By Chad Post TURIN: “Let me tell you something: the U.S. market is closed to Italian books,” said Italian literary agent Marco Vigevani on a panel about translation at the Turin International Book Fair last month. “It may sound crazy,” he continued, “but I want you to face the facts. Yes, it used to be different. There were editors like …
Whatever Happened to US Spanish-language Publishing?
By Edward Nawotka In today’s lead story, we look at how one small bilingual Spanish-English publisher makes the most out of cross-border collaboration. Less than a decade ago, Spanish-language US publishing was all the rage, with new imprints opening at most of the major publishing houses? But years later, the excitement is gone, despite the fact that the Spanish-speaking populating …
The Arte Público Alternative: How One Small Press Tackles Foreign Sales and Distribution
In the lead up to next week’s BookExpo America, where Spain is the focus of the Global Market Forum, we offer a look at how one bilingual Spanish-English publisher makes the most out of cross-border collaboration. By Dr. Nicolás Kanellos HOUSTON: As the director of non-profit Arte Público Press (APP), a program of the University of Houston that focuses on publishing …
Whatever Happened to US Spanish-language publishing?
By Emily Williams With Spain as the Global Market Focus this year, we thought it worthwhile to look at the existing market for Spanish-language books in the US. The Hispanic book buying market is estimated at about $1 billion, of which 30-35% of those sales are in Spanish language books. But less than a decade ago Spanish-language readers in the …
Review: Gasoline by Quim Monzó
Reviewed by Gwendolyn Dawson Gasoline, the Catalan author Quim Monzó’s latest novel to be translated into English, opens at a moment of crisis in Heribert’s career as a painter: he must paint enough canvases to fill two galleries in time for an imminent double show. Instead of working, however, Heribert wallows in indifference and boredom, wandering the city streets, drinking …
The Man from Tralfamadore: A Conversation with Rodrigo Fresan
By Lewis Manalo NEW YORK: I take the author Rodrigo Fresan to Café Reggio, telling him that the wood-paneled café is the first place in New York City to serve cappuccinos. He’s come to New York City for the PEN World Voices Festival, and in about an hour he will participate in a reading at Deutsches Haus on Washington Mews. …
Is Interest in Translated and Foreign Lit Growing in the US?
By Edward Nawotka As discussed in our lead story, the PEN World Voices Festival has done much to help promote foreign and translated literature to Americans. There are other signs that interest is growing: a proliferation of small publishers with a strong focus on translation (Open Letter, Archipelago), new tours of foreign writers, even an increasing tolerance for European “intellectuals” who …
PEN World Voices as Change Agent
By Chad W. Post It was almost seven years ago when I met then PEN executive director Michael Roberts and translator extraordinaire Esther Allen for drinks at the Washington Square Hotel to talk about this new festival they wanted to launch in support of international literature. The Berlin International Literature Festival was going to be their model . . . …
Twisted Spoon Press on “Trickle-Up Publishing”
By Amanda DeMarco PRAGUE: In an April 15th New York Times Op-Ed piece, Olga Tokarczuk ruminated on Polish public response to the recent plane crash that had killed the Polish president and 95 other people: “…sometimes I fear that the people of my country can unite only beside victims’ bodies, over coffins and in cemeteries…I dream of Poland becoming a …
Singapore Holds First Children’s “Content” Festival
By Edward Nawotka This past weekend, the first Asian Festival of Children’s Content was held in Singapore. It may be the first literary festival of it’s kind to replace the word “literature” with “content.” But, hey, Singapore has always viewed itself as a progressive nation-state. Claire Chiang, the festival’s advisory board chairperson, told Publishers Weekly’s Terry Tan: “We have had …