The Mookse and the Gripes discussion
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Pen/America Awards
Glad to see Hanne Ørstavik's Love on the list. And this reminds me I need to read Codex 1962!Just comparing the long and short lists, and there doesn't seem to be much difference. The long list seems a bit short!
Their main award is a very odd one. They put books of all types in the same category, so they have one novel, one collection of short stories, two collections of poems, and one non-fiction book as the finalists. You also really see how the subjectivity of the judges makes a big difference, with books eligible for several categories being picked for one but not for others.
Thanks for posting these! The Ørstavik looks like one to watch for the BTBA then.
Antonomasia wrote: "Thanks for posting these! The Ørstavik looks like one to watch for the BTBA then."I enjoyed the the book but I didn't think it stood out more than any of the others. The book evoked a similar mood as The Night Circus, without the dependence on supernatural. I think the BTBA is still wide open.
It doesn't seem like a typical BTBA winner, as those are often more experimental, but it seems like a longlist prospect, as it's published by Archipelago, won this and appeared on the NBA shortlist.
I’ve been hesitant to post my rankings on BTBA thread because much of what I’ve read has not stood out. Love did, however.
The Pen/America longlists. The translated literature is usualky of interest, but there was little we haven't seen. One surprise was the Amazon Crossing published The Dead Wander in the Desert. Multiple smaller presses have representation but I will probably pass on reading all of the books.https://pen.org/2020-pen-america-lite...
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Sam wrote: "The Pen/America longlists. The translated literature is usualky of interest, but there was little we haven't seen. One surprise was the Amazon Crossing published [book:The Dead Wander in the Desert..."Great to see two translations from Korean on there - particularly given the ongoing blindspot that the BTBA has for the country's literature. (Although I didn't particularly like At Dusk for its rather one-sided views)
The shortlists are out. Translation one below - unfortunately the two from-Korean translations miss out:If You Cross the River: A Novel, Geneviève Damas (Milkweed Editions)
Translated from the French by Jody Gladding
IndieBound | Hudson
The Ten Loves of Nishino, Hiromi Kawakami (Europa Editions)
Translated from the Japanese by Allison Markin Powell
IndieBound | Hudson
Beyond Babylon, Igiaba Scego (Two Lines Press)
Translated from the Italian by Aaron Robertson
IndieBound | Hudson
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead: A Novel, Olga Tokarczuk (Riverhead Books)
Translated from the Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones
IndieBound | Hudson
The Scent of Buenos Aires: Stories, Hebe Uhart (Archipelago Books)
Translated from the Spanish by Maureen Shaughnessy
IndieBound | Hudson
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The Ten Loves of Nishino, Hiromi Kawakami (Europa Editions)
Translated from the Japanese by Allison Markin Powell
IndieBound | Hudson"
I have this one sitting here to read, and I've not done so yet. A pile of books I had on hold forever at the library have all poured in within the last 5 days.
Ella wrote: "Paul wrote: "The shortlists are out. Translation one below - unfortunately the two from-Korean translations miss out:The Ten Loves of Nishino, Hiromi Kawakami (Europa Editions)
Translated from th..."
Move it up on your pile.
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done
I am frustrated with the Hebe Uhart collection since my kindle release has no accompanying information on the stories that are included. No introduction, no notes, no dates for when the stories were written or when and where previously published. If anyone has the Archipelago paper copy, I'm interested if the same holds true. I would also be interested in other differences in the publication. I saw reviews listing twenty-four stories in the paper copy but there are nearly fourty stories in my ebook. I dropped some links to help others decide if they would be interested in this but with a number of stories in the collection and no editorial data, I would find it hard to recommend this. Here are some links on the book and Uhart in general. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2...
https://www.musicandliterature.org/re...
https://www.asymptotejournal.com/fict...
https://lithub.com/tourists-and-trave...
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I listened to the story "Guiando la Hiedra" (Gilding the Ivy) an hour or so ago, trying to do something quiet so I'd fall back to sleep. (not feeling great, I went to bed early, and now I'm awake at 1:30 AM...) I'm interested in the collection, but I searched and searched for an answer to what is in the Archipelago edition, and came up dry. Did you purchase from them or from Amazon?
