Treading a Fine Line: On Translating Tove Ditlevsen’s Gift, by Michael Favala Goldman

On Translation Browsing a Copenhagen airport bookstore, a translator picks up a book. The journey between that impulse and his eventual translation of the memoir into English was both emotional and serendipitous. In the summer of 2016 I was passing through Kastrup Airport in Copenhagen with my wife, on our way home after a visit with family. We stopped to browse the bookstore, and I noticed a reprint of a book by Danish author Tove Ditlevsen called Gift, which had first been published in 1971. I hadn’t read much of her work, but I knew she was a big name, so I bought it, even though the cover was strange, a psychedelic skull on a gray background. It did not take more than a couple of sittings to devour this memoir of Tove Ditlevsen’s life from the ages of about twenty-three to thirty-five. It chronicles her rise as a best-selling author, while she also had four failed marriages, two back-alley abortions, and a five-year near-fatal addiction to the opioid Demerol. I distinctly remember laying the book down after the final page and thinking to myself, I think this is a masterpiece. This was an intuitive judgment, not a conclusion I had come to after analyzing the text. But looking back now, I think what caused me to deem this work a masterpiece is the combination of Ditlevsen’s writing style, which is concise, honest, and ironic, combined with the content of her story, which through her many troubling experiences pulls back the... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'

[ World Literature Today | 2021-04-06 13:12:22 UTC ]
News tagged with: #living room #bidding war #good candidates #small publisher #memoir

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Treading a Fine Line: On Translating Tove Ditlevsen’s Gift, by Michael Favala Goldman'


Michael Mosley's The Fast 800 speeds into the top spot

Michael Mosley has notched up his seventh week as the UK Official Top 50 number one, with The Fast 800 (Short) leapfrogging Joe Wicks’ Veggie Lean in 15 (Bluebird). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #michael mosley #seventh week #veggie lean


Edward Stanford award shortlist reveals 'formidable line up'

Authors including Sharlene Teo (Ponti, Picador) Sayaka Murata (Convenience Store Woman, Granta) and Levison Wood (Arabia, Hodder) have been shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards, recognising the best travel writing in the world. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-01-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #travel writing


Revenue drop at Pottermore 'in line with expectations'

Sales and profits fell at Harry Potter site Pottermore in the year to end March 2018. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #revenue drop #profits fell


Amazon UK brings in ebook gifting

Amazon.co.uk has brought in a 'Buy for others' option on the detail page for Kindle books to allow people to gift ebooks. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-12-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ebook gifting #kindle books


Heather Marks wins 2018 Quarto Translations Award

Writer Heather Marks has won this year’s Quarto Translations Diversity Award, run by the Golden Egg Academy, for her story set in both the 18th century and contemporary Bristol. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #story set #18th century


Robert Harris joins Capital Crime line-up

Bestselling author Robert Harris is joining the line-up for David Headley and Adam Hamdy's new London festival Capital Crime. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-12-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Reintroducing Islam’s Founder: 'PW' Talks to Michael Muhammad Knight

In his new book, religion professor Michael Muhammad Knight presents 40 views of the prophet Muhammad, painting him in an unexpected light and demonstrating the wide-ranging diversity within the Muslim world. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-12-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #prophet muhammad


World Book Day announces 2019 tour line-up

Holly Smale, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Tom Fletcher and Onjali Q. Raúf are among the line-up for next year’s World Book Day live tour, which has been organised around National Literacy Trust hubs. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #holly smale #tom fletcher


5 books Bill Gates says to read–and gift!–over the holidays

The 2018 holiday reading list from the philanthropist is here, covering everything from killer robots to meditation. If you want to make sense of the world, you need to learn more about it. That’s the prevailing theme behind every single one of billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates’s biannual... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2018-12-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #make sense #holiday season


The Best Gifts for Wine Lovers

It can be intimidating to find the right gift for a wine lover, especially if you don’t think of yourself as a wine person. But you don’t have to be able to tell the difference between Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon to give a wine gift that’s more elegant than an oversize wine glass and more... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2018-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #cabernet sauvignon


Stephen King, Lin-Manuel Miranda and other celebs salute ‘legendary adventurer in screenwriting’ William Goldman

William Goldman famously penned the words “Nobody knows anything” in his Hollywood memoir “Adventures in the Screen Trade.” But in the wake of his passing, it is clear that the film industry does know one thing: how much Goldman will be missed. The Oscar-winning screenwriter of “All the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #william goldman #stephen king #lin-manuel miranda #screen trade #film industry


Michael O’Mara to publish memoir of Orkney GP

Michael O’Mara will next year publish a memoir by Malcolm Alexander, the only doctor on the Orkney island of Eday. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publish memoir #year publish


Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine named public's favourite at BAMB Awards

Gail Honeyman’s bestselling debut Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (HarperCollins) has scooped the Books Are My Bag Readers' Choice Award, while Philip Pullman and The Secret Barrister also scored prizes. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #eleanor oliphant #gail honeyman #completely fineharpercollins #bag readers #choice award #secret barrister


Rappaport to Succeed Fine as Open Road Publisher

Philip Rappaport has been promoted to senior v-p and publisher of Open Road Integrated Media succeeding Jon Fine who is joining American Media as deputy counsel. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Industry Notes: Jon Fine Leaving Open Road; Baker & Taylor’s Devasar Leads Publishers

After a year with Open Road, attorney and former Amazon executive Jon Fine is heading to American Media. And in India, Baker & Taylor's Nitasha Devasar helms the publishers association's executive committee. The post Industry Notes: Jon Fine Leaving Open Road; Baker & Taylor’s Devasar... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #baker taylor #open road #american media #publishers association #executive committee


What Are the Most Popular Books in Translation from Spanish?

General fiction, crime are the most translated Spanish-language fiction categories. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #popular books #general fiction


Michael O’Mara to publish Rachael Bland memoir

Michael O’Mara will next February publish the memoir of Rachael Bland, who documented her cancer journey on the ‘You, Me and the Big C’ podcast.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Speakers from Google and Yoto join line-up for FutureBook Live

Google's Alice Zimmerman and Ben Drury, founder of the smart-speaker start-up Yoto, are the latest to join FutureBook Live, The Bookseller's publishing conference. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #futurebook live #publishing conference


Ali Albazaz joins line-up for FutureBook Live

Ali Albazaz, founder and chief executive of reader-powered publisher Inkitt, is the latest speaker to be announced for this year's FutureBook Live, Europe’s biggest publishing innovation conference, hosted by The Bookseller. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-10-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #futurebook live


Public Library Lending Chart: Child nears finishing Line with Reacher

In a LibScan chart dominated by crime fiction series and Jeff Kinney, Lee Child’s Jack Reacher remains UK library-goers’ detective of choice. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jeff kinney #lee child