Tag: Book Blasts

Spotlight | Sitting in Judgement: the 2018 Saif Ghobash-Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation

“Judging the Banipal Translation Prize was a most enriching experience. It reminded me that literature can be a force for good – no bad thing! We need to be shocked out of a comfortable complacency that suggests that books should not attempt to bring about social and political change. The entries provided no shortage of shocks.” Pete Ayrton, Chair of Judges, the Saif Ghobash-Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation.

The Man Booker International, the IMPAC Award, English PEN’s Writers in Translation Programme* and the Society of Authors’ series of prizes for outstanding literary translations from works in Arabic, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Swedish are the leaders of the prize-giving pack.

Elevating world literature in translation for the UK market from other cultures and promoting cultural understanding is crucial as Brexit Britain becomes more inward looking. Even more so since language learning is on the decline following the abolition of a compulsory language GCSE in 2004. Continue reading Spotlight | Sitting in Judgement: the 2018 Saif Ghobash-Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation

BookBlast® France | Paris Burning, Paris Brûle, Georgia de Chamberet

Is Paris burning? I arrived in the capital the day after the fourth Saturday of gilets jaunes (yellow vests) protests in the 8th, 17th and 16th arrondissements.

1848, 1968, 2005 . . . the French have a habit of getting out on to city streets to protest against the state machine and its politicians. The recently published work Une histoire populaire de la France du XIVe siècle à nos jours  (A history of working-class France from the fourteenth century to the present day) by Gérard Noiriel is an essential read. Not yet available in English, perhaps a canny British publisher will pick it up.
 Continue reading BookBlast® France | Paris Burning, Paris Brûle, Georgia de Chamberet

Guest Post | Lucy Popescu @lucyjpop | European Literature Days, Literaturhaus Europa

The exuberant 10th anniversary of a small European literary festival, Literaturhaus Europa, held in the Wachau region of Austria, throws into sharp relief the cultural poverty we potentially face post-Brexit.

European Literature Days frequently punches above its weight, luring prominent international writers to participate in workshops and panel discussions over a long weekend. The theme this year was film, literature and literary adaptation. Continue reading Guest Post | Lucy Popescu @lucyjpop | European Literature Days, Literaturhaus Europa

Interview | David Henningham, co-founder, Henningham Family Press | Indie Publisher of the Week

Are (were) your parents great readers? Tell us a bit about yourself.
My Mum is a big reader of Crime Fiction. It helped her solve a real life crime while she was working in a Kenyan orphanage a few years ago. They were both “people of The Book,” hosting Parish Bible studies. This made them more learned than the average parents. The Church was my first exposure to people with higher education. I read a lot from a very young age, I had a box of those cassettes with ding turn the page books. I would put the headphones in myself and read for hours. I remember making a zoo out of envelopes. Each one contained a different animal.

Did you want to work in the publishing industry from the start? If not, why now?
No, but something I wanted to do as a Writer was understand every dimension of books. I studied Sculpture because I thought this would teach me about composition in a more general sense than doing English or Creative Writing. I went on to become a master bookbinder and printer too. I became a publisher partly because I wanted to understand, and maybe undermine, distribution and bookselling. It’s another extension to my writing. I guess that’s what it means to be a Modernist in an industrial, networked world.
     Why now? We were invited in by big publishers a few times to consult, using our publishing methods. We also worked on several print commissions in our studio for Independents. One title we illustrated is almost at the Million Copies mark. We realised we had an extraordinary range of expertise and there were so many good manuscripts I knew of being turned down for bad reasons. The Poets made me do it! Continue reading Interview | David Henningham, co-founder, Henningham Family Press | Indie Publisher of the Week

Interview | Jane Draycott, poet & translator

Meet Jane Draycott in person at the tenth and final BookBlast 10×10 Tour talk at  Waterstones, Manchester, Deansgate @waterstonesMCR 6.30 p.m. Thursday 8 November. Theme: Claiming the Great Tradition: Women Recalibrate the Classics. In conversation with Michael Schmidt @Carcanet, chair, and poet, Jenny Lewis. Book Tickets

Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I’m a poet who’s come late to translation and I wish I’d started much much sooner. I teach on a number of different creative writing courses and if I had one thing to advise poetry-writing students it would be to try poetic translation, to discover from the inside the many possible poetries beyond the one in your own ear – soon!

