The Mahé Circle review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Georges Simenon's The Mahé Circle. Penguin Classics have started publishing the complete Maigret-series in new...
View ArticleJuan Goytisolo picks up Premio Cervantes
They announced (and I mentioned) a while back that the great Juan Goytisolo would receive the 2014 Premio Cervantes, the leading Spanish-language author-prize and on 23 April -- not just...
View ArticlePEN World Voices Festival countdown
The PEN World Voices Festival runs 4 to 10 May in New York. Lots of worthwhile events -- and note that reservations are advised for even the free ones, so you might want to get on that...
View ArticleLeg over Leg as/is a novel ?
At her Arabic Literature (in English) weblog M. Lynx Qualey reports on a recent Library of Arabic Literature workshop in Oxford where they discussed What Does it Matter if Leg Over Leg is the...
View ArticlePeter Stamm Q & A
At the PEN Atlas Tasja Dorkofikis has a Q & A with All Days are Night-author Peter Stamm Among the points of interest: with Michael Hofmann (not 'Michael Hoffman', as the post has it...
View ArticleChevillard's Best Translated Book Award chances ?
I recently reviewed Éric Chevillard's The Author and Me, and yesterday also argued 'Why this book should win' the Best Translated Book Award at Three Percent. (We've been posting on each...
View ArticleLurid & Cute review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Adam Thirlwell's new novel, Lurid & Cute. (It's almost fun covering the Thirlwell-output just for the...
View ArticleShona literature
In The Herald Beaven Tapureta finds Shona literature impressive, 35 years on. He suggests: Although literature in Shona has not much resonance internationally for obvious reasons,...
View ArticleCrossword Book Awards
They've announced the (Indian) Crossword Book Awards (though perhaps not ... ideally, at the official site). The fiction prize went to The Blind Lady's Descendants, by Anees Salim; get...
View ArticleAfrikaans as world literature ?
Via BooksLive I'm pointed to this exchange between Jeanne-Marie Jackson and Leon de Kock, Is Afrikaans Literature a World Literature ? New Notes on an Old Field at litnet. Always a fun...
View ArticleDon Bartlett Q & A
At The Paris Review's The Daily weblog Scott Esposito has a Q & A on Translating Knausgaard: An Interview with Don Bartlett (as the fourth volume of the Knausgaard epic, My Struggle, comes...
View ArticlePublishing translations
In The International New York Times Stephen Heyman writes about Who Is the Biggest Publisher of Foreign Literature in the U.S.? -- relying heavily on the Three Percent databases. The...
View ArticlePEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation
They've announced that Burton Watson -- a translator of many classical Chinese and Japanese works -- will get the 2015 PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation -- a triennial...
View ArticleA Legend of the Future review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Agustín de Rojas' A Legend of the Future. This work of Cuban science fiction is due out soon in paperback from Restless...
View ArticleBookselling in ... Burma
In The Myanmar Times Zon Pann Pwint reports on the shuttering of Amay Eain (Mother House) bookshop -- "The oldest bookshop on Pansodan Road" --, in Yangon's long-standing bookshop shuts down...
View ArticleVano and Niko review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Erlom Akhvlediani's Vano and Niko and other stories -- another in Dalkey Archive Press' Georgian Literature Series.
View ArticleMay Words without Borders
The May issue of Words without Borders is out, with a focus on 'New Palestinian Writing' as well as some 'New Writing from Bulgaria'.
View ArticleTehran International Book Fair
The Tehran International Book Fair opens Tuesday, with President to open 28th Intl. Book Fair, as Hassan Rouhani will be doing the honors. I look forward to hearing reports from the fair -- and...
View ArticleNgũgĩ's early writing life
At The Standard Ngũgĩ recalls his literary walk as Weep Not, Child turns 50. This is apparently: "an adaptation from Ngũgĩ's upcoming third memoir titled: The Making of a Dream Weaver: A...
View ArticleRuth Rendell (1930-2015)
Crime writer Ruth Rendell (who also wrote as Barbara Vine) has passed away; see the overview at Literature Matters or, for example, obituaries in The Guardian and The Telegraph, or Val McDermid...
View Article