By Belinda Otas LONDON: The Southbank is one of Europe’s largest arts centers and is celebrated worldwide for the diversity of its artistic programs. Similarly, a wide diversity of races, ethnicities and nationalities gathered in late October to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Wasafiri, the acclaimed London-based magazine of contemporary international writing. Wasafiri is a Kiswahili word and translates as …
In Praise of the Lowly Chapbook
Editorial by Bryce Milligan SAN ANTONIO: As a regional publisher whose books range from handmade chapbooks to 600-page works of fiction and history, I have been wondering what will become of the physical book in this brave new digital world. Already my paper-and-ink sales are declining as my ebook sales increase—except for, of all things, the lowly chapbook. I began …
Day One in The Cork-lined Room
By Dennis Abrams Today we begin our one-year journey through the entirety of Marcel Proust’s 20th-century masterpiece In Search of Lost Time, which will be taking place on our companion website, The Cork-lined Room. We anticipate that at a pace of 10 to 15 pages per day, excepting weekends, we should be finished in a year. The first posting about …
Bolano 101: A Review of The Skating Rink by Roberto Bolano
By Dennis Abrams Since the first appearance in translation of By Night in Chile in 2003, English language readers have been treated to a near constant stream of short stories, novels, and even poetry from the late Chilean-born writer Roberto Bolano. He is that rarest of creatures: an author who has received widespread critical acclaim, as well as earning him …
Can Proust Really Change Your Life?
By Dennis Abrams You know you’ve been meaning to. You’re pretty sure that you’ve got a dusty copy of Swann’s Way sitting around somewhere. You’ve probably even read the book’s famous opening line, “For a long time I would go to bed early,” and thought to yourself, well, not now, maybe some other time. That time has finally come. Next …
Bonus Material: Wasafiri’s 25 Books That Shaped World Lit
By Edward Nawotka LONDON: Wasafiri is the Kiswahili word for “travelers.” It is also the name of the esteemed UK literary quarterly focused on international writing. Founded in 1984 by Susheila Nasta, the magazine celebrates its 25th anniversary this month with 25 writers offering their picks for the book that most shaped world literature since the magazine’s inception. Among those …
Turkish Publisher Selçuk Altun’s Second Act
By Edward Nawotka ISTANBUL: Selçuk Altun understands what it takes to market a novel. As the former executive chairman of YKY (Yapi Kredi Publications), one of Turkey’s largest and most prestigious publishers, he knew that if he wanted to bring his books to an audience outside Turkey, he’d have to do it on his own. So in 2007 he paid …
Who Controls African Literature?
Editorial by Tolu Ogunlesi LAGOS: The literary world is once again shining a spotlight on Africa. There are new prizes: the South Africa-based PEN Studzinski Literary Award for short stories, and the Penguin Prize for African Writing, a pan-African prize covering both fiction and non-fiction genres. There’s a new book series, the “Penguin African Writers Series,” which will include not …
Will Holden Caulfield be Hijacked?
By David L. Fox The pending U.S. publication of 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye, a self-described “sequel to one of our most beloved classics” that portrays the adventures of an aged Holden Caulfield of The Catcher in the Rye, has brought a court challenge by the famously litigious J.D. Salinger. Each side is accusing the other of hijacking …
Revamped Granta to Focus on International Literature
by Craig Morgan Teicher LONDON/NEW YORK: On May 29th, The New York Times reported that Alex Clark, the first female editor of the London-based international literary quarterly, was resigning after less than a year, leaving the magazine’s recently appointed American editor, John Freeman, in the post of acting editor. According to Freeman, Granta, which has a circulation of about 50,000 …