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Académie française palmarès

June 24, 2017, 2:05 pm
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       The Académie française saves up announcement of their Grand prix du roman for the fall book-prize-season, but they announce most of the rest of their awards in one big go: yes, 63 prizes and honors (warning ! dreaded pdf format !), in all sorts of categories. (Livres Hebdo covers the major ones, too.)
       The Grand prix de la Francophonie, the most prestigious of these, went to Tierno Monénembo -- two of whose novels are under review at the complete review: The King of Kahel and The Oldest Orphan.
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Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o Q & A

June 25, 2017, 2:29 pm
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       At the Los Angeles Review of Books Rosemary McClure has a short Q & A with Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o: The Language Warrior -- mainly about his multiply translated story, 'The Upright Revolution', which was featured in Jalada Translation Issue 01; you can read many of the translations (including the one into English) here.

       Several of Ngũgĩ's works are under review at the complete review.
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Barry Ronge Fiction Prize

June 25, 2017, 2:29 pm
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       They've announced the winners of the (South African) Sunday Times Literary Awards, with the Barry Ronge Fiction Prize going to Little Suns, by Zakes Mda. No newspaper or online reports as I write this, but see for example the tweet.
       Little Suns has not been published in the US or UK yet, but see, for example, the Umuzi publicity page.

       Quite a few Mda titles are US/UK-available, with Seagull Books having published several; three Mda titles are under review at the complete review, including The Sculptors of Mapungubwe.
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Reviewing translations

June 26, 2017, 2:45 pm
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       'Can no reviewer spare more than a minute for the year that a translator spends ?' Mini Krishnan wonders, in Of rupees and annas in The Hindu, arguing that the (un?)usual: "30-word pat for the translator" doesn't really cut it.
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Translation from ... classical (Indian) languages

June 26, 2017, 2:45 pm
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The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. review

June 27, 2017, 3:04 pm
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       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O., co-authored by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland.
       It's a fine, big, lazy summer read, if you're looking for that (I don't get to too many books that would qualify as such, I'm afraid).
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(American) National Translation Award longlists

June 27, 2017, 3:04 pm
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       The (American) National Translation Awards, administered by the American Literary Translators Association, are: "the only national award for translated fiction, poetry, and literary nonfiction that includes a rigorous examination of both the source text and its relation to the finished English work" (which is very cool !), and they've announced this year's poetry and prose longlists.
       None of the poetry titles are under review at the complete review, but two of the prose titles are: The Explosion Chronicles by Yan Lianke, translated by Carlos Rojas, and Zama by Antonio de Benedetto, translated by Esther Allen.
       The strong prose longlist also includes this year's Best Translated Book Award winner, Chronicle of the Murdered House by Lúcio Cardoso, and the recent Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize-winning A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler; non-fiction titles also made the longlist.
       Of course, one title -- yet again -- is very obviously missing: John E. Woods' translation of Arno Schmidt's Bottom's Dream. Sigh.

       The shortlists will be announced in August, and the winners in October.
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Blumenberg review

June 28, 2017, 3:22 pm
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       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Sibylle Lewitscharoff's Blumenberg, just out in English from Seagull Books.
       Yes, the Blumenberg of the title is German philosopher Hans Blumenberg -- and, yes, Seagull, is cleverly following German publisher Suhrkamp's lead and publishing a translation of his smaller pieces as Lions shortly; see their publicity page, the Suhrkamp foreign rights page, or pre-order your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.
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Prix America

June 28, 2017, 3:22 pm
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       Two years ago they awarded the Grand prix de littérature américaine for the first time, but the French apparently still don't think that's enough, so this year there's yet another American-book-prize -- the 'Prix America', awarded by the fairly new America-magazine, with the first winner now selected from ten titles chosen by the publishers that are considered to provide insight in the United States.
       The winning title is William Finnegan's Pulitzer Prize-winning Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life (well, the French translation, Jours barbares: une vie de surf); see, for example, the Livres Hebdo report.
       Not a title I'm likely to get to, but see the Penguin Books publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.
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Michael Bond (1926-2017)

June 29, 2017, 3:42 pm
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       Michael Bond, author of the Paddington Bear-series, has passed away, see, for example, The Guardian's report.

       While none of the Paddington titles are under review at the complete review they were certainly childhood favorites; get your copy of the Paddington Classic Adventures Box Set at Amazon.com, or A Bear Called Paddington at Amazon.co.uk
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IPA Prix Voltaire shortlist

June 29, 2017, 3:42 pm
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       The International Publishers Association has announced their shortlist for the 2017 IPA Prix Voltaire, awarded for: "exemplary courage in upholding the freedom to publish and in enabling others to exercise their right to freedom of expression"
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Knausgård/Jerusalem Prize

June 29, 2017, 3:42 pm
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ME review

June 30, 2017, 3:58 pm
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       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Hoshino Tomoyuki's ME, just out in English from Akashic. (It was also made into a movie, It's Me, It's Me, directed by Miki Satoshi.)

