q & A
2 June: Deutscher Sachbuchpreis | Luca Di Fulvio (1957-2023)
3 June: Jenny Erpenbeck Q & A | {rix Fragonard
4 June: Genre misalignment in translation ?
5 June: AI in publishing | Tomás Nevinson review
6 June: James Kelman profile | Sir Thomas Browne review
7 June: Prix Jean d'Ormesson | Dutch translation grants | Markovics Botond Q & A
8 June: Premio Strega finalists | 'Manuscripts by Candlelight'
9 June: Griffin Poetry Prize | Peter Constantine Q & A
10 June: A Season on Earth review

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       A Season on Earth review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Gerald Murnane's A Season on Earth -- a novel he wrote in the 1970s, but only half of which was published back then, as A Lifetime on Clouds, with the full novel only published in 2019.

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

       Griffin Poetry Prize

       They've announced the winner of this year's C$130,000 Griffin Poetry Prize, and it is Best Barbarian, by Roger Reeves.
       See also the W.W.Norton publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com, Bookshop.org or Amazon.co.uk.

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

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       Peter Constantine Q & A

       At the Literary Hub Esther Allen has a fun Q & A with the translator and author, in A Babel of Languages: Peter Constantine on the Joys of Translation and Multilingual Writing.

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

       Premio Strega finalists

       They've announced the five finalists for this year's Premio Strega, the leading Italian literary prize; 80 titles were nominated for the prize..
       The voting for the finalists was fairly close -- the top vote-getter had 217, the fifth 167 -- so it doesn't look like there's a clear frontrunner.
       Presumably, the best-known of the finalists in the US/UK is Andrea Canobbio, whose La traversata notturna remains in the running; several of his works have been translated into English -- The Natural Disorder of Things and Three Light-Years. An earlier novel by Rosella Postorino has also been translated -- as At the Wolf's Table in the US and as The Women at Hitler's Table in the UK (because ... publishers ....).
       The winner will be announced 6 July.

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

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       'Manuscripts by Candlelight'

       At Stanford Report Charity Ferreira reports on Reading rare books by candlelight -- though, alas (or rather: horrifyingly): the candles were of the battery-operated sort .....
       Okay, actual candlelight -- or rather the candle-smoke -- is obviously bad for books, but still .....

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

       Prix Jean d'Ormesson

       As I've repeatedly noted, the anything-goes prix Jean d'Ormesson -- where judges nominate whatever books they want, old or new -- is one of my favorite book prizes, and they've now announced this year's winner -- somewhat disappointingly, a new title: La douceur, by Étienne de Montety; see, for example, the Livres Hebdo report.
       See also the Stock publicity page.

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

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       Dutch translation grants

       The Dutch Foundation for Literature has announced the first round of the 2023 translation grants, for Dutch works to be translated into other languages.
       Always interesting to see what will get translated -- and into what languages. Disappointingly, not much is being translated into English -- just two works, both fiction, with Anne Eekhout's Mary Shelley-novel coming out as Mary in the UK, from Pushkin Press; see their publicity page, and as Mary and the Birth of Frankenstein in the US, from HarperVia; see their publicity page.

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

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       Markovics Botond Q & A

       At hlo they have a Q & A with Botond Markovics: I take the 'science' in sci-fi very seriously.
       He publishes under the name 'Brandon Hackett' -- and hlo calls him "a titan of Hungarian science fiction".
       None of his novels appear to have been translated into English yet; see also his official site.

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

       James Kelman profile

       In the Irish Times Éamon Sweeney profiles James Kelman: ‘Irish writers get cushy jobs because they never challenge a single damn thing’ [updated: which, as a reader points out is actually from quite a few years back ! -- but still of interest].
       Apparently the Booker Prize winner "currently doesn't have a publisher" -- and he notes:

When it came to 1994 and the Booker Prize, the Director of Dillon's said they wouldn't stock it. They were the second largest bookseller after Waterstone's at the time. I've been on Random House and Penguin, but no one publishes me at the moment. I can't blame them, because I used to be a salesman.

