Interviews Veronica Esposito Photo by Camila Valdés Megan McDowell has translated many contemporary authors from Latin America and Spain, including Alejandro Zambra, Samanta Schweblin, and Lina Meruane. Shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize, her translations have been published in the New Yorker, Tin House, the Paris Review, Harper’s, and McSweeney’s, among others. Veronica Esposito: As a translator, you’ve primarily worked with writers from Chile and Argentina, a region with a very rich literary history, and you are the primary translator for two of the standout authors to recently emerge from the Southern Cone—Alejandro Zambra and Samanta Schweblin. What is special about this region and its literatures? Megan McDowell: I’m not an academic or a critic, so I’m very reluctant to try to draw connecting lines through the literary histories of countries I live in but that aren’t mine. Every time I make a generalization, all the exceptions spring to mind. But, my assumptions or predispositions go something like this: Chilean writers tend to look inward, to play with autofiction, to write the domestic and the personal. Argentine writers tend toward the surreal, toward madness and fantasy and the uncanny. Both, I think, can get pretty experimental with form. Both have histories of dictatorship and state violence, which can rear its head in fictions in various ways. If you look at the writers I’ve translated, these... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2020-06-22 15:20:00 UTC ]
Future Publish's program at Leipzig Book Fair includes a tour, as literary fiction and free speech intersect at conferences in the US and UK. The post Germany’s ‘Future Publish’ at Leipzig; Faber’s Page and Europa’s Reynolds on Literature appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Head of venerable press says his sector has important role in the defence of free speech and champions the revival of literary fiction and traditional booksFaber & Faber’s chief executive has called for publishers to oppose crackdowns on free speech and the rise of so-called fake news.... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The dominance of three honours in the UK can be prohibitively expensive for small publishers, and end up discouraging risk-taking on ‘difficult’ authorsCutting-edge British literary fiction risks being undermined by its growing reliance on a handful of powerful book prizes, a leading literary... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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OK, it's not exactly Dickens. But how about a great story delivered to you by text message? Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2016-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Puffin Books will next year release a series of Dr Who books written and illustrated in the style of Mr Men. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-10-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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From literary fiction to middle-grade series, Singapore’s new literary voices are getting louder, and their works finding new homes far away from the tropical city-state. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Singapore literature, or Sing lit as it is known locally, is getting hot—and it is not because of the island’s tropical climate. Recent months have seen many titles, from literary fiction to middle grade series, getting picked up by overseas publishers, including those from the U.K. and U.S. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Reading books 'strengthens the spirit of faith and the will to solve social problems,' says an Iranian judge. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2016-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The British-based Man Booker Prize, one of the most prestigious awards for literary fiction in the world, announced its longlist Wednesday, with five American authors on the list of 13. It’s only the third year that authors from outside the Commonwealth have been considered for the prize, which... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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I first met Peter Owen in the late 1980s, when he published some short stories that I had written about Saudi Arabia. I was invited to interesting parties at his house in Holland Park, west London, and at various embassies where he would launch the many translations of literary fiction he... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With 42 percent of Spain's population reporting to surveys that they're not reading books, last week's symposium in Madrid about bookselling had an extra edge of urgency. The post Spanish and Mexican Bookselling: Madrid’s Day of Debate appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The BEA Children's Book & Authors Breakfast was a moving testament to the power of books, as four children's book authors spoke of the impact of reading books upon their own lives and the importance of books in all children's lives. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ten years and 800,000 words ago, Justin Cronin, at the time a well-regarded, if largely unknown, author of literary fiction and a recipient of the PEN/Hemingway Award, started telling a story—one that he didn’t think would be published. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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While taking stock of lagging literacy rates and persistent economic challenges, literary agent Patricia Seibel still sees quality and a loyalty to literary fiction as hallmarks of Portugal's resilient market. The post Portugal’s Book Market: A Few Words With Patricia Seibel appeared first on... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-03-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Millennial women who grew up reading JK Rowling’s wizard series are driving sales in other genres as they reach their 20s and 30s, according to recent researchThe women switched on to books by Harry Potter are shaping the literary world, according to new research, boosting the market in... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When it comes to reading books, things have changed quite a bit since school days, well, depending on your age. Now many people read books on electronic devices and, while tablets are fine, the Amazon Kindle leads the way. Amazon is planning to roll out a big update to its handheld devices.... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2016-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New book charts the remarkable history of Britain’s best-selling newspaperThe ignominy of the News of the World’s closure in 2011, itself preceded by years of hacked celebrity gossip and sleazy scandals, has tended to obscure the newspaper’s social and cultural significance in previous eras.It... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What Twain eventually learned, after an interminable time on the trail, is that turkeys have a genius for feigning injury. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-11-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The bookstore/art gallery is adding a trade imprint, Chatwin Books, focused on literary fiction and poetry. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-10-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook, Apple and other platforms are wooing publishers to distribute their articles directly in their ecosystems, and after some reluctance, publishers are clamoring to get on board. But one major publisher is sounding the warning cry: Bloomberg Media's Justin Smith said on an Advertising... Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2015-10-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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