opinionated commentary on literary matters - from the complete review

       (American) National Book Award for Translated Literature longlist

       The (American) National Book Foundation has announced the longlist for its Award for Translated Literature -- ten titles selected from 141 (unfortunately not revealed) submissions.

       I will be getting to the Solvej Balle soon(est), but three of the titles are already under review at the complete review:

• Saskia Vogel's translation of Linnea Axelsson's Ædnan
  
  
• Ranya Abdelrahman and Sawad Hussain's translation of Bothayna Al-Essa's The Book Censor's Library
  
  
• Roland Glasser's translation of Fiston Mwanza Mujila's The Villain's Dance

       The finalists in this and all the NBA categories will be announced 1 October, and the winners on 20 November.

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

---

       Wilhelm Raabe-Literaturpreis

       The Wilhelm Raabe Literary Prize pays out €30,000 -- €5000 more than the German Book Prize -- and they've now announced this year's winner, Saša Stanišić's possibly too long-titled Möchte die Witwe angesprochen werden, platziert sie auf dem Grab die Gießkanne mit dem Ausguss nach vorne; see also the Luchterhand foreign rights page.

       Several Stanišić-titles have been translated into English -- e.g. Where You Come From -- but apparently foreign rights for this one have only been sold to ... Poland.

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

---

       Hawthornden Prize

       They've announced the winner of this year's Hawthornden Prize for Literature, "one of Britain's oldest literary awards" and paying out £15,000, and it is Orbital by Samantha Harvey.

       I haven't seen this one but am curious about it; it's also been longlisted for this year's Booker Prize.

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

---

       A Muzzle for Witches review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Merima Omeragić in conversation with Dubravka Ugrešić, A Muzzle for Witches -- Ugrešić's final book, just (about) out in English, from Open Letter.

       A couple of weeks ago, Open Letter's Chad Post tweeted that: "our distributor advanced a grand total of 143 units of Dubravka Ugresic's MUZZLE FOR WITCHES to ALL indie bookstores across the country", and also that: "They project sales of 175 TOTAL through indie stores, and 840 units across all sales channels" -- which is both shocking and depressing.
       Surely, Ugrešić has more of a following, and it's hard to imagine this, her final word, not shifting more copies. But perhaps such really is the contemporary literary (ha !) marketplace (as she was all too well aware of ...) .....

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

       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 -

---

       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.

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

---

       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.

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

---

       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.

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

---

       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.

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

---

       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.

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

---

       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 -

---

       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 -

---

       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 -

---

       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 -

---

       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 -

---

       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 -

---

       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 -

---

       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 -

       Daisy Rockwell Q & A

       Geetanjali Shree's Our City That Year is now out in English -- see the India Hamish Hamilton publicity page, and this excerpt --, translated by Daisy Rockwell, who also translated Shree's International Booker Prize-winning Tomb of Sand, and in the Hindustan Times Chintan Girish Modi has a Q & A with Daisy Rockwell – “Do whatever you need to do, but do not remain silent”.
       US and UK editions will eventually be available -- the US edition from HarperVia; see their publicity page, or pre-order your copy at Amazon.com.

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

---

       Naguib Mahfouz Medal shortlist

       The American University in Cairo Press has announced the shortlist for this year's Naguib Mahfouz Medal, a leading Arabic-language novel prize.
       There are six titles left in the running, selected from 181 submissions from 18 countries.
       The winner will be announced 11 December.

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

       Fall previews

       New fall book previews include Time's The 32 Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2024 and Hillel Italie at AP on how Fall is bringing fantasy (and romantasy), literary fiction, politics and Taylor-ed book offerings.

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

---

       Harlequin Butterfly review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of EnJoe Toh's Akutagawa Prize-winning Harlequin Butterfly, another in Pushkin Press' Japanese novella series.

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

       Prix Transfuge

       It's 'rentrée littéraire'-time in France, the annual seasonal big flood of books unleashed on the market, and the prix Transfuge, awarded in nine categories, suggests some of the big titles; see this year's winners -- with Kamel Daoud's Houris winning for best French novel; see also the Gallimard publicity page.
       There's no general foreign fiction prize, but they do honor the best Latin American, 'Anglo-Saxon' (i.e. English-language), and Russian novels.

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

---

       Literature in ... Taiwan

       In the Taipei Times Thomas Bird talks with Grayhawk literary agent and Books from Taiwan editor in chief Joshua Dyer about 'what's hot in contemporary Taiwanese literature', in Making literary waves.

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

       Weston International Award

       They've announced the winner of this year's Weston International Award -- a C$75,000 author prize administered by Writers' Trust of Canada, honoring: "career achievement in nonfiction writing" -- and it is Butter Chicken in Ludhiana-author Pankaj Mishra

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

---

       Leonard Riggio (1941-2024)

       Longtime Barnes & Noble head Leonard Riggio has passed away; see, for example, Hillel Italie's AP report.

       I grew up near the 105 Fifth Avenue flagship store -- before B & N became a superstore empire -- and it was a favored haunt (along with the Sales Annex across the street ...) in my teen years. The 'superstores' were, over the years, of very uneven quality, but at their best at least some of them were pretty good.

