Reimagining the Classics: A Conversation with Publisher Ilan Stavans, by Jenna Tang

Interviews Since 2015, award-winning Restless Books publisher Ilan Stavans has been immersed in bringing the literary classics to new audiences through Restless Classics. These editions come with introductions by prominent diverse writers from around the world—Jamaica Kincaid for Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, Lauren Groff for Virginia Woolf’s Night and Day, Boris Fishman for Chekhov: Stories for Our Time, or Francine Prose for Frankenstein—and illustrations by a cadre of international artists like Eko and Keren Katz. They are geared toward young and often underserved audiences through programs like Classics Behind Bars, which brings them to incarcerated readers, and Restless Reads: A Virtual Classics Book Club, offered in conjunction with the New York Public Library. The following electronic conversation took place in April 2021. Jenna Tang: For starters, could you define what a literary classic means for you? Ilan Stavans: A literary classic is a book that knows how to be patient, a book with all the time on its hands, capable of waiting for the right readers to come by. It is also a book that “survives” translation. The classics are always in the process of being retranslated, in part because they are in the public domain but also because language ages, which prompts us to refashion them under a fresh new look. Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, for example, has been rendered into English thirteen times; Kafka’s The... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'

[ World Literature Today | 2021-05-12 15:41:23 UTC ]
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Take It From a Publishing Pro: The Photobook Format Is Up for Grabs

Lesley Martin chats with WIRED about the busy fall season of photobook fairs and events, jurying, desert island photobooks, self-publishing, presages, Rob Hornstra, Japanese design, and her favorite paper.     Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2013-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Heart of the Publishing World Depends on Where You Are

Like mapmakers, we tend to put where we reside at the center of the world. It's natural: for most publishers it's the trade closer to home that's the lifeblood of your business. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-11-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Publishing: More Than Bricks-and-Mortar

Daphne Durham, who is stepping into the role of publisher for Amazon’s adult trade and children’s imprints as Larry Kirshbaum departs, said the company is “delighted” with the sales performance of the unit’s titles to date. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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November’s Top Reviews of Self-Published Books from BlueInk Review

This month's starred self-published books of note include a fictional tragedy in pre-colonial Nigeria and a memoir where beer pong meets sado-masochism. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Everyone's a Critic, and Everyone Is a Publisher: Brad Stone on MacKenzie Bezos on Brad Stone on Jeff Bezos

I’m grateful to MacKenzie and to every other thoughtful reviewer who shares their perspectives on my book and on this remarkable story. – Bloomberg Businessweek reporter and Jeff Bezos biographer Brad Stone, responding to a one-star review of his new book from MacKenzie Bezos, Jeff Bezos’s wife.... Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2013-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Study: Programmatic Strategies Adopted by 85 Percent of Advertisers and 72 Percent of Publishers

 Programmatic buying is exploding according to a recent IAB and Winterberry Group study. However, the study also shows that some hurdles are slowing adoption rates. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2013-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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98 British publishers folded last year due to ebooks, discounts

Closures were up 42% over the previous year, according to the Guardian. The companies that folded included the 26-year-old healthcare publisher Panos London and Evans Brothers.Ninety-eight British publishers closed their doors in the year ending August 2013. The cause? E-books and online discounts. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ether for Authors: Can Turning Publishing Into a Competition Pay?

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Association Media: Case Studies in Multiplatform Publishing

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[ Folio Magazine | 2013-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing Allies: 4 Tips For Creating Productive Media Partnerships

By Denis Wilson It's not uncommon for sister publications within a publishing company to partner on issues or share content. For its October issue, Wired collaborated with fellow Condé Nast title bon appétit on... Continue reading at Publishing Executive

[ Publishing Executive | 2013-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The 2013 Association Publishing Survey

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[ Folio Magazine | 2013-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing Innovator of the Year

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[ Publishing Executive | 2013-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google Plus Remains an Afterthought for Publishers

A recent study by Shareaholic found that Google Plus generated just .04 percent of traffic referrals in September. Facebook, by comparison, drove 10.37 percent. Gigya, an analytics company, found that in the second quarter of this year, 2 percent of social sharing happened through Google Plus,... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2013-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Watch Highlights From The Digiday Publishing Summit

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[ Digiday | 2013-10-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E&P Publisher of the Year: Dennis Francis, Honolulu Star-Advertiser

As he looks out on spectacular palm tree-lined fairways bordered by crashing waves on any number of golf courses he regularly frequents in his beloved home state of Hawaii, Dennis Francis often thinks about how his favorite pastime is so much like th ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-10-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gawker Media Invites Publishers onto Its Kinja Platform

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[ Folio Magazine | 2013-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Medium opens its social publishing platform to all Twitter users

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[ Engadget | 2013-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing Executive Larry Kirshbaum to Leave Amazon

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[ AllThingsD | 2013-10-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon's top NY publishing exec to depart

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[ Crains New York | 2013-10-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Enthrill Reimagines “The Original Discovery Engine” for Ebooks

Enthrill's Kevin Franco discusses his company's distribution platform to make ebooks salable in brick-and-mortar stores through ebook gift cards and author cards. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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