The French 'rentrée littéraire' -- when they dump practically all their high-profile titles on the market over the course of a few weeks starting in mid-August -- approaches, and the numbers are now out: 555 titles will be published, a shocking decline from last year's 646 (and the all-time high of 727 in 2007).
A sign of the decline of French literature ? harder times ? or of a more sensible publication schedule (i.e. publishers also publishing important titles at other times of the year, not all at once) ?
357 of the titles are French (down from 426 last year), and 198 are translations (down from 220). One area where there has been an increase: first novels -- 86, up from 69 last year.
See, for example, reports in Le Figaro and L'Express.
And, of course, Amélie Nothomb continues her novel-a-year streak at the rentrée with her twenty-second, La nostalgie heureuse; pre-order your copy at Amazon.fr or the Albin Michel publicity page.
357 of the titles are French (down from 426 last year), and 198 are translations (down from 220). One area where there has been an increase: first novels -- 86, up from 69 last year.
See, for example, reports in Le Figaro and L'Express.
And, of course, Amélie Nothomb continues her novel-a-year streak at the rentrée with her twenty-second, La nostalgie heureuse; pre-order your copy at Amazon.fr or the Albin Michel publicity page.