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'


Beyond the Moomin Valley: Celebrating The Many Sides of Tove Jansson

Tove Jansson, author of the Moomins and other children's books, would have turned 100 years old this year. Here's what you don't know about this famous Finn. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-10-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #tove jansson


LIBER 2014 Topics: Growing E-book Sales, Lack of Translations

The 32nd International Spanish Book Fair (LIBER 2014) was held in Barcelona last week with ebook growth and the problem of getting Spanish-language books translated into English among the topics of discussion. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ebook growth


Dover Plans Line of Graphic Novel Reprints

In spring 2015, Dover Publications, which is best known for paperback reprints of classics and out-of-print titles, is launching Dover Graphic Novel, a new line of graphic novels and nonfiction comics. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #graphic novels #dover publications #out-of-print titles


Check It Out with Michael Kelley: How Libraries Preserve E-books

As the ebook market develops on a licensed-access model, librarians caution that we are tumbling toward a digital memory hole in which large portions of our literary heritage could one day be lost altogether. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #michael kelley


Honoring Women’s Books in Translation: It’s Time

Writing on the blog Love German Books, translator Katy Derbyshire makes the call for a prize honoring women authors in translation. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-10-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Texans Revive Classic Latin American Literature in Translation

The University of Texas Press has revived its translations of classic Latin American literature, bringing most of them into digital form for the first time. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #texas press #digital form


Chinese Publisher Brings Together Translators at New Event

The 1st International Communication Forum on Chinese Culture was held in Qingdao, China on August 24 and 25, bringing together dozens of translators and sinologists from all over the world. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


On Books in Translation in the American Market

The German Book Office's Riky Stock spoke to editors and publishers about the factors at play when considering publishing a translation in the US market. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #american market


Barnes & Noble Treads Water

There was a mix of good news and bad news in Barnes & Noble’s first-quarter financials, which the company released last week for the period ended August 2. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bad news #barnes noble #company released


Digital-First Lion Forge Adds Kids' Line, Print Comics

Launched as digital-first publisher, Lion Forge Comics is not even two years old and is already expanding, adding more licensed and original works, a kids' comics imprint, and now plans to offer print. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #print comics #original works #comics imprint


Check it Out with Michael Kelley: ALA Moves on Legislative Goals

Much of the media coverage of libraries in 2014 to date has centered on the modest progress made on the ebook issue. But 2014 has been a year of significant progress for libraries in the public policy sphere, with a number of library initiatives advancing. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-08-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #michael kelley #media coverage #significant progress


Turns out traditional publishers do just fine with millennials

Many publications claim to be popular with millennials, but not all publications that do so actually garner a significant Millennial audience. The post Turns out traditional publishers do just fine with millennials appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2014-08-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #traditional publishers


British readers lost in translations as foreign literature sales boom

Popular Scandinavian authors including Jo Nesbø and Stieg Larsson drive growing domestic demand for translated booksBritish readers are devouring foreign fiction in record numbers amid a mini-boom in translated novels, inspired by the success of Scandinavian authors such as Jo Nesbø.Among a... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-08-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jo nesb #penguin classics


Kensington, BAM Team to Sell New Paperback Line

Kensington Publishing has entered an exclusive partnership with the Books-A-Million bookstore chain to launch Lyrical High Notes, a new line that will release select titles from Kensington’s digital imprint in trade paperback editions. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #kensington publishing #paperback line #exclusive partnership #digital imprint


People StyleWatch Quiz Blurs Line Between Ads and Edit

An eight-question online quiz helped People StyleWatch publish its largest September issue ever this year in terms of ad pages and revenue. But it might also confuse readers about what's advertising and what's editorial.The quiz, "Meet Your Celeb Style Twin," asks readers eight questions about... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2014-08-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ad pages #unlike buzzfeed #september issue


NEA Names Translation Fellows

The 20 translators of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry from 12 different languages will together receive $300,000 in recommended grants. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-08-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #creative nonfiction


In praise of ... Suda Suda On Line | Editorial

An online encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world sets a challenging precedent for scholarly publicationsAround a thousand years ago, an encyclopedia of knowledge of the ancient Mediterranean world was assembled. With 31,000 entries, the Suda is in part a dictionary of grammar, and in... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #scholarly publishing


Panel Mania: Toppi's Rare and Exquisite Gift in 'The Collector'

The longest running creation of Italian comics master Sergio Toppi, 'The Collector', finally makes its English language debut from Archaia next month. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-08-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Adventures in Translating Hungary’s Laszlo Krasznahorkai

This year’s Best Translated Book Award went to Ottilie Mulzet for her translation of Laszlo Krasznahorkai’s Seiobo There Below. Here she discusses the challenges of the three year process. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-08-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Chinese Book Market Snapshot: Bestsellers, E-publishing, Translation

Xiaoying Chu at Charlesworth (Beijing) Information Services details the booming Chinese digital publishing market and the strides being make by online booksellers. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-08-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #online booksellers