opinionated commentary on literary matters - from the complete review

The Literary Saloon Archive

11 - 20 March 2025

11 March: Libris Literatuur Prijs shortlist
12 March: The Little Clay Cart production
13 March: Republic of Consciousness Prize (US/Canada) | National Book Awards judges | Ingeborg Bachmann exhibit
14 March: Prix Mémorable | Cynthia Ozick profile
15 March: 50 best Dutch-language books of the 21st century ? | Interviews with the International Booker Prize longlistees
16 March: Dag Solstad (1941-2025) | Roger Allen Q & A
17 March: Holberg Prize | Fontane-Preis shortlist
18 March: Peter Bichsel (1935-2025) | OCM Bocas Prize shortlists
19 March: Wortmeldungen-Literaturpreis | Sons and Daughters review
20 March: Victorian Premier's Literary Awards | Climate Fiction Prize shortlist

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       Victorian Premier's Literary Awards

       They've announced the winners of this year's Victorian Premier's Literary Awards in its eight categories, with the Prize for Children's Literature-winner Three Dresses by also taking the overall Victorian Premier's Prize for Literature.

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

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       Climate Fiction Prize shortlist

       They've announced the shortlist for the inaugural Climate Fiction Prize.
       The winner will be announced 14 May.

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

       Wortmeldungen-Literaturpreis

       They've announced the winner of this year's Wortmeldungen-Literaturpreis, a German short-text (8 to 25 page) prize paying out €35,000, and it is the 6366-word-long text 'Klick Klack, der Bergfrau erwacht' by Josefine Soppa -- read it here.
       Yes, it involves AI/ChatGPT .....

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

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       Sons and Daughters review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Chaim Grade's Sons and Daughters.

       Serialized in the 1960s and 1970s, this took a while to get into book-form -- more than four decades after the author's death (not helped by his widow's behavior -- but even she pased away in 2010 ...); see also e.g. Joseph Berger's recent article in The New York Times, A Discovery of Lost Pages Brings to Light a ‘Last Great Yiddish Novel’ (presumably paywalled).
       Certainly the biggest translation-from-the-Yiddish of the year.

       (There are translations from 85 languages under review at the complete review, and many from which I feel I have reviewed far too few titles, but Yiddish is certainly one of the most under-represented, with this only the third translation from that language under review.)

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

       Peter Bichsel (1935-2025)

       Swiss author Peter Bichsel has passed away; see, for example, the swissinfo Obituary: Peter Bichsel, the master of short prose.
       Several of his books have been translatd into English, but they've been out of print for decades; for more information about his books see the Suhrkamp author and foreign rights page.
       See also the Büro Bichsel project that just recently opened.

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

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       OCM Bocas Prize shortlists

       They've announced the finalists for this year's OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature -- five titles in each of the three categories.
       The category winners will be announced 6 April, and the winner on 3 May.

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

       Holberg Prize

       They've announced the winner of this year's Holberg Prize, "awarded for outstanding contributions to research in the humanities, social sciences, law or theology", and it is Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, who: "receives the prize for her groundbreaking interdisciplinary research in comparative literature, translation, postcolonial studies, political philosophy, and feminist theory".

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

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       Fontane-Preis shortlist

       They've announced the five finalists for this year's Fontane-Prize, a biennial prize paying out €40,000 -- not yet at the official site, last I checked, but see, for example, the dpa report here.

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

       Dag Solstad (1941-2025)

       I'm very sad to hear that Dag Solstad has passed away; see, for example the NRK report.

       His work is still woefully under-translated into English, but at least a few novels are available; I am a great admirer of his work, with five of his novels under review at the complete review:

• Armand V.
• Novel 11, Book 18
• Professor Andersen's Night
• Shyness and Dignity
• T Singer

       See also the Oslo Literary Agency author page for information about some of his other titles.

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

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       Roger Allen Q & A

       At The Markaz Review Jonas Elbousty has a Q & A with the translator, The Art of Arabic Translation: An Interview With Roger Allen.

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

       50 best Dutch-language books of the 21st century ?

