By Hannah Johnson Now in its fifth year, the Best Translated Book Awards (BTBA) fiction longlist highlights 25 translated works of literature published in the United States in 2010. The longlist represents authors from 19 countries writing in 12 languages. The award was started in 2007 by Three Percent, a blog about literature in translation from Open Letter Press. Co-founder …
Dedalus Saved by Fairy Godmothers: How the UK’s Esoteric Literary Publisher Survives Trying Times
“We exist to do the difficult things of publishing,” Eric Lane of Dedalus on life running “the most literary publishing house in Europe.” By Daniel Kalder CAMBRIDGESHIRE, UK: I first encountered Dedalus Books’ esoteric literary catalogue in the old Science Fiction Bookshop in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was a strange place: upstairs they sold Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and French editions …
Do Contemporary Asian Writers Suffer a Lack of Prestige in the West?
By Edward Nawotka Recently, a publisher told me at the Guadalajara Book Fair that Spanish-language writers suffer a lack of prestige when compared with German, French and English-speaking writers. It was, said the publisher, a consequence of history. Does the same hold true for Asian writers? For example, when you look at the number of writers from the East who have …
Penguin Enters Arab Market with Joint Venture
By Hannah Johnson Pearson PLC announced today that its Penguin Group has launched a joint venture with Egyptian publisher Dar El Shorouk. The “Shorouk-Penguin project” will translate into Arabic 12 English-language titles from the Penguin Classics series, in addition to publishing up to eight original Arabic classics. The first titles will be available in early 2011. According to the press …
How Do You Market a Book in Translation?
By Hannah Johnson In today’s feature story, author Andrew Ervin talks about his favorite Hungarian books in translation that have inspired his writing and his thinking, and he offers a list of Hungarian titles that are not available in English. Publishers of translations are surely hunting for more people like Andrew who love and spread the word about their international …
Hungarian for Inspiration
• Andrew Ervin, author of the collection of linked novellas Extraordinary Renditions discusses the woeful lack of Hungarian literature translated into English and offers a survey of titles that are available and should not be missed. By Andrew Ervin Though I lived in Budapest for over four years, from November 1994 to March 1999, my grasp of the Hungarian language …
2011 IMPAC Award Longlist Includes 162 Titles from 43 Countries
By Edward Nawotka The longlist for the Dublin IMPAC Award has been announced . . . and it’s loooong: 162 titles have been nominated. They come from 126 cities and 43 countries worldwide. 42 are titles in translation, spanning 14 languages and 35 are first novels. Click here for the full roll call. (At the very least, it offers a snapshot of what readers across …
In the Land of Larsson
• Stieg Larsson has made Swedish writers trendy abroad, but Stockholm’s publishers are still challenged at home By Lasse Winkler Two years ago Swedish writer Camille Läckberg couldn’t break into the US book market no matter how hard she tried. But this year, she signed a three book paperback deal with Simon & Schuster’s American imprint Free Press, worth $750,000. …
Amazon.com to Underwrite Best Translated Book Awards
PRESS RELEASE from Open Letter Books: October 20, 2010: Amazon.com has awarded the University of Rochester/Three Percent website a $25,000 grant in support of the 2011 Best Translated Book Awards. This grant will support $5,000 cash prizes for both the winning translators and authors. Launched by Three Percent (http://www.rochester.edu/threepercent) in 2007, the Best Translated Book Awards aim to bring attention …
IPAF Mentors Young Arabic Writers, Produces Anthology
By Edward Nawotka Fiction writing in Arabic has suffered from neglect in international circles, with most of the attention going to poets or political manifestos. But things are starting to change and Western-style workshops are popping up around the Middle East. Over the next nine days, seven promising young Arabic writers will be taking part in a unique writers workshop …