The Crux of Literary Translation
One of the fundamental discussions in the world of literary translation is the debate between whether a translator should “retain the foreignness” of a work, or “smooth” it over for the benefit of the target audience. Richard Pevear’s recent letter to the London Review of Books about his ...
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Interview with Michael Emmerich
As I was poking around the JLPP site this morning, I came across this recent interview with translator Michael Emmerich, who has translated more than a dozen books from Japanese, including Asleep, Goodbye Tsugumi, and Hardboiled & Hard Luck, all by Banana Yoshimoto and The Apprenticeship of Big Toe P by Matsuura Rieko, which ...
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Contemporary Japanese Writers Vol. 2
It’s always nice to return to the office (last week I was in NY for a New York State Council on the Arts panel) to a copy of Contemporary Japanese Writers Vol. 2 from the Japanese Literature Publishing and Promotion Center (a.k.a. J-Lit). J-Lit is an organization in Japan dedicated to publishing and promoting ...
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2008 Translation Database: Post-BEA Update
Now that I’ve finally had a chance to enter all the info from the hundreds of catalogs I collected at Book Expo, I thought it would be worthwhile to post a new, updated version of the 2008 translation database. The above spreadsheet has all the relevant information about all the works of adult fiction and poetry in ...
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Nike 2008 Longlist
Earlier this month Gazeta Wyborcza announced the longlist for the 2008 Nike Prize, which is awarded to the best Polish book from last year. The website is less than helpful—every time I click on the “more” button about the prize, I’m brought back to the same opening page and the fragmented ...
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Amelie Nothomb in The Guardian
Michael Orthofer from Complete Review is responsible for getting me interested in Amelie Nothomb. He’s reviewed twelve of her books, grading all of them between a B and an A. (Most are in the A or A- range, with Loving Sabotage—published by New Directions—receiving an A+.) Unfortunately, despite this ...
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NEA's Big Read
As reported in PW yesterday, the NEA just announced the next round of Big Read grants and will be giving $2.8 million to 208 libraries and other organizations across the country to put together Big Read events in their community. (Including Writers & Books here in Rochester.) There are now 23 titles eligible for selection, ...
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