opinionated commentary on literary matters - from the complete review

The Literary Saloon Archive

1 - 10 September 2024

1 September: One Hundred Years of Solitude in Japan | WhatsApp fiction | Thomas McGonigle Q & A
2 September: Literature in ... Ukraine | AI and creative writing | Under the Eye of the Big Bird review
3 September: Daniela Hodrová (1946-2024) | Premio FIL de Literatura
4 September: Prix Goncourt longlist | Reconstruction of the Poet review
5 September: Europese Literatuurprijs | Halldór Laxness International Literary Prize
6 September: Longlists: National Translation Awards - Österreichischer Buchpreis - Baillie Gifford Prize | Cundill History Prize shortlist
7 September: JCB Prize longlist | Ehrenpreis des Österreichischen Buchhandels
8 September: Sunday Times Literary Awards shortlists
9 September: Mysterious Setting review
10 September: British Academy Book Prize shortlist | Václav Havel Library | Prix Wepler longlist

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       British Academy Book Prize shortlist

       The British Academy has announced the shortlist for their Book Prize, celebrating: "ground-breaking works of non-fiction that have made an outstanding contribution to the public understanding of world cultures and their interactions, and are grounded in rigorous and high-quality research".
       Six titles are in the running; the winner will be announced 22 October.

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

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       Václav Havel Library

       New director Milan Babík acknowledges that, like American presidential libraries, the Václav Havel Library isn't a 'typical library' -- "We are civil society actors. We certainly do more than ordinary libraries do" --, and at Radio Prague International Ian Willoughby has a Q & A with him, Milan Babík: Heading Havel Library after 30 years in US.

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       Prix Wepler longlist

       The prix Wepler - Fondation la Poste, promisingly awarded to: "une œuvre littéraire contemporaine inclassable", has announced its twelve-title longlist; Thomas Clerc's Goncourt-longlisted Paris Musée du XXIe siècle is on it.
       The list of previous winners looks pretty interesting; among titles translated into English are Pierre Senges' Ahab (Sequels) (2015), Éric Chevillard's The Valiant Little Tailor (2003), and Antoine Volodine's Minor Angels (1999).
       The winner will be announced 11 November.

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

       Mysterious Setting review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Abe Kazushige's Mysterious Setting, recently out from Pushkin Press.

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

       Sunday Times Literary Awards shortlists

       They've announced the shortlists for this year's (South African) Sunday Times Literary Awards, five titles each in the two categories, fiction and non.

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

       JCB Prize longlist

       They've announced (warning ! dreaded pdf format !) the longlist for this year's JCB Prize for Literature, a leading Indian fiction prize -- ten titles, five of which are translations; see also the Scroll.in overview, with more information about the longlisted titles.
       The shortlist will be announced 23 October, and the winner on 23 November.

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       Ehrenpreis des Österreichischen Buchhandels

       They've announced the winner of this year's Honorary Prize of the Austrian Book Trade for Tolerance in Thought and Action, and it is David Grossman.
       They've awarded this since 1990; it has an ... interesting list of previous winners: Philippe Sands got it last year; other winners range from Simon Wiesenthal to Peter Ustinov to H.C.Artmann.

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

       Longlist: National Translation Awards

       The American Literary Translators Association has announced the longlists for this year's National Translation Awards in Poetry and Prose.
       I have several of the prose titles, but embarrassingly have only reviewed one to date -- Robin Moger's translation of Iman Mersal's Traces of Enayat.

       The shortlists will be announced 10 October, and the winner on the 26th.

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       Longlist: Österreichischer Buchpreis

       They've announced the ten titles longlisted for the Austrian Book Prize (and the three finalists for the debut prize) -- selected from 110 submissions.
       Unlike the German Book Prize, this one is not limited to novels -- anything goes.
       The longlist for the German Book Prize was also recently announced --- see my previous mention -- and three titles by Austrian authors were on it; only one of them -- Michael Köhlmeier's Das Philosophenschiff -- also made the longlist of the Austrian prize.
       Previous works by several of the authors has been translated into English -- including Köhlmeier, as well as Arno Geiger.
       The shortlist will be announced 9 October, and the winner on 18 November.

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       Longlist: Baillie Gifford Prize

       They've announced the longlist for this year's Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, 12 titles selected from 349 (unfortunately not revealed) books.
       The shortlist will be announced 10 October, and the winner on 19 November.

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       Cundill History Prize shortlist

       They've announced the shortlist for this year's Cundill History Prize, awarded for a: "book that embodies historical scholarship, originality, literary quality and diverse appeal"
       Although this is the 'shortlist', a shorter list -- that of the (three) 'finalists' -- will be announced 3 October, and the winner on 30 October.

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

       Europese Literatuurprijs

       They've announced the winner of this year's Europese Literatuurprijs, the leading Dutch award for a work in translation from a language from one of the member countries of the Council of Europe, and it is the Dutch translation (by Karol Lesman) of Olga Tokarczuk's Empuzjon.

