opinionated commentary on literary matters - from the complete review

The Literary Saloon Archive

1 - 10 May 2026

1 May: Edgar Allan Poe Awards | Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel longlist | Middlemen review
2 May: Katie Kitamura Q & A | Prix Émile Guimet finalists
3 May: 'God of the Little Road' exhibit
4 May: Annie Ernaux profile | Publishing in ... Asia
5 May: Pulitzer Prizes | Zbigniew Herbert Award
6 May: Joyce Carol Oates Prize | Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize longlist | Ethiopian monuments
7 May: Thomas-Mann-Preis | James Tait Black Prize on hold ?
8 May: EBRD Literature Prize finalists | Charles Ardai Q & A | OCM Bocas Prize
9 May: Jackson Poetry Prize | Philip Caputo (1941-2026)
10 May: AI and translation | Suzuki Koji (1957-2026)

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       AI and translation

       At The Guardian Philip Oltermann explores: ‘Being human helps’: despite rise of AI is there still hope for Europe’s translators ?
       Yes: "Even people who develop machine translation software concede there are tasks that remain beyond their product's reach" -- though one has to wonder: for how long .....

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

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       Suzuki Koji (1957-2026)

       Japanese author Suzuki Koji -- best-known for his novel Ring -- has passed away; see, for example, reports at nippon.com and the AV Club.
       Five of his novels are under review at the complete review.

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

       Jackson Poetry Prize

       Poets & Writers have announced the winner of this year's Jackson Poetry Prize, awarded to: "an American poet of exceptional talent" and paying out US$100,000, and it is Marianne Boruch.

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

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       Philip Caputo (1941-2026)

       American author Philip Caputo, best known for his A Rumor of War, has passed away; see, for example, the obituary in The New York Times (presumably paywalled) or David E. Petzal's In Memory of F&S Contributor Philip Caputo, 1941-2026 at ... Field & Stream.

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

       EBRD Literature Prize finalists

       The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has announced the finalists for its EBRD Literature Prize.
       One of the three finalists is under review at the complete review: Ice by Jacek Dukaj, translated by Ursula Phillips.
       The winner will be announced 2 July.

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

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       Charles Ardai Q & A

       At CrimeReads Alex Dueben has a Q & A with Charles Ardai on Noir, Comics, and the Ongoing Adventures of Hard Case Crime.
       Among his responses:

A lot has been written about the death of the mass market paperback, which is of course connected to the rise in ebooks, but I am curious what that’s looked like from your perspective as a publisher and editor, and how has this changed the way the imprint works and the business side of things ?

We started out publishing mass-market paperbacks, those wonderful pocket-sized volumes that resembled the sort our parents and grandparents carried on trains and read in motel rooms and that famously were sold in wire spinner racks in drugstores throughout the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. [...] Eventually, stores stopped wanting to carry these low-priced, pocket-sized books (though I don’t think readers ever stopped enjoying them) [...] No one can stay in business with a 70% return rate (never mind 80% or 90%), and in fact the first publishing partner we worked with, the venerable Dorchester Publishing, which put out books only in the mass-market format, did go out of business.

When we hooked up with Titan Books after Dorchester’s demise, they made it clear it would be trade paperbacks and hardcovers only – but every publisher that offered to work with us said the same thing, so it wasn’t really a choice. We had to publish in a larger format or not publish at all.

       A number of Hard Case Crime books are under review at the complete review -- but, yeah, I miss those mass-market paperback volumes .....

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

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       OCM Bocas Prize

       They announced the winner of this year's OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature , and it is The Snag by Tessa McWatt, the nonfiction category-winner.
       See also the publicity pages for The Snag from Random House and Scribe.

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

       Thomas-Mann-Preis

       They've announced the winner of this year's Thomas Mann Prize, a leading German author prize, and it is To the End of the Land-author David Grossman; see, for example, the Börsenblatt report.
       He gets to pick up the prize on 25 September.

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

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       James Tait Black Prize on hold ?