When you were growing up, what books had an impact on you?
Corny but true: Henri Alain-Fournier’s Le Grand Meaulnes; and around the same time, the short stories of Edgar Alan Poe – something in both of those about the fateful and the mysterious which struck me then and has stayed with me.
 Continue reading Interview | Jane Draycott, poet & translator

Guest Post | Susan Curtis @Istros_books | Belgrade Book Fair 2018

The opening ceremony of Belgrade Book Fair took place on Sunday 21 October, officially commencing one of the biggest publishing events of the region. There is no doubt that Serbia takes pride in this annual gathering of publishers and public, now in its 63rd year, with the writer and Academician Matija Bećković comparing readers’ attendance of the fair to worshippers in a church. Between his opening speech and that of the representative of the Guest of Honour – this year Morocco, the first Arab nation to have this accolade – the public was treated to performances from the opera singer Jasmina Trumbetaš Petrović, accompanied on piano. Continue reading Guest Post | Susan Curtis @Istros_books | Belgrade Book Fair 2018

Interview | Peter Kalu, author

Meet Peter Kalu in person at the BookBlast 10×10 Tour event, Waterstones, Bristol Galleries: 11A Union Galleries, Broadmead BS1 3XD 6.30 p.m. Thursday 18 October. Theme: Trading Places: Bright City, Dark Secrets. In conversation with Rosemarie Hudson, HopeRoad Publishing, (chair), and author Qaisra Shahraz. Book Tickets

What is your favorite quality?  Brevity.

Where were you born, and where did you grow up?  Earth. Ditto.

What sorts of books were in your family home? Paper ones.

Who were early formative influences as a writer? Tom & Jerry.

Do you write every day, and do you write many drafts? Yes. Yes.

As an author, what are you most proud (or embarrassed) of writing? Words. (Words).

Books that changed your life? Cicero: Murder Trials.

Your views on book publishing? Vague.
 Continue reading Interview | Peter Kalu, author

Review | Robinson and An Overcoat, both by Jack Robinson a.k.a. Charles Boyle

Written in the aftermath of the 2016 referendum when the UK voted to leave the EU, Robinson is essential and entertaining reading. By the end of the 19th century there were over 700 spin-off versions of Robinson Crusoe: the novel is brilliantly and succinctly revisited by Charles Boyle a.k.a. Jack Robinson in a modern-day setting. 

Random thoughts from an offshore island

“James Joyce considered Robinson’s grandfather to be ‘the true prototype of the English colonist . . . The whole Anglo Saxon spirit is in Crusoe: the manly independence; the unconscious cruelty; the persistence; the slow yet efficient intelligence; the sexual apathy; the practical, well-balanced religiousness; the calculating taciturnity.’ Crusoe – the eponymous hero of the book by Daniel Defoe that is often considered to be the first English novel.” Continue reading Review | Robinson and An Overcoat, both by Jack Robinson a.k.a. Charles Boyle

News | The BookBlast® 10×10 Tour 2018 Kickstarter Campaign Launched

The BookBlast® celebration of independent publishing was kicked off in 2016 via online journal The BookBlast® Diary, idea being to showcase daring, risk-taking small publishers who fill a unique niche discovering talent, publishing authentic and offbeat books which add value to the cultural landscape.

bookblast 10x10 tour book covers mosaic

We are now going offline and into the 9 regions of England this Autumn with THE BOOKBLAST® 10×10 TOUR 2018 in association with Waterstones.

Why not show your support for small independent publishers, writers and translators? Please spread the word and support our KICKSTARTER campaign: you can pledge, enjoy and spread the word HERE…

Come to the first tour event on 11 September at 6.30pm in Waterstones, Gower Street, or to  one of the 9 regional talks! We have lots of goodies and tickets to #giveaway so visit us and let everyone know how much you love to support #crowdfunding great new writing and ideas.

The BookBlast® 10×10 Tour is about extraordinary writing inspiring readers to explore what’s happening in the world now. Audiences will encounter writers from the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, up-and-coming British talent.

Waterstones may be a nationwide chain, but is clearly awake to the potential of small independent publishers and showcasing them to a high-street audience.

The tour connects London and the regions and showcases some of the finest independent-spirited literature and poetry being published today.

I look forward to seeing you all on the campaign trail and at a 10×10 Tour event in the Autumn. Ciao for now! G@BB

The BookBlast® 10×10 Tour catalogue is available for download or viewing online HERE

News | The BookBlast® 10×10 Tour 2018 | Catalogue

The BookBlast® 10×10 Tour 2018, A Celebration of Independent Publishing 

Here at BookBlast® we have worked over the past year on this exciting tour. Now it is finally happening!

Tour dates: 11 September-15 November.

10 small independent trade publishers will host author/translator talks in 10 cities across England over 9 weeks, one in each city.

A tour of this kind has not been done before. It is all about celebrating risk-takers in publishing and giving them greater visibility, as well as connecting London and the regions.

The BookBlast® 10×10 Tour catalogue is available for viewing or download HERE

We  look forward to seeing you at one of the events! Georgia @bookblast