       This is coming out -- as The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story -- in English at the end of this month -- see also the publicity pages from Riverhead Books and Fitzcarraldo Editions, or get your copy at Amazon.com, Bookshop.org, or Amazon.co.uk. I look forward to seeing it; I expect it will pick up quite a few US/UK prizes as well.

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

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       Halldór Laxness International Literary Prize

       They've announced the winner of this year's Halldór Laxness International Literary Prize, a biennial prize awarded to an author for their: "contribution to the renewal of narrative art" and it is Salman Rushdie, who gets to pick up the prize on the 13th.

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

       Prix Goncourt longlist

       The Académie Goncourt has announced (warning ! dreaded pdf format !) its 'première sélection' -- the first longlist, consisting of sixteen titles; see also, for example, the Livres Hebdo report.
       Quite a few authors who have had previous titles translated into English are represented, including Kamel Daoud, Maylis de Kerangal, and ... Olivier Norek. I am most intrigued by Interior-author Thomas Clerc's Paris Musée du XXIe siècle.
       This is a four-round prize, with a shorter longlist (or longer shortlist) to be announced 1 October, followed by a shortlist of four titles on 22 October, and then the winner on 4 November.

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

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       Reconstruction of the Poet review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of the new volume of Uncollected Works of Zbigniew Herbert, Reconstruction of the Poet, recently out, from Ecco.

       (The very first review copies I ever received at the complete review were two Herbert volumes I had requested from Ecco, copies of Elegy for the Departure and The King of the Ants that I received in April, 1999.)

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

       Daniela Hodrová (1946-2024)

       Czech author Daniela Hodrová has passed away; see, for example, the Novinky.cz report.
       The only one of her books under review at the complete review is her A Kingdom of Souls, but I have the full City of Torment (and Prague. I see a city ...) and expect to get to them.

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

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       Premio FIL de Literatura

       They've announced the winner of this year's Premio FIL de Literatura en Lenguas Romances, the leading Romance language author prize, paying out $150,000, and it is Mia Couto.
       Only one of his books is under review at the complete review -- The Tuner of Silences -- but I have, and have read, several others; a worthy choice (for a prize with a fine list of winners).

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

       Literature in ... Ukraine

       In The Kyiv Independent Dinara Khalilova offers another look at how Ukrainians find solace, identity in books amid Russia's war.

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

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       AI and creative writing

       Yet more can/will Artificial Intelligence make art articles:

• Ted Chiang's piece arguing Why A.I. Isn't Going to Make Art has been getting a lot of attention (and is, of course, what people want to hear)
  
  
• At Big Think Tim Brinkhof wonders: ChatGPT is great at summarizing books. But will AI ever write a true work of literature ?
  
  
• In The New York Times Curtis Sittenfeld writes about "a contest between ChatGPT and me, to see who could write — or “write” — a better beach read", in An Experiment in Lust, Regret and Kissing (presumably paywalled) ; see also Susannah Meadows' Q & A with her Can You Tell Which Short Story ChatGPT Wrote ? (ditto) .

       I still think people underestimate how dominant AI will be in the 'creative' sector. Given its cost advantages -- and, yes, I know AI is not truly 'cheap', but, hey, how much are you paying out of pocket for it ? -- it's hard to see human creators competing. An infinite number of monkeys typing out stuff at random was always a fun thought experiment, but the time/cost factor meant it was just that, purely theoretical; AI can spit out stuff at (to you) essentially no cost, and it is going to overwhelm the market. (Soon, too, folks; it's nice that you worry and argue about the 'quality' of the product, but take a look at this (or any) week's bestseller list and remind yourself how much (i.e. little) quality has to do with literary success.)

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

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       Under the Eye of the Big Bird review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Kawakami Hiromi's Under the Eye of the Big Bird, just (well, tomorrow ...) out from Soft Skull in the US. (UK readers will have to wait until January -- though they did get The Third Love this summer (Granta), which doesn't seem to have US publisher yet.)

       This is the ninth Kawakami title under review at the site.

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

       One Hundred Years of Solitude in Japan

       Shinchosha published a paperback edition of Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude earlier this summer and, as Gonzalo Robledo reports at El País in ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ sweeps Japan after a 50-year delay, it's been: 'the publishing phenomenon of the summer in Japan'.
       Apparently, it's sold: "some 290,000 copies in eight weeks ... almost the same as the total number of three hardcover versions printed in the past 52 years"

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

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       WhatsApp fiction

       At Al Jazeera Chris Muronzi reports that WhatsApp novelists use messaging app to write and sell books in Zimbabwe.
       Remember 'cell phone novels' -- 携帯小説 ? See my mention from ... 2007.
       This probably won't take off in too many markets, but, hey, whatever works, right ?

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

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       Thomas McGonigle Q & A

       At The Collidescope George Salis has Earthly Time: A Rare Interview with Thomas McGonigle.
       Among McGonigle's responses:

GS: What novel do you think deserves more readers ? Why ?

TM: The book Larva: A Midsummer Night’s Babel by Julián Ríos. It’s something to be read over and over again or to be read about over and over again as it never can really be read…it is to be constantly gone back to much in the way the Bible or the Koran are to be read by a believer.

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

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