opinionated commentary on literary matters - from the complete review

The Literary Saloon Archive

21 - 30 November 2025

21 November: The Saltires | Wingate Prize longlist
22 November: Ottilie Mulzet Q & A | The Snow Was Dirty review
23 November: Knausgård profile | Reading in ... Iran
24 November: Literature in ... South Korea | The Cavalier review
25 November: Generative AI and the novel | Staatspreis für literarische Übersetzung | The Four Deaths and One Resurrection of Fyodor Mikhailovich review
26 November: NYTBR 100 Notable Books of 2025 | Freudenheim Translation Prize longlist | William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award
27 November: QSSI Translation Prize | South Korean literature abroad
28 November: Warwick Prize | Jan Michalski Prize | Jenny Erpenbeck Q & A | Gordon Burn Prize longlist
29 November: Prix Jacques Delors
30 November: Tom Stoppard (1937-2025) | Margaret Atwood takes questions | Palanca Awards | Night School review

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       Tom Stoppard (1937-2025)

       Very sad to hear that Tom Stoppard has passed away; as longtime readers know, I was a great admirer of his work. See, for example, the obituaries at the BBC, The Guardian, and The New York Times (presumably paywalled).
       Quite a few of his plays are under review at the complete review:

• Arcadia
• The Coast of Utopia
  • Part I - Voyage
  • Part II - Shipwreck
  • Part III - Salvage
• Enter a Free Man
• Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
• Hapgood
• The Invention of Love
• Jumpers
• Night and Day
• Professional Foul
• The Real Thing
• Rock 'n' Roll

       There are also several works about Stoppard under review:

• Mel Gussow's Conversations with Stoppard
• The Cambridge Companion to Tom Stoppard, ed. K.E.Kelly
• Ira Nadel's Double Act: A Life of Tom Stoppard (also: Tom Stoppard: A Life)
• John Fleming on Stoppard's Theatre

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       Margaret Atwood takes questions

       In The Guardian they have 'famous fans put their questions to the visionary author', in ‘If I was American, I’d be worried about my country’: Margaret Atwood answers questions from Ai Weiwei, Rebecca Solnit and more.
       Other questioning fans include: George Saunders, Jonathan Franzen, Amitav Ghosh, and Ali Smith.

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       Palanca Awards

       In the Philippines they've announced the 54 winners of the 71st Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature.

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       Night School review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Lee Child's 2016 Night School, the twenty-first Jack Reacher novel.

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       Prix Jacques Delors

       They've announced the winner of this year's prix Jacques Delors du Livre européen, a best-European-book prize, and it is El loco de Dios en el fin del mundo, by Javier Cercas.
       This isn't out in English yet but will presumably be translated soon; meanwhile, see the Agencia Literaria Carmen Balcell information page.

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       Warwick Prize

       They've announced the winner of this year's Warwick Prize for Women in Translation, and it is And the Walls Became the World All Around by Johanna Ekström and Sigrid Rausing, in Rausing's translation; see also the Granta publicity page.

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       Jan Michalski Prize

       They've announced the winner of this year's Jan Michalski Prize for Literature, rewarding: "works of all literary genres, fiction or non-fiction, irrespective of the language in which it is written" (with CHF 50,000), and it is Still Born, by Guadalupe Nettel; see also the publicity pages from Bloomsbury and Fitzcarraldo Editions.

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       Jenny Erpenbeck Q & A

       At The Observer Ellen Peirson-Hagger has a Q & A with Jenny Erpenbeck: ‘I’ve seen a whole system collapse and fade away’ (registration requiring ?) -- mostly about her new collection, Things That Disappear; see also the publicity pages from New Directions and Granta.
       Among her responses:

Which German author do you think is underappreciated in the anglophone world ?

Heiner Müller.

       (The only Müller-work under review at the complete review is his Heartpiece.)

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

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       Gordon Burn Prize longlist

       New Writing North has announced the twelve-title-strong longlist for the 2026 Gordon Burn Prize, which: "recognises exceptional writing which has an unconventional perspective, style or subject matter and often defies easy categorisation".
       The winner will be announced 5 March 2026.

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

       QSSI Translation Prize

       They've announced the winner of this year's Queen Sofía Spanish Institute Translation Prize, and it is Lisa Dillman for her translation of Yuri Herrera's Season of the Swamp; see also the Graywolf publicity page.

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       South Korean literature abroad

       In The Korea Times Kwon Mee-yoo considers As Korean literature goes global, who chooses what books get read ?
       South Korean literature is doing well abroad -- but:

Industry insiders warn that the boom remains uneven. Despite greater attention, the Korean literature market is still relatively narrow, concentrated on a handful of bestsellers and "marketable" works.

