“Lusting after a Tart of Peacock Tongues”: A Conversation with Publisher Barbara Epler, by Veronica Esposito

Interviews Barbara Epler started working at New Directions after graduating from college in 1984, and she has been its president and publisher since 2011. In 2015 Poets & Writers awarded Epler their Editor’s Prize, and in 2016 Words Without Borders gave her the Ottaway Award for the Promotion of International Literature. Veronica Esposito: You became editor-in-chief with New Directions almost twenty-five years ago, in 1996. What are some of the biggest changes in the translation world since then? Barbara Epler: Without yet being a large enough share of what’s published in America overall, there has been a great growth in the amount and quality of translations appearing here. To my mind, that’s due mostly to two factors: a miraculous growth in new companies here (mostly small and agile) largely or entirely devoted to translated literature, as well as a sort of general cultural nausea about how parochial the USA tends to be. Back in the mid-1990s, great groundbreaking presses interested in translation were fairly thin on the ground. We did not yet have Archipelago, And Other Stories, Deep Vellum, Fence, Dorothy Project, New Vessel, Restless, Nightboat, New York Review of Books Classics, Open Letter, Other Press, Two Lines, Tilted Axis, Ugly Duckling, Wakefield, Wave, and more (apologies to houses I am forgetting!). Back in 1996, all these marvelous publishers were still a gleam in their founders’ eyes. Of course, back then... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'

[ World Literature Today | 2021-01-11 14:39:22 UTC ]
News tagged with: #widely recognized #jenny erpenbeck #daša drndić #literary community #publishing houses #national book award

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January’s Top Reviews of Self-Published Books from BlueInk Review

This month’s starred reviews of self-published books includes a pair of notable new novels, one about dysfunctional childhood in Western and another about a busy single mother. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-01-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Four iPad Stats Every Publisher Should Know

In late December, an eMarketer report confirmed that the long awaited mobile ad spend boom had finally arrived. Mobile, the report said, drove nearly all digital advertising growth in 2013. And the mobile pie is expected to grow by another $5 billion in 2014.For publishers looking to capitalize... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2014-01-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Byliner Publishes New Elmore Leonard Stories

The two stories were written in 1958 while the late writer was working at a Detroit-based advertising agency. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-12-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Shelf-help' books set to fill publishers' coffers in 2014

New 'intellectually credible' self-improvement books set to outsell celebrity biographies in 2014Sir Alex Ferguson may have the coveted Christmas number one spot with the record-breaking sales of his memoir, My Autobiography. But not even celebrity memoirs are likely to match the publishing... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Greatest Magazine Ever Published

Last summer in a used bookstore, I happened on an enormous, bound volume of Life magazine, from July–September 1945. I opened to the very first story in the first issue, July 2, 1945. The headline read:   Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2013-12-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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‘Twas the Night before Christmas’ at the Book Publisher

Clement Clarke Moore's famous holiday poem re-imagined by a book publisher on a bit of a bender. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-12-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ebooks: self-publish and be annotated

One might not be able to share an ebook, but it's possible to highlight and annotate them for all to see.There is a moment in The Confessions when Saint Augustine is astonished to find another scholar, Saint Ambrose, reading silently to himself. This quiet encounter 16 centuries ago might be... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The publishers' year: hits and misses of 2013

Publishers choose their books of the year, and the ones that got awayRobin Robertson Deputy publishing director, Jonathan CapeThe book that made my year: Many years ago, I was sitting in Blake's bar in Enniskillen with John McGahern and he recommended an American novel from the 60s, written by... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Chinese Publisher in New York

While George Zhu, founder of CN Times Books, the newly launched U.S. subsidiary of Beijing Mediatime Books, is impressed by the “professionalism” of U.S. publishing, he’s also surprised by American inefficiency. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Screw magazine publisher Al Goldstein dies aged 77

Publisher who helped break down legal barriers against pornography dies in Brooklyn after long battle with illness Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ebyline Launches Pitch Board to Better Connect Seasoned Freelancers and Publishers

It can be hard out there for a freelancer. The avalanche of emails, stiff competition, low pay and ignored invoices all make it a real challenge. That’s why Ebyline, a conduit between digital publishers and writers, works to connect tho ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Times publisher reports pre-tax losses of £24m

Times Newspapers Limited pays out £14m to departing directors, including chief executive Tom MockridgeThe publisher of the Times and the Sunday Times has reported a pre-tax loss of £24m, as payouts to departing directors hit £14m, according to financial filings for the year to 30 June 2013.Times... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Quercus to publish fourth book in Larsson's Millennium series

Quercus will publish a fourth book in Stieg Larsson's Millennium series, to be written by... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sun publisher posts £75m pre-tax loss

News Group Newspapers took charges related to the phone-hacking scandal of almost £90m in the year to 30 JuneThe parent company of the Sun and Sun on Sunday has reported a pre-tax loss of £75m in the year to 30 June, after taking charges of almost £90m in relation to the phone-hacking... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent bookstores and self-published authors are increasingly teaming up

Previously, independent bookstores tended to stay away from marketing self-published authors, but in the age of Amazon, some are embracing local authors no matter how they released their work. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-12-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apollinaire publisher on trial in Turkey

Turkish publisher and translator of French writer's Les Exploits d'un Jeune Don Juan accused of corrupting public moralityA publisher and a translator are to go on trial in Istanbul for corrupting public morality – for publishing a book written more than 100 years ago.Les Exploits d'un Jeune Don... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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“The Majority Do Not Know What Publishers Actually Do”

The 2013 PA International Conference in London lamented the general lack of appreciation for the role of publishers and lauded the revival of indie booksellers. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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FEP records 2012 publisher revenue decline

Publishers across Europe saw a decline in total revenue in 2012, despite a rise in the number of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When will publishers wake up to the challenge of Amazon?

The books industry still underestimates the disruptive power of Jeff Bezos's awesome ambitionSo Amazon are the bad guys, again. At least according to Harper's Magazine they are. For the former Amazon employee James Marcus, Brad Stone "drops the ball" in his biography of Jeff Bezos, The... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Reddit Draws Readers, Authors, Publishers

For anyone struggling with choosing the perfect literary present this holiday season, there’s a large, vocal, and opinionated group that just might be able to help: the more than one million subscribers to the Books category on Reddit, the popular social media Web site. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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