opinionated commentary on literary matters - from the complete review

The Literary Saloon Archive

11 - 20 September 2023

11 September: Films: Poor Things - An Owl, a Garden & the Writer | Nipponia Nippon review
12 September: Museum of Repressed Writers | Arvind Krishna Mehrotra and Amit Chaudhuri Q & A
13 September: Yoel Hoffmann (1937-2023) | Pulitzer Prize expands eligibilty in arts categories | Hotlist finalists | Beyond the Door of No Return review
14 September: (US) National Book Award for Translated Literature longlist | Schweizer Buchpreis finalists | Dayton Literary Peace Prize finalists
15 September: Prix Jean Monnet | Elfriede Jelinek, honorary citizen of Vienna | ALTA shortlists
16 September: (US) National Book Award for Fiction longlist | Writing in ... Algeria | US translation preview | A Long Way From Verona review
17 September: Naveen Kishore and Seagull | Julian Barnes profile
18 September: Gita Mehta (1943-2023) | "aspekte"-Literaturpreis finalists | In Praise of Shadows review
19 September: Grand prix de littérature américaine longlist
20 September: Deutscher Buchpreis shortlist | Karl Ove Knausgaard profile

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       Deutscher Buchpreis shortlist

       They've announced the shortlist for this year's German Book Prize, the leading German novel prize, -- six titles left, from the 196 (unfortunately not revealed) titles they considered.
       I downloaded a few of the longlisted titles (from NetGalley.de; it's impressive that they do this), but the only one of those that made shortlist is Echtzeitalter, by Tonio Schachinge -- see also the Rowohlt foreign rights page --; I've dipped into it and I guess I'll cover it; I don't think I'll get to any of the others.
       The winner will be announced on 16 October.

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

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       Karl Ove Knausgaard profile

       Karl Ove Knausgaard has a new novel out in English -- The Wolves of Eternity, which I have unfortunately not yet seen ... --, the sequel to The Morning Star, and in Esquire Lynn Steger Strong profiles him, in Karl Ove Knausgaard: The Man, The Myth, The Legend.

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

       Grand prix de littérature américaine longlist

       They've announced the longlist for this year's Grand prix de littérature américaine -- a prize for the best American novel translated into French; see, for example, the Livres Hebdo report.
       Eight titles are in the running, including Hernan Diaz's Pulitzer Prize-winning Trust, and books by Emma Cline, Aleksandar Hemon, and Dennis Lehane.
       The winner will be announced on 6 November.

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

       Gita Mehta (1943-2023)

       Inidan author Gita Mehta has passed away; see, for example, the Times of India report by Ashok Pradhan, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik's sister Gita Mehta passes away.
       Her books have also been published in the US and UK; see, for example, those available from Anchor.
       She was also the wife of publisher Sonny Mehta.

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

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       "aspekte"-Literaturpreis finalists

       They've announced the finalists for this year's "aspekte"-Literaturpreis, a German prize for the year's best debut.
       Previous winners include Nobel laureate Herta Müller, Ingo Schulze, and Eugen Ruge (for In Times of Fading Light).
       The winner will be announced 19 October.

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

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       In Praise of Shadows review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Tanizaki Jun'ichirō's slim 1933 essay In Praise of Shadows.

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

       Naveen Kishore and Seagull

       At Scroll.in the latest in their 'The Publishing Life'-series has the Seagulls Books founder and publisher in Naveen Kishore: What the ‘idea of culture’ means to a publisher.
       Meanwhile, at The Wire Sohini C. reports on Pushan Kripalani's documentary film, 'Of the Book and Other Stories', in A Beloved Publishing House and a Business Model of Impulsive Ethics

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

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       Julian Barnes profile

       At The Guardian Lisa Allardice profiles the author, in ‘I didn’t think it was possible to be a novelist’: Julian Barnes on literature, loss – and his late friend Martin Amis.

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

       (US) National Book Award for Fiction longlist

       The (American) National Book Foundation has now announced all the longlist for its 2023 prizes, including that for the National Book Award for Fiction -- ten titles selected from 496 (unfortunately not revealed) submissions.
       I haven't seen any of these.
       The finalists will be announced on 3 October.

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

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       Writing in ... Algeria

       At Qantara.de Claudia Mende has a Q & A with Said Khatibi, in Big Brother is watching you.
       Sadly, he reports:

For Arabic literature, Algeria is simply a wasteland. Hardly any bookshops offer literature in Arabic. People still tend to read more in French -- we really have to fight for Arabic.

