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 ]
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Michael Pietsch, now CEO of the Hachette Book Group, acquired the book that would become Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch in 2008, when he was the publisher of Little, Brown. The Goldfinch marks Pietsch and Tartt’s first book together, after her previous novels The Secret History and The Little... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2013-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ahead of Brazil's stint as Guest of Honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair, we spoke with several publishers about the reception of Brazilian literature abroad. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-10-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Michael Joseph has signed a debut psychological thriller in a pre-empt made less than a day after... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Chicago Defender President and Publisher Michael House is stepping down. House will retire effective Sept. 30 and will take a position with the National Newspaper Publishers Association, the Washington, D.C.-based federation that represents more th ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-09-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Michael Joseph has signed two novels from Kate Riordan for a six-figure sum following an auction... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Editors Note: When we first signed up the great Nancy Pearl to helm the “Check It Out” library column for Publishers Weekly, she agreed to do it for a year—and then she gave us two great years! Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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An Appreciation: Michael Connelly, bestselling author of the Harry Bosch books, on being under the influence of the late Elmore Leonard.I never wanted to be Raymond Chandler. I wanted to be Philip Marlowe. I never wanted to be Ross Macdonald. I wanted to be Lew Archer. Elmore Leonard was the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-08-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Benchmarks are the best way to gauge a notebook’s prowess with applications such as office suites, photo and video editors, video players, games, and the like. Aesthetics are another important consideration, because you'll likely be staring at the thing for the next several years. By those... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2013-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Michael Joseph has signed three novels from crime writer James Oswald. Alex Clarke, publishing... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-08-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ken Michaels is to join Macmillan Science and Education at the end of the month as its chief... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-08-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A competition has been launched for Chinese readers to translate stories by novelist David... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-08-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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American publishers are faced with numerous challenges when it comes to publishing translations. Editor Ben Rosenthal offers several creative financial models as possible solutions. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-08-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Polish translator Antonia Lloyd-Jones has been announced as the winner of the 2012 Found in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-07-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author David Mitchell and his wife K.A. Yoshida have translated the Japanese memoir The Reason I Jump into English, by then 13-year-old autistic Naoki Higashida. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-07-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BookExpo America's 2014 Global Market Forum will be have an exciting new focus, Books in Translation: Wanderlust for the Written Word. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-07-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In an interview with Guernica magazine, literary agent Nicole Aragi discusses the crisis of literary fiction, why translated books don't sell in the US, and more. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Part of the agenda of New Vessel Press, a recently launched ebook publisher, is to demonstrate that translated fiction can be as entertaining as it is edifying. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Limiting Kindle Worlds to the ebook form may cater the needs of licensors, but it is counter to the ethos, habits and desires of fanfiction writers and readers. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Why does HarperCollins need a VP of Innovation? Ana Maria Allessi, who holds that very title, tells us about a future in which books look a lot like apps. Ana Maria Allessi is somewhat of an oddity, for someone who’s worked at a publishing house for almost 13 years. While publishing is rife... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-06-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The James Beard Award winner and co-owner of Union Square Cafe shares his top books from his kitchen shelf. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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