       The publicity claim for this -- "This novel centers on the "It's me" telephone scam -- often targeting the elderly -- that has escalated in Japan in recent years" -- strikes me as quite misleading: while this (sort of) sets the story in motion, it's really about, and plays out as, something very, very different.
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Regulating (online) fiction in China

June 30, 2017, 3:58 pm
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       This sounds promising: the Global Times reports that:
The Chinese authorities plan to evaluate online literary websites, requiring that the online novels they host must reflect core socialist values and abide by "moral norms."
       One has to admire that they came up with a points-system:
The regulation requires that the literary works possess a "correct understanding" of the Party and military history. "Distortion" or "desecration" of related history will cost the websites up to 5 points per work.
       And:
Those with scores below 60 will be publicly criticized and be banned from applying for any literary awards for a year. The executives of such websites will also be invited for a talk with regulators.
       "Invited" .....
       As I've often noted, online writing/publishing is big in China, so this is pretty significant. As to how sensible (and realistic) it is .....
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Jan Michalski Prize longlist

June 30, 2017, 3:58 pm
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       The Jan Michalski Prize is a remunerative -- CHF50,000 -- international literary prize, "awarded for works of fiction or non fiction, irrespective of the language in which it is written" (though being translated into French, English, or German sure seems to help the chances of a book's success ...), and they have a solid track record; last year the prize went to Georgi Gospodinov's The Physics of Sorrow.
       As quietly as possible, they've now announced the 'first selection' of the jury for this year's prize. In previous years there's been a second selection, and then a shortlist of three finalists, but with only nine titles in this year's selection maybe they'll cut a round ?
       Several fiction titles -- including a Liao Yiwu novel (see, for example, Exiled Chinese Writer's New Novel Penned in Secret While in Prison) -- are among the select nine, but the ... stand-out has got to be Thierry Wolton's three-volume Une histoire mondiale du communisme, which weighs in at well over three thousand pages (yeah, the other jurors are going to love that ...) and whose third volume hasn't even officially been published yet (it's due out in September); see, for example, the Grasset publicity page for the first volume.
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CanLit heydays ?

July 1, 2017, 4:00 pm
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       In The Globe and Mail Mark Medley wonders -- at considerably length -- Will the world get fired up about CanLit ?
       With Canada the 'guest of honour' at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2020 and the upcoming 141st issue of Granta a Canada-special -- nothing up yet at the official site, but you can pre-order your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk -- there's more attention to be had, and maybe it's Canada's time to shine.
       In the US, US authors obviously still overshadow most CanLit -- though some authors (Atwood and Munro, among others) are obviously huge -- and French-Canadian literature is almost entirely unknown. It would be great if that would change .....
       But maybe (apparently ?) CanLit is too: "literary upmarket" ? (Sigh.)
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Seagull Books profile

July 1, 2017, 4:00 pm
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       At Quartz India Maria Thomas profiles the remarkable Seagull Books, explaining that A tiny Indian publisher is translating hidden gems of world literature for global readers.
       As far as leading publishers of works in English translation go, they're right up there with Dalkey Archive Press quality/quantity-wise (AmazonCrossing leads quantity-wise, and you can debate quality across several publishers, but as far as the combination goes, Dalkey and Seagull definitely stand out).

       They have an amazing list -- the University of Chicago Press distribution page page might make for an easier overview of what's coming, and what's available -- and quite a few of their titles are under review at the complete review; indeed, I just got to another one a couple of days ago.
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Rapture review

July 2, 2017, 4:16 pm
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       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Iliazd's 1930 novel, Rapture, just out in English from Columbia University Press in their new Russian Library-series.
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Poetic statesmen

July 2, 2017, 4:16 pm
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       Some world leaders are known to 'tweet' in order to get their word out, but a few are also still old school, opting for verse instead. So, for example, Thai prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha: as The Nation (Thailand) reports, Literary PM makes his point poetically.
       You can read his poem, 'ประเทศไทย 4.0' ('Thailand 4.0') here, for example.
       He does admit:
PM Prayut acknowledged that his poem was not perfect in terms of rhyming. But he said it was written with the pure intention to "improve" public understanding of the government's performance.
       Hey, whatever works, right ?

       Still, as far as local literary statesman go, he's still got nothing on Kukrit Pramoj -- who was Thai PM in the mid-1970's, author of numerous novels, including some that have even been translated into English (e.g. Four Reigns) -- and starred (well, appeared ...) opposite Marlon Brando in the film The Ugly American (in which he plays a ... prime minister !).
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Dream of the Red Chamber Research Collection

July 2, 2017, 4:16 pm
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       Cao Xueqin's The Story of the Stone, also known and translated as Dream of the Red Chamber, is one of the undisputed classics of world literature -- and a local favorite.
       The University of Malaya Library has a Dream of the Red Chamber Research Collection and, as for example Tho Xin Yi reports in The Star, this is now being enriched by Precious gifts of love from Chan to all as:
(T)he former Transport Minister and ex-MCA deputy president [Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy] feels that the time has come for his collection to have a greater impact on society instead of just satisfying his personal pleasure.

He decided to donate over 6,000 works -- with the oldest aged more than 200 years -- to his alma mater.
       As Chan explains:
This great masterpiece touches on all aspects of life, including religion, literature, linguistics, inter-personal ties, management and others. Its substance is boundless
       I agree wholeheartedly.
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