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

       NYTBR 100 Notable Books of 2025

       The New York Times Book Review has released its list of what they consider the 100 Notable Books of 2025 (presumably paywalled).
       I ony counted four titles in translation on last year's list, but this year they appear to have an impressive ten -- though they are all in the fiction category. (Impressive that one-fifth of the fiction titles selected are translations; disappointing that no translated non-fiction rates.) Remember also that they restrict their list to books they reviewed or have scheduled to.
       Last year, only two of the 100 notables had been reviewed at the complete review when the list was released; this year, it's a (relatively ...) impressive five. Yes, all works of fiction; yes, all works in translation:

• The Director, by Daniel Kehlmann
• Killing Stella, by Marlen Haushofer
• On the Calculation of Volume (Book III), by Solvej Balle
• Perfection, by Vincenzo Latronico
• The Remembered Soldier, by Anjet Daanje

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       Freudenheim Translation Prize longlist

       The Jewish Literary Foundation has established a new prize, recognizing: "outstanding books that explore Jewish themes, history, identity or culture -- or are of significant interest to Jewish and wider audience", the Freudenheim Translation Prize, and they've announced the longlist for the inaugural 2026 prize.
       Three of the thirteen longlisted titles are under review at the complete review:

• The Hebrew Teacher by Maya Arad, translated by Jessica Cohen
• The Director by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Ross Benjamin
• Sons and Daughters by Chaim Grade, translated by Rose Waldman

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

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       William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award

       They've announced the winner of this year's William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award, and it is The Escape, by Pippa York and David Walsh; see also the Mudlark publicity pages, UK and US.

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       Generative AI and the novel

       A new report by Dr Clementine Collett, The impact of Generative AI on the novel (warning ! dreaded pdf format !), has been getting lots of media attention in recent days -- see the takes on it at the BBC, The Guardian or The Mirror, for example (though of course you should read and rely on the actual report -- that's one of the (last ?) great things about the internet, you can go straight to the source (and, of course, you always should)).
       This is of course a fascinating subject -- though the title of the report is somewhat misleading: as Collett acknowledges: "This report maps and centres the voices of almost 400 literary creatives (published novelists, fiction publishers, literary agents for fiction) in the UK" -- i.e. relies more on impressions (and whatever those surveyed and interviewed had to say) rather than actual facts as to how Generative AI may be affecting 'the novel'.
       (Also: I'm no great fan of and have my doubts about surveys, focus groups, and interviews -- especially when those involved have a vested interest in the report-results ..... Also, for example, of the 332 'literary creatives' responding to the survey here, 78 per cent stated their gender as female; Collett suggests that: "This reflects the homogeneity of the publishing industry in the UK. In 2024, just over two thirds (68%) of publishing professionals in the UK identified as female" but this still seems rather out of proportion .....)
       Fortunately, the report is detailed and far-reaching enough that there is quite a bit that is of interest here. Again, it's more opinion than actual facts -- very soft numbers rather than hard ones --, but a lot rings true, such as that: "GenAI was seen to threaten the displacement of genre fiction more than literary fiction", with majorities of respondents seeing Romance (66 per cent), Thriller/suspense (61 per cent), and Crime (60 per cent) as "extremely threatened".
       And it's amusing to hear that when, for example, Collett had her focus groups do an exercise for which they could use GenAI:

While they did not often consider that GenAI produced original material, they were usually stunned by the ability of GenAI to mimic style.

       As I've noted before, I am much more impressed by GenAi's creative output and potential than its value as information-resource. I haven't found the would-be factual information it provides me anywhere near reliable (to the extent that I actively avoid it when doing any kinds of 'research') -- but, damn, it can do pastiche. (It is also very good at summarizing and to some extent analyzing specific information/texts that it is fed.)
       Somewhat overlooked here seems to me also the fact that GenAI can work (i.e. spit out written work) so much faster than humans. So, for example:

Generally, while AI was thought to be valuable for its ability to speed up repetitive or routine tasks, it was seen to have very little place in creativity

       But it can speed up the 'creative' part as well: if you don't like one version of a novel it has written it can re-write the whole damn thing for you essentially instantly (taking into account and adjusting whatever you objected to, if so prompted) -- and can do so endlessly. A nightmare Borgesian library awaits .....

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       Staatspreis für literarische Übersetzung

       They've announced the winners of the Austrian State Prize for Literary Translation -- awarding €15,000 each to a translator into German (Brigitte Hilzensauer) and a translator from German (Relja Dražić). In addition, they awarded grants to 51 (!) more translators, totaling €84,000.