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

---

       Precipice review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Robert Harris' latest novel, his semi-documentary Precipice.

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

       New World Literature Today

       The September/October issue of World Literature Today is now out, with a feature on 'Contemporary Women's Literature in Japan' -- and, of course, the extensive book review section.

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

---

       William Saroyan Prize

       They've announced the winners of this year's William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, a biennial prize "encouraging and celebrating the works of new and emerging writers", and they are 8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster, by Mirinae Lee, and Orphan Bachelors, by Fae Myenne Ng.

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

       M.G.Vassanji Q & A

       At Scroll.in Mandira Nayar has a Q & A with the author, in ‘If I was a believer, I’d talk like him’: Why MG Vassanji wrote a novel about physicist Abdus Salam.
       The novel is Everything There Is; see, for example, the Anchor Canada publicity page.

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

---

       Wole Soyinka in Cuba

       At Radio Havana Cuba they report on Wole Soyinka picking up the Haydée Santamaría Medal in Cuba -- awarded to him: "by Presidential Decree No. 874" -- , in Cuban president talks with Nigerian Nobel Literature Prize winner Wole Soyinka.

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

---

       Coming in the fall

       As part of The Observer's 'Autumn fiction special' they look at The best new novels for autumn 2024, from Sally Rooney to Jonathan Coe and Haruki Murakami. Mainly big titles, but certainly some of interest.
       UK-based, many of these titles have diferent US release dates ......

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

       French slush-pile prize

       The French have a seemingly endless number of literary prizes -- including the Prix Envoyé par La Poste, which is basically for a (now published) book that was an (unsolicited) manuscript sent in the mail (hence the postal service backers of the prize), and they've now announced this year's winner, À l’ombre des choses, by Anatole Edouard Nicolo; see also all of this year's finalists.
       See also the Calmann-Lévy publicity page.

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

---

       North Korean fiction

       As I've often mentioned, we see far too little North Korean fiction in translation. Fortunately, the weblog North Korean Literature in English provides -- and shares -- the occasional glimpse of North Korean fiction; so also now with 부쉬소동 -- described there as, as the post-title has it: Much Ado about Bush (2004): Mafia goons take over the White House.
       Why is no one publishing this stuff in English ? Yes, yes, I know ... still, for all the South Korean fiction getting published in translation, we really deserve to see this kind of stuff as well. As wild as some of the latest South Korean fiction is, this is surely hard to top.

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

---

       The Seventh Veil of Salome review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's new novel, The Seventh Veil of Salome.

       Given my longtime preöccupation with the Salome-story, culminating in my recent novel Salome in Graz, of course I had to review this -- indeed, it's hardly surprising that this turned out to be the longest review on the site so far this year.

       It certainly has a more ... eye-catching cover ...:

       ... than my novel:

       (But I do explain About the cover .....)

       Moreno-Garcia does also offer an extensive (Spotify) playlist with her novel -- but no Strauss !

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

       Prêmio Oceanos longlists

       The longlists for this year's Prêmio Oceanos -- a leading Lusophone literary award -- are out, in the two categories, poetry and prose+ (including drama and short story collections); see, for example, the report at publishnews.
       These are long lists -- thirty titles in each category -- but consider how many they were selected from: 1207 (warning ! dreaded pdf format !) in the poetry category and 1420 (warning ! dreaded pdf format !) in the prose+ category. (Yes, admirably they reveal all the titles considered -- as every literary prize should !)
       So next time the Booker judges whinge again about how many books they have to consider -- ooh, all of ... 156 novels this year ... -- point them to this prize ......

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

---

       Prix du Titre finalists

       The prix du Titre de Hôtel de Paris -- a French literary prize that focuses first on the title of a work ... -- has announced its finalists; see, for example, the report at ActuaLitté.

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

       Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize

       They've announced the winner of this year's Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize -- honoring an outstanding literary translation from German into English published in the USA or Canada -- , and it is Jon Cho-Polizzi, for his translation of Max Czollek's De-Integrate.
       See also the Restless Books publicity page for De-Integrate.

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

---

       Susan Bernofsky Q & A

       At Asymptote Xiao Yue Shan speaks with the Tawada Yoko-translator, in Nocturnal Tonguejests: Susan Bernofsky on translating Paul Celan and the Trans-Tibetan Angel.
       Paul Celan and the Trans-Tibetan Angel is the title of the US edition -- published by New Directions; see their publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com -- but this is being published in the UK as Spontaneous Acts, by Dialogue Books; see their publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.co.uk, and Bernofsky does address this publisher-in(s)anity:

The UK title, Spontaneous Acts, also has an interesting story, because Dialogue Books -- which is a really great publishing house -- had a vision for the book that was, among other things, a little more commercial than the New Directions version. We asked Yoko Tawada what she thought about Spontaneous Acts, and she said it seemed like a fine title to her. She's very interested in rolling the dice and seeing what comes up, so now we have a chance to see what fortunes this book will have under the title Spontaneous Acts. Will the different titles and different covers find different readerships ?