       Interesting also his comments:

Why are there no crime novels in the Arab world ? I must say I ask myself the same question; it's also something my friends keep asking me. The only answer I can think of is: the crime novel is synonymous with freedom.

For a crime novel, you need the greatest possible freedom as an author – something we don't have in the Arab world. Even where there is no state censorship, we are used to censoring ourselves.

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

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       US translation preview

       At Publishers Weekly David Varno takes a look at some New Literature in Translation coming out in the US.
       Some of it isn't that new -- Sylvia Clayton's translation of Sven Holm's Termush (which I am looking forward to seeing) first came out in the UK in 1969, from Faber, and they recently re-issued it; see their publicity page or that from FSG Originals.
       Only a few publishers are covered here, but at least there are some hard numbers:

A high-profile award can be huge for a work in translation, perhaps none more so than the Nobel Prize. In 2021, French author Annie Ernaux’s books sold about 2,200 print copies. She won the Nobel Prize the following year, and print unit sales shot up to 40,000 for 2022; she’s on track to best that this year.

       And there are also observations such as:

At Archipelago, a small publisher that began exclusively publishing translations in 2004, editor and director of publicity Sarah Gale has seen an increasing willingness on the part of the media to embrace books that originate overseas. But, she says, it remains difficult to get reviews and other coverage for “minor” books that aren’t grappling with “obviously relevant” themes.

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

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       A Long Way From Verona review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Jane Gardam's 1971 debut, A Long Way From Verona.

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

       Prix Jean Monnet

       They've announced (warning ... ! dreaded pdf format ? .... what fresh hell is this ?) the winner of this year's prix Jean Monnet de littérature européenne, and it is Amélie Nothomb's Le Livre des sœurs; see also the Albin Michel publicity page.

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

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       Elfriede Jelinek, honorary citizen of Vienna

       Nobel laureate Elfriede Jelinek was recently made an honorary citizen of the city of Vienna -- two years after the honor was decided on; the first honor she says she's accepted since the Nobel Prize.

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

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       ALTA shortlists

       The American Literary Translators Association has announced the shortlists for three of its prizes, the Italian Prose in Translation Award, the Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize, and the Spain-USA Foundation Translation Award.
       Two of the shortlisted titles are under review at the complete review: Anne Milano Appel's translation of Antonio Scurati's M: Son of the Century (the IPTA) and Brendan Riley's translation of Luis Goytisolo's Antagony (SUFTA).
       The winners will be announced 11 November.

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

       (US) National Book Award for Translated Literature longlist

       The (American) National Book Foundation has announced the ten finalists for this year's National Book Award for Translated Literature, selected from 154 (unfortunately not revealed) submissions.
       The ten are:

• Abyss by Pilar Quintana, translated by Lisa Dillman
• Beyond the Door of No Return by David Diop, translated by Sam Taylor
• Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur
• Devil of the Provinces by Juan Cárdenas, translated by Lizzie Davis
• Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Michael Hofmann
• The Most Secret Memory of Men by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, translated by Lara Vergnaud
• No One Prayed Over Their Graves by Khaled Khalifa, translated by Leri Price
• On a Woman's Madness by Astrid Roemer, translated by Lucy Scott
• This Is Not Miami by Fernanda Melchor, translated by Sophie Hughes
• The Words That Remain by Stênio Gardel, translated by Bruna Dantas Lobato

       I haven't seen quite a few of these .....
       The finalists will be announced 3 October, and the winners on 15 November.

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

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       Schweizer Buchpreis finalists

       They've announced the five finalists for this year's (German-language) Swiss Book Prize.
       The winner will be announced on 19 November.

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

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       Dayton Literary Peace Prize finalists

       They've announced (warning ! dreaded pdf format !) the finalists for this year's Dayton Literary Peace Prize finalists -- and that Sandra Cisneros will receive the Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award.
       The prizes honor: "writers whose work uses the power of literature to foster peace, social justice, and global understanding"
       The winners will be announced 10 October.

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

       Yoel Hoffmann (1937-2023)

       No readily accessible obituary that I can find yet, but Israeli author Yoel Hoffmann has passed away.
       Two of his books are under review at the complete review -- Curriculum Vitae and Moods.

