opinionated commentary on literary matters - from the complete review

The Literary Saloon Archive

11 - 20 May 2025

11 May: Translation today | Oromay review
12 May: 'Elif Shafak on why we still need novels' | Rebecca Solnit profile
13 May : Encore Award shortlist | Small-format paperbacks | The Holy Innocents review
14 May: Onitsha Market Literature exhibit | Baifang Schell Book Prize | Wortmeldungen Literaturpreis
15 May: Ockham NZ Book Awards | Princess of Asturias Awards | Orwell Prize finalists | Climate Fiction Prize
16 May: Dylan Thomas Prize | Nahid Rachlin (1939-2025) | Miles Franklin longlist | Salome in Graz anniversary
17 May: RSL Ondaatje Prize | Unbound in administration | The Summer House review
18 May: Paul Durcan (1944-2025) | Sophie Kerr Prize
19 May: Jerusalem Prize
20 May: EU Prize for Literature | Libris Literatuur Prijs | NSW Literary Awards

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       EU Prize for Literature

       They've announced the winner of this year's European Union Prize for Literature, selected from the thirteen books from the thirteen countries in the running this year (the prize rotates through the EU-member states on a three-year cycle), and it is I Giorni di Vetro, by Nicoletta Verna; see also the Einaudi publicity page.

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

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       Libris Literatuur Prijs

       They've announced the winner of this year's Libris Literatuur Prijs, one of the leading Dutch-language novel prizes, paying out €50,000, and it is Oroppa, by Safae el Khannoussi; see also the Dutch Foundation for Literature information page.
       This already won one of the other big Dutch-language book prizes, de Boon, which also pays out €50,000 -- see my previous mention -- so maybe something to look out for; its translation into English seems to be a given.

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

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       NSW Literary Awards

       They've announced the winners of this year's NSW Literary Awards; no press release at the official site yet, last I checked, so you have to frustratingly click through each category, but see, for example, all the winners conveniently listed here, at the ABC site.
       36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem by Nam Le took Book of the Year, while Highway 13, by Fiona McFarlane, won the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, and Elizabeth Bryer's translation of Eduardo Sangarcía's The Trial of Anna Thalberg took the Translation Prize.

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

       Jerusalem Prize

       The Jerusalem International Book Fair has apparently been remade as the Jerusalem International Book Forum, and after some postponements was supposed to be held around now -- but that apparently hasn't worked out either, as:

It is with great regret that we must inform you of the cancellation of the 2025 Jerusalem International Book Forum (JIBF). Unfortunately, a wave of airlines temporarily suspending their fights to Israel, lead many participants to withdraw. Under the current circumstances -- when the diversity of international perspectives that characterize the forum cannot be fully realized -- we felt it is impossible to carry out the program as planned.

       They are awarding the Jerusalem Prize however, a biennial prize that was last awarded in 2021, with Submission-author Michel Houellebecq apparently having managed to get a flight in to pick up the prize.

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

       Paul Durcan (1944-2025)

       Irish poet Paul Durcan has passed away; see, for example, the obituaries in the Irish Times and at RTÉ.

       Several of his books are under review at the complete review:

• Christmas Day
• Greetings to our Friends in Brazil
• A Snail in my Prime

       Greetings to our Friends in Brazil was one of the first books I requested when I started the site, and it was the third review copy I ever received, back in the summer of 1999.

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

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       Sophie Kerr Prize

       Washington College has announced the winner of this year's Sophie Kerr Prize -- "the nation's largest undergraduate literary prize", paying out over US$74,000 this year -- and it is Sky Abruzzo; see, for example, the Washington College News Service report Manassas Native Wins $74k Sophie Kerr Prize from Washington College, here at The Chestertown Spy.

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

       RSL Ondaatje Prize

       The Royal Society of Literature has announced the winner of this year's RSL Ondaatje Prize, awarded for: "a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry, evoking the spirit of a place", and it is Clear, by Carys Davies; see also the publicity pages from Granta and Scribner.

