literalab

Prague’s book fair – Book World Prague – is underway and the guest of honor this year is Hungary with writers in attendance including the venerable Péter Esterházy, Krisztina Tóth, György Spiró, János Háy and László F. Földényi. You can download a supplement in English on the Hungarian presence that even has a section entitled […]

European Literature Night takes place May 14 in cities throughout Europe, with readings, performances, panel discussions and more. Prague’s Literature Night will take place in Žižkov and includes work from writers near and far, as well as a former classmate of mine from university who I’m willing to bet large amounts of money doesn’t remember […]

The recent centennial of Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal and the publication of Harlequin’s Millions in a translation by Stacey Knecht is the impetus for a number of Hrabal-based events coming up this week. On May 6, Knecht will be in conversation with writer Caleb Crain at 192 Books in New York City. And NYRB and […]

Argentine writer Iosi Havilio is appearing at the excellent Blue Metropolis International Literature Festival in Montreal on Friday May 2 and Saturday May 3 together with fellow Latin American writers Carlos Labbé, Luis Alberto Urrea and Eduargo Lago. Read an excerpt from Iosi Havilio’s Paradises in B O D Y here There are not a […]

Yiddish poems, a Ukrainian math adventure and Joycean cat-heavy view of Copenhagen are among the acclaimed children’s books at this year’s festival. The 51st edition of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair kicks of March 24 with Brazil as the guest of honor. As usual, there are a lot of interesting writers and books beings presented […]

Today’s Authors & Translators featured translator is the celebrated Marian Schwartz (and her authors – we shouldn’t forget the authors, after all) with a fascinating interview. Among other things, she discusses her soon to be published version of Anna Karenina (August 2014) and the intimacy of being able to work personally with an author, something […]

The Leipzig Book Fair is underway as of yesterday, and as always there is a lot of eastward looking literary fare on the agenda, kicking off today with something about Euromaidan that has Yuri Andrukhovych, Andrei Kurkov and writer and singer Irina Karpa among the panel participants (I say “something about Euromaidan” because the program […]

In the newly published issue of The Quarterly Conversation there is an exchange between two translators of the Austrian writer Josef Winkler, Bernard Banoun and Adrian West, who translate him into French and English respectively. Between Banoun’s account of visiting Winkler’s hometown with him (“…imagine visiting Illiers-Combray with Proust or Yoknapatawpha with Faulkner” he writes.) […]

Serbian writer Jelena Lengold, author of the short story collection Fairground Magician, is appearing at Europe House in London on Friday, February 21 for an evening of conversation. The collection was published by Istros Books in 2013 in a translation by Celia Hawkesworth, after having won the European Union Prize for Literature in 2011. Read […]