Category: Spotlight on Publishing

the insider

Spotlight | John-Paul Pryor & Graham Fink in conversation | Mortimer House, Fitzrovia W1

The multimedia artist, Graham Fink, is one of the world’s most awarded creatives. Formerly at Ogilvy China, his decades-long career has included senior creative posts at CDP, GGT and M&C Saatchi. Some of his most well-known work includes British Airways’ Face, PlayStation’s Blood and Mental Wealth poster campaigns, and Coke hands, Coca-Cola’s most-awarded ad.

He has developed software which enables him to draw with his eyes, and is agent to the AI robot, Sophia, at Hanson Robotics. His latest exhibition In Transition at VVA VirginiaVisualArts, a new contemporary gallery space in Central London, is on until 10 April.
 Continue reading Spotlight | John-Paul Pryor & Graham Fink in conversation | Mortimer House, Fitzrovia W1

Spotlight | The Choix #Goncourt UK | @AcadGoncourt @RSLiterature @Edlolivier @maclehosepress

#Marina Warner, President of the Royal Society of Literature, announcing the arrival of the Choix Goncourt in the UK, said: “When the date of this event was set, nobody knew that a crucial election would be taking place. In the light of what has happened, I feel alarmed and frightened of the future. I am therefore proud to be marking a moment of Franco-British solidarity. The spirit of European culture built on the common ground of imagination and a long intertwined history is under strain, but it shall not be broken . . .”  Continue reading Spotlight | The Choix #Goncourt UK | @AcadGoncourt @RSLiterature @Edlolivier @maclehosepress

Guest Feature | Lucy Popescu @lucyjpop | European Literature Days 2019

This year, European Literature Days, one of my favourite literary festivals, was held in Krems, lower Austria, and posed the question “What defines a good life?” Austrian robert menasse the capital maclehose press bookblast diaryheavyweight, Robert Menasse (whose satirical novel, The Capital, is translated by Jamie Bulloch and published by MacLehose Press) gave the opening talk and we were introduced to an array of international writers, all with some deep connection to Europe.

Norwegian writer Ida Hagazi Hayer (her novel Trost – Solace – is yet to be published in English) was paired with Annelies Verbeke, a Flemish writer whose acclaimed Thirty Days (translated by Liz Waters) was published by World Editions in 2017. They both write about identity, love, the human need to connect and distrust of the “other”. Continue reading Guest Feature | Lucy Popescu @lucyjpop | European Literature Days 2019

Spotlight | The 2019 Warwick Prize for Women in Translation

Translation is no longer marginalised as it once was, with its advocates being viewed as quirky oddballs lacking commercial sense and sensibility. The number of independent presses publishing translated literature in the UK has greatly increased in the past decade, often set up by people with a corporate publishing or banking background who are astute operators.  Booksellers are far less curmudgeonly than they once were. And somewhat unexpectedly, in 2015, Amazon Crossing published three times more translated fiction in the US than its closest competitors in America (FSG, which has a long tradition of publishing works in translation, and Atria, which mostly publishes books by celebrities).

The imprints of conglomerate publishers in the UK who publish works in translation – MacLehose Press, Harvill Secker, Sceptre, Vintage, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Penguin Press –  publish predominantly though not exclusively the sub-genre of crime fiction in translation, leaving the field open for the likes of Alma Books, And Other Stories, Arc, Carcanet, Comma Press, Dedalus, Fitzcarraldo, Les Fugitives, Gallic, Granta, Hesperus, Istros, Jantar, Norvik Press, Peirene Press, Portobello Books, Pushkin Press, Saqi Books, Scribe UK, Small Axes, and others, to publish experimental and literary translation. Continue reading Spotlight | The 2019 Warwick Prize for Women in Translation

Guest Feature | Susan Curtis @Istros_books | Podgorica International Book Fair 2019, Montenegro

The Frankfurter Buchmesse which is happening this week takes place over five days every October. It is the world’s largest trade fair for books and is THE place to be for publishers, agents, authors, illustrators, film producers, translators, and representatives from trade associations to network and do business. It attracts more visitors than any other book fair.

However the smaller local, regional book fairs are less daunting to visit, and are great opportunities to bring new books to a variety of readers and local communities. They are also more likely to showcase a greater variety of independent small publishers and private presses.

Susan Curtis, founder and MD of Istros Books in London which publishes translated literature from the Balkans and South-East Europe, wrote a special report for us about her recent visit to Montenegro to attend The Podgorica International Book Fair, 1-5 October, 2019. Continue reading Guest Feature | Susan Curtis @Istros_books | Podgorica International Book Fair 2019, Montenegro