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

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       Unbound in administration

       As Dominic Bernard reports in Printweek, Pre-pack publisher Unbound leaves £2.4m hole in creditors.
       The Unbound saga is an unfortunate one, as:

238 authors and agents were collectively owed £657,000 by the failed business and are also unlikely to receive a dividend, along with the nearly 8,000 website customers owed £391,000.

       Apparently:

Unbound had operated at a loss since its foundation in 2012, relying on investors to sustain operations. While it eventually reached profitability in 2023, it failed to secure the further capital necessary to stabilise its position, and ongoing trading losses and cash flow demands forced it to failure.

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

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       The Summer House review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Matsuie Masashi's Yomiuri Prize-winning novel The Summer House -- coming out in the UK as Summer at Mount Asama.
       Yes, this is yet another of these books where the US and UK publishers went with different titles -- still one of the things that baffles me most about contemporary publishing, where online-discovery knows no borders and is much relied on.

       Still -- a decent summer read, if you really want something nicely leisurely-paced.

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

       Dylan Thomas Prize

       They'e announced the winner of this year's Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize -- "Awarded for the best published literary work in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under," -- and it is The Coin, by Yasmin Zaher; see also the publicity pages from Footnote and Catapult.

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

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       Nahid Rachlin (1939-2025)

       Iranian-born author Nahid Rachlin has passed away; see, for example, Rebecca Chao's obituary (presumably paywalled) in The New York Times.

       None of her work is under review at the complete review, but I read and enjoyed her first few books.

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

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       Miles Franklin longlist

       They've announced the longlist for this year's Miles Franklin Literary Award, which: "celebrates novels of the highest literary merit that tell stories about Australian life".
       Among the longlisted titles is Theory & Practice by Michelle de Kretser, and books by Brian Castro and Tim Winton.

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

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       Salome in Graz anniversary

       Yes, it was 119 years ago today, on16 May 1906, that Richard Strauss conducted the Austrian premiere of his opera Salome in Graz -- the event from which my novel, Salome in Graz, takes its title (though, in fact, many more Salome-versions and performances are also covered in the novel).

       With the new Metropolitan Opera production -- see my previous mention -- coming to venues all over the world tomorrow, in the Met's Live in HD-series -- check it out ! -- it's surely a good time to check out my novel; as well .....

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

       Ockham NZ Book Awards

       They've announced the winners of this year's Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, the leading New Zealand book prize(s).
       Delirious, by Damien Wilkins, was awarded the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction; see also the Te Herenga Waka University Press publicity page.

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

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       Princess of Asturias Awards

       They've started announcing the winners of this year's Princess of Asturias Awards, which are: "Aimed at rewarding the scientific, technical, cultural, social and humanitarian work carried out at an international level by individuals, institutions or groups of individuals or institutions" and pay out €50,000 each.
       Categories such as 'Concord' and 'Sports' are still to be announced, but The Crisis of Narration-author Byung-Chul Han will pick up the Award for Communication and Humanities, "recognizing the work of fostering and advancing the sciences and disciplines considered humanistic activities or any activity related to social communication in any of its forms" -- while the Award for Literature -- "recognizing the work of fostering and advancing literary creation in all its genres" -- goes to Eduardo Mendoza.
       Several of Mendoza's work are under review at the complete review:

• An Englishman in Madrid
• The Mystery of the Enchanted Crypt
• No Word From Gurb

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

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       Orwell Prize finalists

       The Orwell Foundation has announced the finalists for its prizes, including for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction.

       One of the fiction-category finalists is under review at the complete review -- Robert Harris' Precipice.

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

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       Climate Fiction Prize

       They've announcedthe winner of the inaugural Climate Fiction Prize -- paying out a tidy £10,000 -- and it is And so I Roar, by Abi Daré.