Perhaps you could email them? I've seen kindle editions that were not at all similar to the book I intended to buy just b/c I clicked once too often on Amazon while making a decision.
Ella wrote: "Sam wrote: "I am frustrated with the Hebe Uhart collection since my kindle release has no accompanying information on the stories that are included. No introduction, no notes, no dates for when the..."I am reading a library owned edition. It was not important. I just wish that in the case of a deceased author with a large body of work, the publishers might take more effort at providing elementary background.
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But it is important - for one thing, I don't want to buy it now unless I can hold it in my hands and take a look.
So that's my selfish reason, but also so many of the reviews and stories and articles say how she was overlooked etc. If so, then perhaps if some of the stories are missing from certain collections, people may want to get another one of her books to read or another collection.
Most of all, I want to know about her and know why she's so special that a press takes the trouble to hire a translator and publish the book. It seems the very least they could do is give some background information (unless they're being crafty b/c someone is writing a biography, but that seems a bit too cynical for even me to believe.)
Perhaps her death made the publication more hasty than it should have been, but a clear number of stories doesn't seem too much to ask, and some biographical information for a new-to-English-readers author seems like a must to me.
(In my next life when I run a bookstore and a publishing house, I shall make sure everything is perfect.) Thanks for introducing me to a very lovely writer though - I'm going to figure it out for myself and I'll keep you updated if I find anything out.
I think this is a general problem with authors who aren't old enough or famous enough to appear in critical editions - you end up having to do your own research from what is online. It seems familiar from BTBA stuff in the past.
Pen/America winners have been chosen. I listed two previously discussed but check the link for the rest, including Tom Stoppard and M. Nourbese Philip.Where Reasons End won the Jean Stein.
The Ten Loves of Nishino won The Translation.
https://pen.org/2020-pen-america-lite...
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Where Reasons End won the Je..."
From reading comments of those who read more than me, I expected The Ten Loves of Nishino to make much more of a splash, so I'm glad to see it get a little love (I have a copy at home.)
I was also quite pleased to read that M. Nourbese Philip got the recognition of the 2020 PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature - it's a lot of money, and I'm always interested in how they arrive at one winner.
https://pen.org/pen-nabokov-award-for...
Here are the longlists for 2021. Far too many books to list since there are multiple lists. The interest here is probably the fiction translation with several novels we have seen before as well as some that are new to me.The four I have read were all about equal.
Mansour's Eyes
The Family Clause
Tokyo Ueno Station
The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree
https://pen.org/literary-awards/2021-...
Yes I was surprised by how few of the translated list I recognised actually.
Mansour’s Eyes sounds interesting. They all do, but that one sounds most appealing to me.
I read only The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree from the list and already had in plans to read Our Riches. I'm not too much excited about the rest except for Treasure of the Spanish Civil War, a pleasant discovery that I've immediately looked up & found as an ebook at my public library. Deep Vellum's novel for young adults, already commercialized into a film with mixed reviews, is a huge disappointment, especially after seeing several literary gems in their catalog this year, two of which I've just bought at my local indie shop.
Treasure of the Spanish Civil War does sound very good.Which Deep Vellum novel are you referring to, Vesna?
Wendy, I had two choices in mind. One is The Love Story of the Century by Märta Tikkanen and the other is At the Lucky Hand: aka The Sixty-Nine Drawers by Goran Petrović. The latter is currently an Asymptote book club choice and long ago recommended to me by a GR friend Vit from whom I learned about some truly fascinating writers. Since its publication in 2000, this novel has been translated into many languages and I was thrilled to see it finally done in English. The first one (Tikannen's novel) is written in verse, which is in itself interesting, and considered a modern classic in her country (written in 1978). This may sound harsh, but I honestly think it's embarrassing to pass on these two modern literary classics from smaller countries for a YA book with a big commercial PR machine behind it that it has already been adapted into a mediocre movie.
I didn’t realize how many US indie presses are represented in these long lists! That’s great to see. The two books you mentioned sound amazing.
I wasn’t able to find Deep Vellum publishing, only their store. They still publish, don’t they?
WndyJW wrote: "I didn’t realize how many US indie presses are represented in these long lists! That’s great to see. The two books you mentioned sound amazing.