       As Jane Bradley reports at The Scotsman, there's a Threat to UK's oldest literary prize with DH Lawrence among winners amid university strike action, as lead judge of the The James Tait Black Prizes -- "The UK's longest running literary award" -- Hannah Kate Boast has announced that: "at present, there will be no prize".
       At issue is: "a marketing and assessment boycott" at the University of Edinburgh.

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

       Joyce Carol Oates Prize

       New Literary Project has announced the winner of this year's Joyce Carol Oates Prize, which honors: "mid-career authors of fiction who advance the vision and mission of NewLit -- to drive social change and unleash artistic power across the generations and the nation", and it is Erika Krouse.

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

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       Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize longlist

       They've announced the longlist for this year's Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize.
       Awarded to translations "published for the first time in print form in the United Kingdom in the year 2025", the list includes some that came out in the US years ago, including the one longlisted title under review at the complete review, Susan Bernofsky's translation of Tawada Yoko's The Naked Eye.

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

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       Ethiopian monuments

       As reported by the Ethiopian News Agency, Addis Ababa Unveils Monuments Honoring Ethiopia's Legendary Artists, Literary Icons.
       Among those honored were literary figures Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin and Seed-author Sebhat Gebre-Egziabher.

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

       Pulitzer Prizes

       They've announced the winners of this year's Pulitzer Prizes, with Angel Down by Daniel Kraus taking the Fiction prize; the other finalists were Audition by Katie Kitamura and Stag Dance by Torrey Peters.
       No literary critics were finalists in the Criticism category.

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

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       Zbigniew Herbert Award

       They've announced the winner of this year's Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award, and it is Ana Blandiana.
       Quite a few of her books have been translated into English, including the recent(ly translated) collection The Shadow of Words; see the Bloodaxe publicity page.

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

       Annie Ernaux profile

       Nobel laureate Annie Ernaux participated in this year's Salon International de l'Edition et du Livre, and at Morocco World News Firdaous Naim now reports on how At SIEL 2026, Annie Ernaux Dismantles the Fiction of Literature.

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

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       Publishing in ... Asia

       At mint they have the Bloomberg article on how In an Age of Doom Scrolling, Asia's Book Market Is Thriving.
       But ...: "Demand is being driven by something more practical: a desire to get ahead" -- and so: "Textbooks, exam preparation materials and self-help titles are among the bestsellers".

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

       'God of the Little Road' exhibit

       At Scroll.in Debotri Ghosh speaks with Trinankur Banerjee, the grandson of Pather Panchali-author Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, in ‘Bibhutibhushan’s writings are a commentary on our ideas of civilisation inherited from colonisers’ -- as Banerjee recently curated an exhibit on the author, God of the Little Road.

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

       Katie Kitamura Q & A

       This week's 'The books of my life'-Q & A at The Guardian features Katie Kitamura: ‘Almost every writer changes my mind – that’s the point of reading’.
       Among her responses:

My favourite book growing up

I read a lot of Theodore Dreiser growing up, for reasons that are mysterious to me now.

       Also: all the authors she mentions are dead.

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

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       Prix Émile Guimet finalists

       They've announced the finalists for this year's prix Émile Guimet de littérature asiatique in its three categories -- best novel, best graphic work (bande dessinée), and best manga (the latter limited to Japanese works, while the BD category excludes these) -- not yet at the official site, but see, for example, the ActuaLitté report.
       The winners will be announced 3 June.

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

       Edgar Allan Poe Awards

       The Mystery Writers of America have announced the winners of this year's Edgar Allan Poe Awards, with The Big Empty by Robert Crais winning for best novel -- and Richard Kopley's Edgar Allan Poe winning the critical/biographical category; see also the University of Virginia Press publicity page.

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

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       Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel longlist

       Harrogate International Festivals have announced the eighteen-title-strong longlist for this year's Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award.
       The shortlist will be announced 18 June, and the winner on 23 July.

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

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       Middlemen review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Laura B. McGrath on Literary Agents and the Making of American Fiction, in Middlemen.

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

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