Authors' etc. best of the year compilations
Slightly better than the usual newspaper best-of-the-year lists are the ones where authors, literary critics and the like offer their picks. The Millions does a nice, big 'A Year in...
View ArticleVikram Chandra profile
In Tech tinker in the Mumbai Mirror Chandrima Pal profiles Sacred Games-author Vikram Chandra -- discussing his interesting-sounding new book, Mirrored Mind: My Life in Letters and Code....
View ArticleJalal Al-e Ahmad (non- ?) awards
They held the biggest Iranian literary awards -- and, as IBNA reports, No Winner Announced for Jalal Ale Ahmad Award. Yes: The award had no winners in any of its sections; however...
View ArticleIranian novel to be published ... in Iran ?
Hmmm, maybe times really are a'changing, along with the regime ? First Deal Reached With Iran Halts Its Nuclear Program, and now, in really big news, the Tehran Times reports that Culture...
View ArticleConsequences review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Philippe Djian's Consequences. This just came out as a paperback original from Simon & Schuster, who seem to be trying...
View ArticleTrojanow on surveillance
At Deutsche Welle Gero Schliess reports on Ilija Trojanow's recent (successful) visit to the US, where he took part in the New Literature from Europe festival; carrying over from his recent...
View ArticleFiston Mwanza
So how adventurous are US/UK publishers ? Who will take a stab at Fiston Mwanza Mujila's Tram 83 ? Because seriously -- someone has to. The Congolese author's Le Fleuve dans le Ventre...
View ArticleYoko Tawada's Portrait of a Tongue: An Experimental Translation review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Yoko Tawada's Portrait of a Tongue: An Experimental Translation by Chantal Wright. This is just out from the University of...
View ArticleScience fiction in ... North Korea
It's been up a while, but only now, via Korean Literature: in translation, have I come across Benoit Berthelier's From Pyongyang to Mars: Sci-fi, Genre, and Literary Value in North Korea at...
View ArticleFiction from ... Central Asia
As longtime readers know, I have long lamented how little fiction in translation is available from Central Asia -- along with parts of Southeast Asia (Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia), probably...
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Slamming translations ?
Look, I support spreading the word about international literature -- and hence literature in translation -- as much as the next guy, and I realize that it's worth trying all sorts of things to...
View ArticleBarnes & Noble assessment
Depressing though it is, I can sort of appreciate Matthew Yglesias' cut-to-the-chase assessment, Barnes & Noble Still Doomed Despite Rising Profits at Slate. No illusions here:...
View ArticleWords without Borders anthology
Words without Borders are, impressively, celebrating their ten-year-anniversary of introducing readers to authors and works from an incredible variety of languages and cultures -- and they've...
View ArticleIrish Book Awards
They've announced (and, hey ! not even just in pdf format ...) the winners of the 2013 Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards. Nice that they could get all that sponsorship, I guess, but...
View ArticleWhitbread Costa Book Awards shortlists
They've announced the various category-shortlists for the Whitbread Costa Book Awards -- though, bafflingly, at the official site, only in the dreaded pdf format. [Posting anything in pdf...
View ArticleThe Collini Case review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Ferdinand von Schirach's legal thriller, The Collini Case. Interesting to see how a grand-son of a notorious Nazi (yes,...
View ArticleKhatulistiwa Awards
As Meghan Downes reports in The Jakarta Post, Literary award gives nod to historically themed work, as they've announced the Khatulistiwa Awards in Indonesia. Hard for me to judge how...
View ArticleMan Booker Prize - open for submissions
In case you missed it: the Man Booker Prize 2014 opened for submissions last Monday, 18 November. They have a fancy Rules & Entry Form booklet -- online only in the dreaded pdf...
View ArticleNYTBR 100 Notable Books of 2013
The New York Times Book Review has announced its 100 Notable Books of 2013 A couple of things are notable about the list itself -- including the fact that all of three titles are works...
View ArticleLiterature and/on the internet
At Books from Finland Teemu Manninen consider Decisions, decisions: the fate of virtual literature, noting that after the initial excitement -- "When the internet was young, I too believed that...
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