       Great to see such government support for translation -- but it's a shame so few countries are able and willing to provide it .....

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       The Four Deaths and One Resurrection of Fyodor Mikhailovich review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Zoran Živković doing Dostoevsky, in the collection The Four Deaths and One Resurrection of Fyodor Mikhailovich.

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

       Literature in ... South Korea

       In The Chosun Daily Hwang Ji-yoon reports 'Sales surge as 1990s-born authors dominate awards, attract younger demographics', in Young Writers, Readers Propel Korean Literature's Golden Age.
       Impressively:

(N)ovel sales in the domestic publishing market have significantly increased this year. While 5.2 million copies were sold cumulatively from January to September last year, this year saw 6.37 million copies sold in the same period, marking a 22.5% increase.

       Interestingly, the increase seems largely due only to domestic novels, with barely an increased interest in foreign ones:

From January to September this year, Korean novel sales increased by 46.9% compared to last year, while overseas novel sales grew by just 0.8%, remaining stagnant.

       Poetry also seems to be doing well -- though I don't know about those titles:

Cha Jeong-eun’s (19) *Tomato Cup Ramen*, a poetry collection she self-published while in her second year of high school, has sold over 50,000 copies. Ko Sun-kyung (28) rose to become a ‘literary idol’ with her debut collection *Shower Gel and Soda Water*. Yoo Sun-hye’s (27) debut poetry collection *Read Love and Extinction Interchangeably*, published in October of last year, has exceeded 13 printings.

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       The Cavalier review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Nathalie Quintane's The Cavalier, just out in English, from World Editions.

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       Knausgård profile

       Karl Ove Knausgård has a new book out (in the UK; you have to wait until January in the US), The School of Night, -- "Knausgård’s 21st book" -- and in The Guardian Chris Power has a profile of the author, in ‘I knew I was doing something I shouldn’t’: Karl Ove Knausgård on the fallout from My Struggle and the dark side of ambition.
       Among Power's observations:

He says he doesn’t really do research. In the case of a meticulously detailed episode in which Kristian repeatedly boils and attempts to skin a dead cat for a photography project, this comes as something of a relief.

       Despite Power's description of the new novel being: "soaked in death, veined with examples of life's ephemerality" I look forward to seeing it; the first three novels in The Morning Star-series are under review at the complete review, beginning with.

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       Reading in ... Iran

       The Institute for Culture, Art and Communication has released the latest report on فرهنگ کتابخوانی در ایران (warning ! dreaded pdf format !); see also the WANA summary-report, How Much Do Iranians Read Books ?
       Only: "41.1% of respondents said they read books, while 58.9% reported that they do not read books at all" -- while: "Among book readers, the average annual purchase is 11 books" At least: "fiction and novels are the most popular genre, preferred by 21.2% of readers".

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       Ottilie Mulzet Q & A

       At the Hindustan Times Chintan Girish Modi has a Q & A with Ottilie Mulzet: “None of Krasznahorkai’s works is easy to translate”.

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       The Snow Was Dirty review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Georges Simenon's 1948 novel, The Snow Was Dirty (in the most recent -- Howard Curtis' -- translation, available as a Penguin Classics, and coming from Picador in the US in the spring, as part of their Simenon re-issues deluge; it's also been translated as The Snow was Black, The Stain on the Snow, and Dirty Snow).

       When the first UK translation came out The Times reviewed it together with Robert Musil's The Man without Qualities -- as then did the Sunday Times (also throwing in Elizabeth Taylor's The Sleeping Beauty for good (counter ?) measure) -- and the pairing isn't nearly as far-fetched as it might seem. The Snow Was Dirty is one of Simenon's (many, many) durs -- and another impressive piece of work, and reminder of just how amazing his output is, not just in quantity (twenty-one of his books are under review at the complete review and that's not even a tenth of it) but in (sustained over the decades) quality.
       Simenon was nominated for the Nobel Prize at least ten times (we only have the records until 1975 so far; presumably he was nominated a few more times after that as well), and there's a good argument to be made that he would have been a deserving winner.
       (New York Review Books brought out some of these Simenons back in the day; their 2003 edition of this one, as Dirty Snow, came with an Afterword by William T. Vollmann.)

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

       The Saltires

       They've announced the winners of this year's The Saltires, Scotland's National Book Awards, with A Woman of Opinion by Sean Lusk taking the Fiction Book of the Year prize.

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

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       Wingate Prize longlist

       I missed this last week, but they've announced the longlist for the 2026 Wingate Prize -- "awarded to the best book, fiction or non-fiction, to convey the idea of Jewishness to the general reader".
       The longlist consists of five novels and seven works of non-fiction.

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

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