opinionated commentary on literary matters - from the complete review

The Literary Saloon Archive

11 - 20 October 2023

11 October: Prémio Camões | Österreichischer Buchpreis shortlist | Dayton Literary Peace Prizes | Alfred Birnbaum Q & A
12 October: Shortlists: National Translation Awards - Scotiabank Giller Prize
13 October: China Books Review | The Wolves of Eternity review
14 October: Křesadlo's Ἀστροναυτιλία | Louise Glück (1943-2023) | Grand Prix du Roman finalists
15 October: Reading in ...Ukraine | 100 greatest film books ? | The Premonition review
16 October: Murakami and the Nobel | 'Challenges of Writing in Uncommon Literary Genres'
17 October: Deutscher Buchpreis | Grand prix de littérature américaine finalists | Big Fiction review
18 October: Cundill History Prize finalists | Unbound profile | The Pole review
19 October: Cercador Prize finalists | UK English-language exports | Arto Paasilinna | Prix de la littérature arabe finalists
20 October: Irish Book Awards shortlists | Salman Rushdie Q & A | Chinese classics | The House of Doors review

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       Irish Book Awards shortlists

       They've announced the shortlists for this year's An Post Irish Book Awards.
       There are nineteen categories -- including the Foras na Gaeilge Irish Language Fiction Book of the Year.
       The many winners will be announced 22 November.

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

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       Salman Rushdie Q & A

       At Deutsche Welle Stefan Dege has a Q & A with Salman Rushdie: 'Writers have no armies'.
       Rushdie will pick up the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade this weekend.

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

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       Chinese classics

       A great mail day here at the complete review yesterday included the first five volumes of the Hsu-Tang Library of Classical Chinese Literature -- a new series from Oxford University Press that: "will publish bilingual editions of literature from the Zhou Dynasty to the end of Imperial China in 1911".
       This certainly looks like it'll be able to stand nicely next to series such as the Loeb Classical Library®, the Murty Classical Library of India, and the Library of Arabic Literature -- and, as longtime readers well know, I'm a big fan of bilingual editions.
       It's an interesting-looking first batch -- the Pu Songling is obviously the first thing that caught my attention (for one, because it's by an author whose work I've actually read), but really the whole lot looks of considerable interest. I hope to have the first reviews up soon.

       These weren't the only classical Chinese arrivals: University of California Press has just come out with a four-volume translation, by Olivia Milburn, of Feng Menglong's Kingdoms in Peril -- certainly one of this year's most exciting big translations (and likely the biggest).
       I have several big books lined up for late fall and winner, but this certainly looks like it will be the big seasonal read.

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

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       The House of Doors review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Tan Twan Eng's Booker Prize-longlisted W. Somerset Maugham novel, The House of Doors, now also out in a US edition.

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

       Cercador Prize finalists

       They've announced the ten finalists for the new Cercador Prize, which: "recognizes works of literary translation as selected by a committee of independent booksellers".
       I have several of these, but none are under review at the complete review yet.
       The winner will be announced 13 November.

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

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       UK English-language exports

       At The Bookseller they report on the Alarm across Europe as English-language export editions skewer domestic markets, as there has been: "a surge of English-language sales into mainland Europe, driven in part by the BookTok phenomenon".
       Among other things, literary agent Rachel Mills notes:

It is a serious question of income for authors. The royalties they receive on UK export sales are a tiny percentage of those they receive on local-language edition sales.

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

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       Arto Paasilinna

       Interesting to hear that International Literary Properties makes major investment in the estate of Finnish literary icon, Arto Paasilinna.
       While several of his works have been translated into English, he isn't anywhere near as popular in the US/UK as he is in many other markets.
       Several of his works are under review at the complete review:

• The Howling Miller
• Hurmaava joukkoitsemurha
• Maailman paras kylä
• Paratiisisaaren vangit
• The Year of the Hare

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

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       Prix de la littérature arabe finalists

       They've announced the eight titles in the running for this year's prix de la littérature arabe, a French literary prize for a work by an author from an Arab League-country, written in or translated into French; see, for example, the Livres Hebdo report.
       The winner will be announced 28 November.

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

       Cundill History Prize finalists

       They've announced the three finalists for the Cundill History Prize, a US$75,000 prize for a: "book that embodies historical scholarship, originality, literary quality and broad appeal".
       The winner will be announced 8 November.

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       Unbound profile

       At Print Kim Tidwell profiles Unbound Edition Press, in Meet the Small Press Subverting Traditional Publishing With Its Brand.

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       The Pole review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Nobel laureate J.M.Coetzee's The Pole.

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

       Deutscher Buchpreis

       They've announced the winner of this year's German Book Prize, the leading German-language novel prize, and it is Tonio Schachinger's Echtzeitalter; see also the Rowohlt foreign rights page.
       Interestingly, this didn't even make the longlist for this year's Austrian Book Prize.
       I have a (sigh, e-)copy of this and I've dipped into it; I guess I should now review it .....

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

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       Grand prix de littérature américaine finalists

       They've narrowed down the number of contenders for this year's Grand prix de littérature américaine -- a French award for the best American work of fiction in translation -- to three finalists; see, for example, the Livres Hebdo report.
       The finalists are Emma Cline's The Guest, Aleksandar Hemon's The World and All That It Holds, and Maggie Shipstead's Great Circle.
       The winner will be announced 6 November.