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

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       Pulitzer Prize expands eligibilty in arts categories

       They've announced that the Pulitzer Prize Board Amending Citizenship Requirement in Books, Drama and Music. Previously, in the Fiction, Drama, Biography, Memoir or Autobiography, Poetry, General Nonfiction, and Music categories, only US citizens were considered, but now: "permanent residents of the United States and those who have made the United States their longtime primary home" are also eligible.
       Disappointingly, however:

One exception to that requirement was in the History category, which has allowed books on United States history by authors of any nationality. For the sake of consistency, however, History entries now also must conform to the new rules and must be written by U.S. authors.

       I liked that it only mattered that books were on US history, not where the author came from.

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

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       Hotlist finalists

       They've announced the ten finalists for this year's Hotlist, a German prize for independent publishers.
       Every German-language independent publisher can submit one title -- and 196 did this year.
       The winner will be announced at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

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

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       Beyond the Door of No Return review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of David Diop's Beyond the Door of No Return, coming from Farrar, Straus and Giroux in the US and Pushkin Press in the UK.

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

       Museum of Repressed Writers

       In The Art Newspaper Maya Jaggi reports that: 'The Museum of Repressed Writers in Tbilisi was created to remember the creatives who were silenced by the Soviet Union. But, after months of political tension, the future of the museum hangs in the balance', in Fears grow for Georgian museum created to salute purged writers after director sacked.

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

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       Arvind Krishna Mehrotra and Amit Chaudhuri Q&A

       At Scroll.in Nachiket Joshi has an interview with Arvind Krishna Mehrotra and Amit Chaudhuri, ‘When we speak of the secular in India these days, poetry, literature, cinema do not come into play’.

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

       Film: Poor Things

       My review of Alasdair Gray's Poor Things has been one of the most popular at the site over the past couple of weeks (and will most certainly be the most-viewed review for the month of September) -- and the reason for this is that a movie has been made of it, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and starring Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, and Mark Ruffalo; see also the Element Pictures publicity page. While it is only coming out in the US in December, it's already garnered very good reviews -- and has now picked up the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

       Two weeks ago Jo Higgs wrote in The National on Poor Things: Why new Alasdair Gray adaptation is proving divisive -- including:

Controversy struck upon the reveal of a new cover, featuring not the original Gray illustration that has fronted the novel in every edition since 1992 but instead a shot of Emma Stone playing Bella in the film.

While on the surface this shouldn’t ruffle many feathers -- it is commonplace to reproduce novels set for film adaptation with a new cover fronted by a still from the cinematic feature -- yet, for an Alasdair Gray novel, this edges further from misdemeanour towards crime.

       Not ruffle feathers ?!??? My god !
       There are actually two movie tie-in covers, as the US (Mariner Books) and UK (Bloomsbury) editions have different ones:

   

       Nothing like the real thing:


       This was actually also supposed to come out in the new Dalkey Archive Essentials series -- apparently also with a ... different cover -- but clearly the rights have gone elsewhere; I hope Dalkey Archive Press was able to cash in very nicely in giving up the rights .....

       For a fascinating discussion of the Poor Things-cover history, see Virginia Emily Cranwell's 2017 Master's thesis, Judging a Book By Its Cover: The Context Book Covers Provide (warning ! dreaded pdf format !) -- though of course it's now in need of some serious updating.

       I am ... intrigued by the movie, though I do have some doubts. (As you can see, I think very highly of the novel.) Still, I suppose I will have to seek it out, when it becomes available.
       (My review of the novel is an early one at the site, and I'm sorry it's not a more in-depth one -- but the book is certainly worth seeking out. Even, if there's no other way, with those new covers .....)

       For a selection of early reviews, see those at:

• BBC
• Deadline
• Entertainment Weekly
• Evening Standard
• The Guardian
• The Hollywood Reporter
• The New York Times
• Time
• Vulture

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

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       Film: An Owl, a Garden & the Writer

       There's a new movie about The Colonel-author Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, directed by his daughter Sara Dowlatabadi ! See, for example, the Unifrance information page, or the trailer.
       It's being shown at this year's Busan International Film Festival -- and see also the discussion in the Tehran Times report on Exploring life of Kiarostami, Dowlatabadi on silver screen.
       I look forward to being able to see this, too.

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

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       Nipponia Nippon review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Abe Kazushige's Nipponia Nippon -- another in the Pushkin Press Japanese Novella-series.

       This makes for another husband-and-wife pairing under review at the site, as Abe is married to All the Lovers in the Night-author Kawakami Mieko.

       Good to see that another of Abe's works is apparently also coming out next year -- Mysterious Setting is listed at Amazon.co.uk already.

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

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