       NRC and De Standaard have put together a list of the top 50 Dutch-language books of the twenty-first-century, selected by 81 critics, academics, editors, and public figures. The NRC version is paywalled, but see the list at De Standaard -- or, more conveniently, at Athenaeum | Scheltema.
       Quite a few of the works are under review at the complete review

• 3. Tirza, by Arnon Grunberg
• 6. Joe Speedboat, by Tommy Wieringa
• 8. Grand Hotel Europa, by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer
• 10. La Superba, by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer
• 12. Your Story, My Story, by Connie Palmen
• 26. Omega Minor, by Paul Verhaeghen
• 27. The Consequences, by Niña Weijers
• 28. The Angel Maker, by Stefan Brijs
• 36. De asielzoeker, by Arnon Grunberg

       Interestingly, the top choice -- Het lied van ooievaar en dromedaris, by Anjet Daanje -- doesn't seem to have been translated into English yet, despite being inspired by the Brontës; her The Remembered Soldier -- number 14 on the list -- is, however, forthcoming soon from New Vessel Press in May.

       I certainly agree with the high ranking of Tirza; I certainly don't with that of Joe Speedboat -- and it's good to see Omega Minor make the list (and it could have ranked higher ...).

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

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       Interviews with the International Booker Prize longlistees

       At the Booker Prize site they have a collection of Interviews with the International Booker Prize 2025 longlistees -- both the authors and the translators.
       Lots that is of interest.

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

       Prix Mémorable

       The French prix Mémorable, given out by the library-consortium initiales (who don't keep their official site very up-to-date, *sigh*), is a prize honoring a book that is: 'a new edition of a work by a regrettably forgotten author; a work by a deceased foreign author never previously published in French; or a previously unpublished work or revised, complete translation', and they've announced the winner of this year's prize: the French translation of Il cielo cade, by Lorenza Mazzetti; see, for example, the Livres Hebdo report.

       Appropriately enough, this book was featured in Lucy Scholes' monthly 'Re-Covered'-column at The Paris Review blog -- dedicated to: "out-of-print and forgotten books that shouldn't be" -- a few years ago, Re-Covered: The Sky Falls by Lorenza Mazzetti -- and, yes, it has been 're-covered' in English since, in a new (and complete) translation from Another Gaze Editions (now as: The Sky is Falling); see their publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.
       (I'm all for the 're-discovery' and re-publication of worthy works, but in recent years this has too often come to feel like a lemming-like exercise by publishers, everyone hopping aboard with the same books and authors -- and, hey, look ! the Germans have new translation of this coming out this year, too: see the Nagel & Kimche publicity page .....)

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

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       Cynthia Ozick profile

       A big Cynthia Ozick-collection is now out -- In a Yellow Wood; see the Everyman's Library publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com, Bookshop.org, or Amazon.co.uk -- and at Vulture Linda Hall profiles her, in Cynthia Ozick is Undiminished.

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

       Republic of Consciousness Prize (US/Canada)

       They've announced the winner of this year's Republic of Consciousness Prize (United States and Canada), awarded to a small press, and it is Open Letter for their Melvill, by Rodrigo Fresán.
       I have this, but haven't gotten to it yet.

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

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       National Book Awards judges

       The (American) National Book Foundation has announced the twenty-five judges for this year's National Book Awards -- five in each category.
       The Translated Literature panel is chaired by Stesha Brandon, and the other judges are Sergio Gutiérrez Negrón, Bill Johnston, Annette K. Joseph-Gabriel, and Karen Tei Yamashita.

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

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       Ingeborg Bachmann exhibit

       At the Casa di Goethe in Rome the exhibit Ingeborg Bachmann – ‘I only exist when I write’ opens today and runs through 31 August.

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

       The Little Clay Cart production

       This is the fourth time they're putting on the Oxford Sanskrit Play, where they put on "a Sanskrit play, performed in Sanskrit (with subtitles) by a cast of undergraduate and graduate students", and this year they'll be doing The Little Clay Cart 14 to 16 March; get tickets here.
       You can see their previous production on YouTube; hopefully, they'll stream this one as well.
       See also Benjamin Atkinson's preview article in Cherwell, Sanskrit drama returns to Oxford.

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

       Libris Literatuur Prijs shortlist

       They've announced the shortlist for this year's Libris Literatuur Prijs, a leading Dutch novel prize, paying out €50,000.
       Six titles are left in the running; among the shortlisted authors with books previously translated into English are Marijke Schermer (e.g.) and Joost de Vries (The Republic).
       The winner will be announced 19 May.

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

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