       (Of course, we know what became of Dillon's .....)

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

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       Sir Thomas Browne review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Gavin Francis on Sir Thomas Browne,: The Opium of Time -- a volume in Oxford University Press fairly new 'My Reading'-series.

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

       AI in publishing

       In Publishers Weekly Thad McIlroy makes the case that AI Is About to Turn Book Publishing Upside-Down.
       He goes so far as to say that:

I believe that every function in trade book publishing today can be automated with the help of generative AI. And, if this is true, then the trade book publishing industry as we know it will soon be obsolete. We will need to move on.

       It'll certainly be interesting to see if: "ChatGPT will become the patron saint of the slush pile", weeding out a great deal.
       Interesting, also, that he sees copyediting as the first part of the process that will be displaced by AI:

I don’t think that GPT-4 can yet handle copyediting to the standard that book publishers require. But that ability is going to be here sooner, not later. While professionally copyedited books may still be “better” to a refined editor’s eye, you won’t be able to sell more books with the professional human touch. They will already be good enough.

       (Ah, great, settling for 'good enough' .....)

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

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       Tomás Nevinson review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Javier Marías' final novel, Tomás Nevinson, which is now also out in English.

       This is a fairly long novel, but I have to say, it was one of the more pleasing reading-experiences I've had in quite a while -- maybe since I last read some Iris Murdoch. It's just so nice to read an author who just knows what he's doing.

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

       Genre misalignment in translation ?

       In The Japan Times Iain Maloney considers The curious case of Fuminori Nakamura's genre misalignment:

“It has always struck me that he has the position of a literary writer in Japan, while he has been put into the noir genre for English-language readers,” [Allison Markin] Powell says. “My sense is that in Japan, Nakamura is free to write whatever kind of book he’d like to write, but that he is not afforded the same freedom in English translation. This phenomenon is not limited to Nakamura — I believe it happens to many writers since editors can pick and choose among an author’s works the titles they believe will appeal or sell in their markets.

       All nine Nakamura titles translated into English are under review at the complete review, including the latest, The Rope Artist.

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

       Jenny Erpenbeck Q & A

       Jenny Erpenbeck does The Guardian's 'The books of my life'-Q & A.
       Among her responses:

The book I could never read again

Hermann Hesse’s Narcissus and Goldmund. There’s a certain time in life when one needs to read Hesse, and there’s another time when you’re far from it.

       (By the way, the first title she mentions -- Pünktchen and Anton -- is available in English in a translation by Anthea Bell, Dot and Anton; see the Pushkin Press publicity page..)

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

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       Prix Fragonard

       They've announced the winner of this year's prix Fragonard de littérature étrangère, a French prize for a work in translation by a female author, and it is the French translation of Tawada Yoko's The Emissary (published in the UK as: The Last Children of Tokyo).
       Nice to see that Dubravka Ugrešić's Fox got a 'special mention'.

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

       Deutscher Sachbuchpreis

       They've announced the winner of this year's Deutscher Sachbuchpreis, the leading German-language non-fiction book prize, and it is Ein Hof und elf Geschwister, by Ewald Frie; see also the C.H.Beck publicity page.

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

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       Luca Di Fulvio (1957-2023)

       Italian author Luca Di Fulvio has passed away; see, for example, the fanpage.it report.
       Several of his works have been translated into English; the only one under review at the complete review is The Mannequin Man.

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

       Ama Ata Aidoo (1942-2023)

       Ghanaian author Ama Ata Aidoo has passed away; see, for example, the BBC report, Ama Ata Aidoo: Ghana's famous author and feminist dies.
       Three of her works are under review at the complete review:

• Anowa
• The Dilemma of a Ghost
• Our Sister Killjoy

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

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       Naveen Kishore Q & A

       At Kitaab they have a Q & A with the Seagull Books-publisher, “One doesn’t always write only to be published.”- Naveen Kishore (Poet, Artist, Publisher, and Writer).

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

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