Soviet erotica
Well, less Soviet erotica than the erotica the Soviets officially collected, as Joy Neumeyer goes Inside the Soviet Union's Secret Erotica Collection, the "pornographic treasure trove" across...
View ArticleInternationaler Literaturpreis - HKW 2014
The Internationaler Literaturpreis - Haus der Kulturen der Welt is the leading German book award for a work-in-translation (and, at €25,000 for the author of the winning title, and €10,000 for...
View ArticleBuzz review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of the second in Anders de la Motte's Game-trilogy, Buzz. The first installment was a pleasant surprise -- simple thriller...
View Article'South Asian novel' basics
Via I'm pointed to Jabeen Akhtar suggesting The 17 Elements of a (Bad) South Asian Novel at Publishing Perspectives -- an amusing look at the herd mentality of publishers. (I think this...
View ArticleJ.P.Clark profile
In the Nigerian Tribune Akintayo Abodunrin reports on a recent panel at the Port Harcourt World Book Capital, focusing on poet J.P.Clark and his comments. Good to hear that: Professor...
View ArticleNatural Histories review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Bogotá39-author Guadalupe Nettel's debut-in-English collection, Natural Histories. (It's a perfectly fine, even good book,...
View ArticleAna María Matute (1925-2014)
Cervantes-Prize-winning author Ana María Matute has passed away; see, for example, the obituaries in The Washington Post and at the BBC. Some of her work has been translated into...
View ArticleMiles Franklin Literary Award
They've announced the winner of this year's Australian Miles Franklin Literary Award, and it is All The Birds, Singing, bringing in another A$50,000 for author Evie Wyld (who, as I mentioned...
View ArticleRentrée littéraire preview
The French 'rentrée littéraire' -- when they flood the market with the biggest books of the year -- is less than two months away, and the first previews and overviews have started to appear....
View ArticleThe Search review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Geoff Dyer's 1993 novel, The Search, finally brought to the US, by Graywolf. (They also just brought out his first novel,...
View ArticleGeorge Orwell's birthplace
George Orwell was, as you no doubt well know, born in Motihari, in Bihar, India. Okay, maybe you don't remember -- you wouldn't be alone, and that might be one of the reasons his birthplace has...
View ArticleJane Gardam profile
Everybody seems to be talking to Old Filth-author Jane Gardam: the current issue of The New Yorker has a nice little (paywalled) Talk of the Town-piece by Lauren Collins, and now in The New...
View ArticleGraham Swift profile
In The Herald Jackie McGlone meets the author and finds Graham Swift, the quiet man of UK literature, speaks up. Only one Swift title is under review at the complete review -- The Light...
View ArticleSoviet kid-lit
At Russia Beyond the Headlines Alena Tveritina has a quick look at Soviet children's literature: The struggle between ideology and creativity. (Russian literature generally still isn't...
View ArticleSunday Times Literary Awards
They've announced the winners of one of the big South African literary awards, and as the BooksLive weblog reports, Claire Robertson and Max du Preez Win the 2014 Sunday Times Literary Awards....
View ArticleFroth on the Daydream review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Boris Vian's 1947 novel in Oulipo-man Stanley Chapman's translation, Froth on the Daydream, now re-issued -- for movie tie-in...
View ArticleBookselling in ... Thailand
In the Bangkok Post Anchalee Kongrut reports that Thai independent bookstores are Punching above their weight, in a Q & A with Pichet Yimthin, secretary of the Publishers and Booksellers...
View ArticleReplay review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Marc Levy's Replay. Levy -- year in and year out one of the bestselling (in France) French authors -- still hasn't caught...
View ArticleCWA International Dagger
The (British) Crime Writers' Association has announced its 'Dagger' awards, with the CWA International Dagger going to The Siege by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, in Frank Wynne's translation....
View ArticleLiterary assassins ?
No question, on the whole, the violent radicals of previous centuries were more literarily inclined than the current lot -- and at Guernica Selvedin Avdić has an interesting look at some of the...
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