“If we all had our middle fingers removed, would there be anything left to say?” This is the opening of “Hipsters at an Exhibition“, a short story by James Hopkin ...
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Slovak Fiction Week: fiction anthology review
Into the Spotlight is a soon-to-be-published anthology of contemporary Slovak fiction including writers such as Uršuľa Kovalyk, Pavel Vilikovský, Monika Kompaníková and many more. It was translated by Julia Sherwood and Magdalena Mullek and published by Three String Books (an imprint of Slavica Publishers). You can read my review of this fantastic anthology here. Read […]
B O D Y’s Slovak Fiction Week: Dusan Mitana
In 1965 Dušan Mitana published the short story “On a Tram” (V električke) in the Slovak literary journal Mladá tvorba, which tells of a passing erotic encounter between two strangers on a tram. After it was published 12 different women contacted the author claiming to have been the woman in the story. Thirty-six years later […]
Tea Tulic in B O D Y
“They say that when people jump from their own – or someone else’s – windows and balconies, they first take off their socks, shoes, trainers, slippers. They jump barefoot. With their hangnails, corns and hard heels. They go to join their barefoot ancestors.” From the absolutely unique and brilliant award-winning Hair Everywhere by Tea Tulić, […]
Anasoft Litera 2017 shortlist
Anasoft Litera has announced its 10 finalists for the 12th year of Slovakia’s most prestigious literary award. The finalists were chosen from 227 books, the highest number to date, and the winner of the 10,000 euro prize will be announced at the beginning of September. The finalists include Ondrej Štefánik for I, Paula (Som Paula), […]
Israel Centeno in B O D Y
While more contemporary Latin American writers have found their way into English translation following the Bolaño phenomenon there are still major talents without a toe let alone a foot in the door and major blank spaces on the map. This brings us to Venezuelan writer Israel Centeno, whose work Aurelio Major, co-founding editor of Granta […]
Bohuslav Reynek in B O D Y
Bohuslav Reynek (1892 – 1971) was one of the giants of 20th century Czech poetry and Karolinum press is making an extensive selection of his work available in English in a translation by Justin Quinn titled The Well at Morning: Selected Poems, 1925–1971. You can read two of those poems in B O D Y […]
Women in Translation Prize
The inaugural Warwick Prize for Women in Translation has been announced. Meant to focus a greater share of attention on women writers from around the world at a time when literature in translation seems to be gaining ground and awards are seen as a particularly effective means of drawing public interest (and if they could […]
Ricarda Huch in B O D Y
An epistolary novel set in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, a psychological thriller of love and assassination, Ricarda Huch’s work is virtually unknown in the english-speaking world despite her high-standing in the Germany of her time – Thomas Mann called her the “First Lady of Europe” while Hitler and Goebbels sent her […]
Words Without Borders: New Bulgarian Literature
The latest issue of Words Without Borders is devoted to contemporary Bulgarian writing, brought to you by director of the Bulgarian National Book Center Svetlozar Zhelev and translator extraordinaire Angela Rodel. They kick off the issue with a baseball-cap worthy-title essay “Making Bulgaria Great Again” where the case is made for culture being worth saving […]
Uzi Weil in B O D Y
What happens when a stalker, a Russian mobster, a heroin dealer and possibly former terrorist, and a cop who knows his way around the underworld enter the life of a perfectly ordinary and innocent single mom in Tel Aviv? Quite a lot, actually. For the specifics, you’ll have to read “Israel, 2014” by Israeli writer […]
