2011 bestselling books in ... Germany
No detailed lists or numbers, but boersenblatt.net have (annoyingly slow-loading) galleries of, for example, the 20 bestselling fiction titles of 2011 (scroll down for non-fiction and advice...
View ArticleAm Oved turmoil
Am Oved is a leading Israeli publisher, but they currently seem to be having some management issues. As Maya Sela explained a few weeks ago in Haaretz, Am Oved chairman quits after Eini...
View ArticleSpanish fiction in translation
An odd piece of work at IberoSphere, where Nick Lyne argues that Spain's literary giants are lost in English translation [via]. He begins by reporting the exciting news that Javier...
View ArticleLiterature and the revolution, one year on
In The Guardian they had several Arabic writers react to the Arab uprisings, and now, a year later, 'they return to reflect on an extraordinary year', in Revolution in the Arab world....
View ArticlePrize shortlists: Hatchet Job of the Year Award
They've announced the finalists for the first Hatchet Job of the Year Award. Organised by aggregator The Omnivore, it is a prize for: "the angriest, funniest, most trenchant book review of the...
View ArticleBirdbrain review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Johanna Sinisalo's Birdbrain.
View ArticleMurty Classical Library of India design
They held a contest to design the look and the logo of the eagerly anticipated Murty Classical Library of India coming out from Harvard University Press, and have now announced the winning...
View ArticleSo Long a Letter review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Mariama Bâ's classic So Long a Letter. Recently re-issued (in the UK) in Heinemann's revived (on a very small scale)...
View ArticleThe Marriage Plot review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Jeffrey Eugenides' The Marriage Plot, as I finally got my hands on a (library) copy. This is the rare book that I would...
View ArticleQ and A: Krasznahorkai László
In the winter issue of The Hungarian Quarterly Dömötör Ági speaks with Krasznahorkai László, in The Bible Got Bad PR. Among the choice quotes: It's a terrible cliché, but it's true:...
View ArticlePrize shortlists: Man Asian Literary Prize
They've announced the seven-title strong shortlist for the Man Asian Literary Prize, with the winner to be announced 15 March. Two of the titles are under review at the complete review:...
View ArticleCharity bookselling
In The Telegraph Anoosh Chakelian 'investigates how Oxfam is challenging the bookselling giants -- and which unwanted authors we are dumping after Christmas', in State of donation: Oxfam takes...
View ArticleJaipur Literary Festival
In The Hindu Pragya Tiwari writes about The making of the Festival -- meaning, of course, the Jaipur Literary Festival, which starts up in a few days. And at The New York Times' India...
View ArticleControversial book art
At the Berlin Biennale Czech artist Martin Zet has issued a call to collect a lot of books so that he can make art out of them. The book in question is a controversial one: With over 1.3...
View ArticleReading in ... Kolkata
In the Times of India Priyanka Dasgupta finds that in Kolkata (Calcutta) We read books but don't buy them, as: Kolkata loves books, talks books, but doesn't buy enough. That's the irony that...
View ArticleRushdie to stay away from Jaipur festival
A week ago I mentioned that some pressure was being exerted to keep Salman Rushdie away from his scheduled appearance at the Jaipur Literary Festival, which starts in a few days; now, in a...
View ArticleTranslation Prizes/Sebald Lecture
The Sebald Lecture 2012 -- 'Making The Crossing: the Poet as Translator', by Sean O'Brien will be held on 6 February 2012, and that's also when they will be handing out the Society of...
View ArticlePurgatory review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Tomás Eloy Martínez's last novel, Purgatory. Martínez, who died in 2010, is woefully underappreciated (and...
View Articleדרוש לחשן takes Sapir Prize
As, for example, Maya Sela reports in Haaretz, Sapir literary prize for 2011 awarded to Haggai Linik. That's one of the major Israeli literary prizes -- worth NIS 150,000 (almost US...
View ArticleAkunin-Navalny interviews
openDemocracy prints mystery writer and translator Boris Akunin's conversation with Alexei Navalny -- in three parts: one, two, and three --, which is "arguably the fullest profile of Russia's...
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