       (As I've often noted, I think it is ridiculous and foolish for different English-language translations (or originals for that matter) to have different titles in different markets -- especially in this age of online-look-up. But publishers obviously know what they are doing ..... And this isn't the first time they've done this to a Tawada-work: what was published as The Emissary in the US was published as The Last Children of Tokyo in the UK)
       Dialogue Books is new to me -- but, as a Hachette UK imprint, is certainly much more commercial than US independent New Directions, and I guess it's good to see Tawada hit it big(ger) in this way.

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

---

       Heinrich-Heine-Preis

       They've announced the winner of this year's Heinrich Heine Prize, a biennial German author prize paying out €50,000, awarded: "to personalities 'who, through their intellectual work in the spirit of the fundamental human rights for which Heinrich Heine campaigned, promote social or political progress, serve international understanding or spread the knowledge of the unity of all people'", and it is Writing in the Dark-author David Grossman.
       Yuri Andrukhovych got the prize in 2022, and previous winners include Max Frisch (1989), W.G.Sebald (2000), Elfriede Jelinek (2002), and Amos Oz (2008).

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

---

       Best Australian 21st century books ?

       Another best-of-the-21st-century books-list is out, as The Conversation presents their Best Australian books of the 21st century: as chosen by 50 experts.
       (And they let us know that we can look forward to a New Zealand version soon as well. Hey, every country should do this !)

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

       Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize longlist

       They've announced the longlist for this year's Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize, awarded for the finest work of: "non-fiction on modern and contemporary Indian history" -- ten titles, on a variety of subjects.

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

---

       Simenon's roman durs

       Georges Simenon wrote many books beyond the Maigret-novels, and in France they're now publishing a(n apparently) limited-times series, Le monde de Simenon -- his seventy roman durs; see also the accompanying article at Le Monde.

       Quite a few Simenon-titles are under review at the complete review -- both Maigret-novels (e.g. Maigret Hesitates) and roman durs (e.g. The Blue Room), as well as, for example, When I was Old -- but there's a lot more I'd love to get to. Penguin have brought out new translations of the Maigrets, as well as of some of the roman durs, but there are a lot more of these to get to -- and even some of those already out haven't gotten US editions .....

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

---

       Chinese 'small-town literature'

       In the Global Times Lin Xiaoyi offers a Deep focus: China’s ‘small-town literature’ goes viral on social media, reflecting people’s nostalgia for hometown amid rapid urbanization -- though the article focuses more on 'small-town literature'-inspired photography than the actual literary works.

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

       German Book Prize longlist

       They've announced the longlist for this year's German Book Prize, the biggest of the German novel awards, twenty titles selected from 197 (unfortunately not revealed ...) titles that were considered. (The jury apparently called in seventeen titles, as there were only 180 submissions.)
       There are quite a few familiar authors with titles in the running -- though none who have previously won the prize --, and several have other works which have been translated into English.
       The one I am most curious about is Clemens Meyer's Die Projektoren -- yet another very large-scale work by the author, not least in weighing in at 1056 pages. There are no German reviews up yet because the book is not yet out (release date is the 27th), but I think I'll have a look. (I was concerned that at over 1000 pages it might have trouble finding an English-language publisher, but I should have known better: world English rights have already gone to Fitzcarraldo Editions (who have had quite some success with Meyer previously); see also the S.Fischer foreign rights page).
       The shortlist will be announced 17 September, and the winner on 14 October.

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

---

       Saudi literature

       In Arab News Waad Hussain writes about how Saudi Arabia's literary renaissance captivates local and international audiences.
       And, apparently:

     The literary movement in Saudi Arabia can be divided into two main themes: “Cultural Reflections” and “Modern Narratives.”

       In any case, it's good to see there is a lot of activity -- and hopefully we'll see more in translation as well.

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

---

       The Night of Baba Yaga review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Otani Akira's The Night of Baba Yaga, recently out in the US from Soho Press, and coming soon in the UK, from Faber.

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

       Nepali literary magazines

       In The Kathmandu Post Abhi Subedi gives an overview of Nepali literary magazines, in Icons of literary times.

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

---

       New in the German dictionary

       Duden is the definitive German dictionary, and they now report that they've added 3000 new words (bringing the total to 148,000).
       Among those added, mentioned there or in the Börsenblatt-report, are way too many English words and phrases: 'Social Distancing', 'Bucketlist', 'Granola' ..... And to my disappointment 'die Awareness' is apparently not even pronounced Germanly ('a-vah-ray-ness') .....
       It's almost encouraging that 'Triggerwarnung', 'nerdig', and 'Gojibeere' have only made it in now -- though I am surprised 'Intimbehaarung' is new.

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

---

       FT Business Book of the Year longlist

       They've announced the longlist for this year's Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year, sixteen titles selected from more than 600 (unfortunately not revealed, sigh ...) entries.
       The shortlist will be announced 17 September, and the winner on 9 December.

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

---

       Office Politics review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Wilfrid Sheed's 1966 novel, Office Politics, back in print (shortly), in a new edition from McNally Editions.

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

go to archive

- return to top of the page -

© 2024 the complete review


Main | the New | the Best | the Rest | Review Index | Links