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

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       Big Fiction review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Dan Sinykin on How Conglomeration Changed the Publishing Industry and American Literature, in Big Fiction, just out from Columbia University Press.

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       Murakami and the Nobel

       I'd almost thought we'd get through the Nobel season without a 'Why didn't Murakami Haruki get it ?' article, but at Scroll.in Arunima Mazumdar now comes in with a late entry, wondering: Is popularity the reason Haruki Murakami does not win the Nobel Prize, or is it compensation for it ?
       (Quick answers: no, and huh ?)

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

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       'Challenges of Writing in Uncommon Literary Genres'

       I'm intrigued by the Arab News article on how Saudi experts discuss challenges in uncommon literary genres.
       Interestingly -- cruelly -- what these "unique literary domains", these "less common literary genres" might be remains unrevealed .....

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

       Reading in ...Ukraine

       The New Voice of Ukraine reports -- in very summary form -- on a recent report on reading in Ukraine --, in Ukrainians are reading significantly more during war -- and Russian-language books are disappearing.

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

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       100 greatest film books ?

       The Hollywood Reporter has put together a list of The 100 Greatest Film Books of All Time -- "determined by a jury of more than 300 Hollywood heavyweights".
       Good to see some novels in the mix, too -- though none of the titles are under review at the complete review.

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

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       The Premonition review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Yoshimoto Banana's 1988 novel, The Premonition -- just out in English from Counterpoint (in the US) and Faber & Faber (in the UK).

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

       Křesadlo's Ἀστροναυτιλία

       I reviewed Jan Křesadlo's GraveLarks a while back, but of course the work I'd really love to cover is his amazing Ἀστροναυτιλία / Hvězdoplavba -- read it here (warning ! dreaded pdf format ! and big ! ca. 80 MB !).
       At Antigone Ben Broadbent now writes about this: "epic, written in Homeric Greek hexameters, 6,576 lines in length;", with accompanying Czech translation, -- "an outlandish space opera" ! -- in The Last of the Greek Aoidoi: Jan Křesadlo’s Astronautilia.
       Awesome to hear Broadbent reporting:

I am editing this near daily, and have started writing to publishers. I hope that, before long, it might be published, so that everyone will be able to read what is not only the longest Ancient Greek epic in centuries but a masterwork in its own right.

       Come on publishers ! Don't pass this up ! I want to see a trilingual edition !

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

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       Louise Glück (1943-2023)

       2020 Nobel laureate Louise Glück has passed away; see, for example, the obituaries in The New York Times, The Guardian, and the Yale Daily News.

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

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       Grand Prix du Roman finalists

       The Académie française has announced the three finalists for this year's Grand Prix du Roman.

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

       China Books Review

       They held a launch event yesterday for the new China Books Review -- "a new hub for intelligent commentary on all things China and bookish, publishing reviews, essays, lists and more".
       It looks promising.

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

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       The Wolves of Eternity review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Karl Ove Knausgaard's latest novel, The Wolves of Eternity, just out in English from Penguin Press (in the US) and Harvill Secker (in the UK).

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

       Shortlists: National Translation Awards

       The American Literary Translators Association has announced the shortlists for its National Translation Awards in Poetry and Prose.
       One title in each category is under review at the complete review -- So Distant From My Life by Monique Ilboudo, in Yarri Kamara's translation, and Flight and Metamorphosis by Nelly Sachs, translated by Joshua Weiner with Linda B. Parshall.
       The winners will be announced 11 November.

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

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       Shortlist: Scotiabank Giller Prize

       They've announced the shortlist for this year's Scotiabank Giller Prize, a leading Canadian fiction prize.
       I haven't seen any of these.
       The winner will be announced 13 November.

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

       Prémio Camões

       They've announced the winner of this year's Prémio Camões de Literatura, the leading Lusophone author award, and it is João Barrento.
       None of his work appears to be available in English; he is also a noted translator, from German.

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

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       Österreichischer Buchpreis shortlist

       They've announced the shortlist for this year's Austrian Book Prize.
       Other books by the authors of four of the five finalists have been translated into English -- and the English-language rights for the fifth, the Teresa Präauer, have been sold (to Pushkin Press).
       I have an e-copy of the Setz, which I'd like to get to -- but ... it's an e-copy .....

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

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       Dayton Literary Peace Prizes

       They've announced (warning ! dreaded pdf format !) the winners of this year's Dayton Literary Peace Prizes, with Geraldine Brooks' Horse the winner in the fiction category.

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

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       Alfred Birnbaum Q & A

       At Matt Alt's Pure Invention there's An interview with Alfred Birnbaum -- translator of several Murakami Haruki works, among others.
       Birnbaum says:

Most recently, though, I’ve been concentrating on writing my own fiction. There have been very few commissions coming in and Covid killed off a lot of smaller publishers, added to the fact that reading books has generally declined in competition with the net and other media. Also, I find I’m not very interested in current trends in Japanese writing -- or at least I haven’t tried to keep up.

       Disappointing not to hear anything about his efforts at translation from Burmese; he mentions having moved to Burma, and he did co-translate, with his wife, Nu Nu Yi's Smile as they Bow.

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

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