Literature in ... Scandinavia
In The Hindu Janhavi Acharekar finds there's Much ado about reading in Scandinavia -- with a focus, here, on Denmark.
View ArticleFrench book covers
As longtime readers know, I'm a fan of the most basic and uniform cover design, and the austere French covers favored by many of my favorite publishers -- P.O.L., Éditions de Minuit. Gallimard,...
View ArticleThe World of the End review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Israeli author Ofir Touché Gafla's 2004 novel, The World of the End, now out in English from Tor. This was a pleasant...
View ArticleSeptember online issues
Among the September issues of online periodicals now available (bonus points for posting on the Sunday of a (US) Labor Day weekend !): Words without Borders' September 2013 issue is themed:...
View ArticleAmazon recommends ... Kehlmann to Kehlmann
Daniel Kehlmann's new novel is just out in Germany and, as widely reported in the German press (though I can't find the original Süddeutsche Zeitung article online), he reports that Amazon, in...
View ArticleChinese literature in India
In looking at 'Contemporary Chinese fiction through an Indian lens' in Chinese Whispers in the new issue of The Caravan Anjum Hasan asks a very, very good question: Most Chinese literature...
View ArticlePierre Loti exhibit
There's an exhibit, Pierre Loti, l'ambigu exotique, at the Musée du quai Branly, and in Al-Ahram Weekly David Tresilian looks at this exhibit about this "quintessentially orientalist author",...
View ArticleSWR-Bestenliste
Every month (well, except for when they double up over the summer ...) 31 German book critics are polled, asked to vote for their top new titles, and the September SWR-Bestenliste is now out....
View ArticleGerman 'Hotlist'
The German 'Hotlist', where they look for the best books from independent German-language publishers, is down to their top ten -- a selection that includes Murakami Ryu's Audition as well as...
View ArticleThe Devil's Workshop review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Jáchym Topol's The Devil's Workshop (which I had been really looking forward to -- I hadn't read anything of his since City...
View ArticleNobel Prize in Literature: Ladbrokes sets odds
There's less than a month until the earliest date the Swedish Academy could announce this year's Nobel Prize in Literature laureate, and finally Ladbrokes has released its odds for the prize...
View ArticleEnglund on Nobel rumors
Just as the Nobel betting season starts in earnest (well, as earnest as anything that ridiculous can be -- see yesterday's lengthy discussion), the Swedish Academy's point-man on the Nobel...
View ArticleNew The Quarterly Conversation
Issue 33 - Fall, 2013 of The Quarterly Conversation is now available online, and it's packed with things you'll probably want to read. Consider just some of what's covered: pieces on...
View ArticleStéphane Mallarmé profile
In the new Humanities Steve Moyer describes: 'What Happened When Stéphane Mallarmé Reimagined the Book', in Playing Against Type -- profiling this poet and writer who was also a: "barely...
View ArticleThai poets
Not much Thai literature gets translated and published in the US/UK. I just got the preliminary list (of just over 350 works of fiction) eligible for this year's Best Translated Book Award, and...
View ArticleFirst indications of some Nobel leakage ?
I discussed Ladbrokes finally setting odds for the Nobel Prize in Literature at length yesterday, and while there hasn't been much early odds movement (suggesting essentially no betting),...
View ArticleUpdated Translation Database
At Three Percent Chad Post reports on the Updated Translation Databases ! he's posted -- the 2013 (and 2012) listings of all new (original) fiction and poetry translations to appear in the US....
View ArticleUpdating the Ngũgĩ/Nobel betting situation
Yesterday I noted the breaking news of the possible First indications of some Nobel leakage ? as Ladbrokes suspended Nobel Prize betting on Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o. At The Atlantic Wire Alexander...
View ArticlePremio Iberoamericano José Donoso
They've announced that the 2013 Premio Iberoamericano de Letras José Donoso goes to Pedro Lemebel. Worth US $50,000, this prize has a checkered track record; awarded by the Chilean Universidad...
View ArticlePrize: Samuel Johnson Prize longlist
They've apparently announced the longlist for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction -- which they report is: "the richest non-fiction prize in the UK, worth £20,000 to the winner" -- though...
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