Mircea Cărtărescu Q & A
At Bookforum Morten Høi Jensen has a Q & A with Mircea Cărtărescu, as the first volume of his Orbitor-trilogy recently came out in English, as Blinding, from Archipelago -- see their...
View Article'Bad Sex Award' shortlist
They've announced the shortlist for the Literary Review's annual 'Bad Sex Award' -- given: "for the most embarrassing passage of sexual description in a novel". Last year's winner,...
View ArticleThe African Shore review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Rodrigo Rey Rosa's The African Shore, just out from Yale University Press in their Margellos World Republic of Letters-series.
View ArticleJonathan Franzen, the reader
With the 25th-anniversary-edition of The Twenty-Seventh City just out (I would have figured they would have waited two more years ...), Jonathan Franzen answers Stephan Lee's questions about...
View ArticleQ & A: Boualem Sansal
At Qantara.de Aya Bach has a Q & A with The German Mujahid-author (and Peace Prize of the German Book Trade-winner) Boualem Sansal. He has little patience for the Islamists who...
View ArticleQ & A: Amin Maalouf
In the Daily Star Chirine Lahoud has a Q & A with Amin Maalouf, immortal and back in Lebanon, as he's in town for the book fair. Among the things he discusses: how being a member of...
View ArticlePublishing in ... South Korea
In The Korea Times Kim Tong-hyung reports that Used books row shows market in rut in South Korea -- but the most striking statistic is regarding new publications: According to the Ministry of...
View ArticleMormon lit
In The New York Times Mark Oppenheimer finds Mormons Offer Cautionary Lesson on Sunny Outlook vs. Literary Greatness, suggesting that: "Mormon theology makes otherworldly and escapist genres...
View ArticleIPAF assessment
Via I'm pointed to Matovu Abdallah Twaha's Award cycle: Ipaf draws in writers while readers simply lap up winners in The Gulf Today, an interesting look at the impact the International Prize...
View ArticleJonathan Franzen picks up Welt-Literaturpreis
Jonathan Franzen picked up the Welt-Literaturpreis on Friday, and since it is run by a newspaper, Die Welt, they give it lots of coverage. Among the pieces on offer yesterday: Franzen's...
View ArticleThe Hindu Prize shortlist
They've announced the shortlist for The Hindu Prize for Best Fiction 2013. Disappointingly, the prize is once again English-language books only. Only one of the shortlisted titles is...
View ArticleGao Xingjian on translation
Nobel laureate (and The Case for Literature-author) Gao Xingjian spoke at the Singapore Writers Festival a couple of days ago, and Clarissa Oon reports in The Straits Times Translation is like...
View ArticleNew Swedish Book Review
Issue 2013:2 of the Swedish Book Review is now up, with much of the content available online -- including the reviews (including of the new Per Olov Enquist, Liknelseboken: En kärleksroman...
View ArticleSami Rohr Prize
They've announced that The Aleppo Codex: A True Story of Obsession, Faith, and the Pursuit of an Ancient Bible by Matti Friedman has been awarded the ($100,000) 2014 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish...
View ArticleA True Novel review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Mizumura Minae's A True Novel. This is just out (today !) from Other Press, who have really had a banner year in...
View ArticleRestless Books profile
I mentioned new e-publisher Restless Books a few weeks ago, and now at The Los Angeles Times' Jacket Copy Hector Tobar profiles Ilan Stavans' new polyglot project: Multilingual e-book...
View ArticleInternational IMPAC DUBLIN Literary Award longlist
They've announced the longlist for the 2014 International IMPAC DUBLIN Literary Award -- a €100,000 prize for which books are nominated by libraries, and which considers any novel "first...
View ArticleLaziness in the Fertile Valley review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Albert Cossery's The Lazy Ones, just re-issued by New Directions (they first published this William Goyen translation in 1952 !)...
View ArticleJudging pseudonymous (and other) work
Under it's new, post-Sam Tanenhaus administration The New York Times Book Review has tried out a few new things, one of which is a weekly 'Bookends'-column -- where, apparently: "two writers...
View ArticleNew Literature from Europe festival
The New Literature from Europe festival -- theme: 'In Transit' -- runs 14 to 16 November in New York. The impressive line-up of authors includes The Collector of Worlds-author Ilija...
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