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

       Onitsha Market Literature exhibit

       At Yale University's Sterling Memorial Library they have a Onitsha Market Literature-exhibit, Street Talk: Pamphlet Literature of the Nigerian Marketplace, running through 7 September.
       At YaleNews Mike Cummings offers an overview, in Street talk: Exhibition explores the literary pulse of early post-colonial Nigeria.
       Sounds like a must-see, if you're in the neighborhood.

       Quite a bit of Onitsha Market Literature is under review at the complete review; Kurt Thometz's anthology Life Turns Man Up and Down remains the obvious place to start.

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

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       Baifang Schell Book Prize

       They've announced the winners of the inaugural Baifang Schell Book Prize, celebrating: "exceptional book-length works on or from China and the greater Sinophone world, published in English".
       The winner of the Award for Outstanding Translated Literature from Chinese Language is Taiwan Travelogue, by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, in Lin King's translation.

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

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       Wortmeldungen Literaturpreis

       They've announced the winner of this year's Wortmeldungen Ulrike Crespo Literaturpreis für kritische Kurztexte, a German prize for a shorter critical text, and it is Klick Klack, der Bergfrau erwacht.
       The prize pays out a generous €35,000; this year's text is 6381 words long, so it pays out almost €5.50 per word -- a stunning amount for a prose prize. (Some poetry prizes are in the same league, but few prose prizes come anywhere close.)

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

       Encore Award shortlist

       The Royal Society of Literature has announced the shortlist for its Encore Award, a prize for the best second book by an author.
       This prize has a pretty solid list of previous winners, including Iain Sinclair's Downriver (1991), Ali Smith's Hotel World (2002), and Sally Rooney's Normal People (2019).

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

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       Small-format paperbacks

       At Publishers Weekly Sam Spratford reports that HarperVia Launches Small-Format Paperback Line. It's to be called 'Nomad Editions', and:

The Nomad format, inspired by Japanese pocket novels, aims to balance portability and aesthetics in mass market paperbacks, according to the publisher.

       As longtime readers know, I am a big fan of the mass-market-paperback format -- and the Japanese pocket-sized-format is of course even better; I do love me a pocket-sized book .....
       HarperVia will be publishing three titles in the new imprint in November; see, for example, the publicity page for Morimi Tomihiko's The Tatami Galaxy.

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

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       The Holy Innocents review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Miguel Delibes' 1981 novel The Holy Innocents, now out in English in Yale University Press' The Margellos World Republic of Letters-series.

       Always good to see more Delibes available in English !

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

       'Elif Shafak on why we still need novels'

       At The Guardian they have: Given up on reading ? Elif Shafak on why we still need novels.
       She admits:

I am not claiming that novelists are wise. If anything, quite the opposite: we are a walking mess. But the long form contains insight, empathy, emotional intelligence and compassion.

       I certainly still need novels; couldn't live without them .....

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

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       Rebecca Solnit profile

       At The Independent Hannah Ewens profiles Rebecca Solnit: ‘Fiction was always treated as the most important, literary, aspirational goal – f*** that’.
       As the headline suggests, regarding fiction Solnit thinks it doesn't really deserve: "its elevated centrality"; I beg to differ.

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

       Translation today

       In The Age Nell Geraets reports Google translate ? No thanks, these writers prove their human worth.
       Author Mariana Enríquez is quoted, noting:

Throughout her career, during which she has been translated into over 20 languages, she has never read a poor translation, though some are more surprising than others.

“For example, Spanish from Argentina can sound very commanding. To us, it sounds gentle, but not to others,” she says. “So, when I read a text in French, it sounds too ornamented sometimes. It’s not that the translation is bad; it just doesn’t sound like me.”

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

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       Oromay review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Baalu Girma's 1983 novel Oromay -- a rare translation from the Amharic (apparently the first published by major publishers in the UK and US) that came out earlier this year.

       It's interesting to note that this was widely reviewed in the UK -- even the Daily Mail reviewed it ! -- but seems to have gotten no significant review coverage beyond the trades in the US. What gives ?

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

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