opinionated commentary on literary matters - from the complete review

The Literary Saloon Archive

11 - 15 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

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       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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