When the first Annual Conference of the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) took place 35 years ago I didn’t really mind that I couldn’t go. I was nine, and barely read English-language writers, even those who filled speech bubbles in comic books. I was interested in other things. Times have changed. Today I would give […]
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A Tribute to Michael Henry Heim (1943 – 2012) – Asymptote
I wrote a brief tribute to translator Michael Henry Heim on Asymptote Journal as I was preparing an interview with him when I learned of his death on September 29. Reading about his singular career and reading so many of the amazing books he translated was and will continue to be a truly inspiring experience. […]
The Cathedral of Es – Pilvax
“It was as if there was a roulette wheel turning, not with numbers, but with destinations that had evocative names: Sofia, Odessa, Bangkok, Istanbul. He had been watching the wheel spin, waiting to see where the ball would finally land. He would be happy to go to any of these faraway places and so assumed […]
Literary roundup: Russian canons and man-made dystopias
At Russia Beyond the Headlines Alexander Genis asks whether Russia could have a Norton-like anthology of its literature, in spite of all the debate that surrounds these anthologies and the canons they imply. Russia though, especially in the 20th century, presents some unique challenges: “Perhaps, the solution is to end the list at 1917. As […]
VIVO: The Life of Gustav Meyrink
Prague German Writers – Gustav Meyrink He was twenty-three years old and living alone in Prague. A wounded heart caused him to look at his life up to that point as shallow and empty. Gustav Meyrink had just put a farewell letter to his mother in an envelope and reached for his revolver, when he […]
A musical aside: Schoenberg, Byron and contemporary Czech music
The first time I saw the Berg Orchestra perform not long after its founding in 1995 the concert program offered a typical mix of new and old music, with the more familiar fare used to draw audiences to the modern music they were still for the most part unaccustomed to hearing. On that particular evening, […]
Literary roundup: Russian decadence, a duel and the man who never wore glasses
Oxford University is the site of a conference on the last two decades of Russian literature titled Decadence or Renaissance? Russian literature since 1991 that starts today. Besides all the academic speakers discussing issues as diverse as the latest wave of Russian and Russian-Jewish emigration, political novels, counter-culture and oil, there are two guest authors […]
Literary roundup: Translation practices and Einstein’s definition of insanity
“Jasieński clearly believed that new convictions required a new formal approach, and as such he reinvents his language every fifty pages or so, and entirely rethinks how a metaphor might be used … it once seemed logical that a political revolution needed a corresponding revolution in the arts. Now the politics struggle to change while […]
Literary roundup: American Miłosz, Azeri satire and Hašek’s other writing
The US consulate in Poland has opened a photography exhibition in the central Polish city of Kielce titled “American Milosz.” The show consists of photographs of the poet Czesław Miłosz while he was living in the US taken by his brother Andrzej Miłosz in Berkeley in the 70s as well as by a Chicago-based Polish […]
Balla awarded Slovakia’s Anasoft literary prize
Balla (Vladimír Balla) has won Slovakia’s biggest literary prize for his novella In the Name of the Father. In its seventh year the Anasoft litera comes with an award of €10,000. Previous winners include Pavel Vilikovský, Marek Vadas, Milan Zelinka, Alta Vášová, Stanislav Rakús and Monika Kompaníková. Hopefully, the award will give Balla a promotional […]
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