I wasn’t able to find Deep Vellum publishing, onl..."
It must be you looked at their Dallas bookstore (deepvellum.com). As a publisher, their web address is at www.deepvellum.org.
It's very impressive how much they accomplished in the last few years. Just now their translation of "Muslim": A Novel won the Albertine Prize and last month I read that Dalkey Archives will continue to publish (after their founder's death) as their future imprint.
Sam wrote: "Here are the longlists for 2021. Far too many books to list since there are multiple lists. The interest here is probably the fiction translation with several novels we have seen before as well as ..."Out of the 11 longlists, I have read two books in 4 of the categories and 1 book in one category. And since Caste is in two categories, I've read a total of 8. I have two or three on the shelf but don't think I'll add any others to my already packed TNR shelves.
Sam wrote: "Did anyone happen to read Sharks in the Time of Saviors?"Yes- I gave it 4 stars. I listened to it quite a while ago, though, so I don’t remember a lot of details. I do remember liking the writing, and the story- and I loved the magical realism thrown in.
Sam wrote: "Did anyone happen to read Sharks in the Time of Saviors?"Sam, I was in the minority who didn't like it. I liked the earlier part when the kids were young, but as adults they didn't come alive for me. My spoiler-free review
Thank you both. I had sampled the book and had mixed feelings on the prose style. I saw some enthusiasm about the book year and and was thinking I missed something. I guess it is still a matter of personal taste.
My Asymptote book club book for December arrived today: At the Lucky Hand: aka The Sixty-Nine Drawers from Deep Vellum! This was an excellent surprise today.I was contemplating not renewing my subscription, but I took this as a sign that I should renew it.
WndyJW wrote: "My Asymptote book club book for December arrived today: At the Lucky Hand: aka The Sixty-Nine Drawers from Deep Vellum! This was an excellent surprise today.I was contemplating not..."
Oh, that's a great news, Wendy. I didn't know you were a member of their book club. Their selections are very interesting and strong. I'll read it early next year.
That is the second time I’ve thought about ordering a book and it showed up in my mail a few days later, the first time was with A Musical Offering. It makes up for the duplicate books I sometime get from overlapping subscriptions.I’m reading Fireflies now and might read At the Lucky Hand next, although Beast just arrived today too and I loved The Wake which I read the other day, so that might be next.
I read both A Musical Offering and Fireflies, and became an instant fan of Sagasti. A new book with the same translator should be coming soon. A Musical Offering is one of my very favorite books I read this year (I loved Fireflies, but my passion for music tilted in favor of the other one). Enjoy!
Fireflies is on our list of alternative BTBA-M&G version so I thought I’d read that now. I’ve heard a lot of praise from this group about Fireflies.
Yes, Fireflies is a great book and it's indeed in the PW database for 2020 US release. I read it first too because of our alternative BTBA.
The Pen/Faulkner award is not part of the Pen America awards and has its own foundation but since we have so many award topics, I am not starting another. Here is the 2021 longlist. There are some new titles mixed in this list and the only book I read was Transcendant Kingdom.https://www.penfaulkner.org/2021/02/0...
I've read two of the Pen/Faulkner nominees (The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw and Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi) and was only vaguely aware of most of the others.
Here are the finalists for the Pen/America awards. I have read all of the translated fiction longlist except for That Hair and Lost Girls. I found the all of about the same quality and have no particular favorite from what I read. The similarities of the books on the shortlist echo that of the longlist with a stress on social and political themes from marginalized voices which is emblematic of Pen/America, plus a little quirkiness for fun. https://pen.org/literary-awards/2021-...
Sam wrote: "The Pen/Faulkner award is not part of the Pen America awards and has its own foundation but since we have so many award topics, I am not starting another. Here is the 2021 longlist. There are some ..."The only book on here I’m aware of is The Secret Lives of Church Ladies and I loved it.
Here are the results. Be Holding, Ross Gay won the Jean Stein.
Sharks in the Time of Saviors Kawak Strong Washburn, debut novel.
A Country for Dying, Abdellah Taïa, translated fiction.
https://pen.org/literary-awards/2021-...
Ross Gay, having already won a National Book Award and a National Book Critic's Circle Award for different works, won the Jean Stein Award this year for Be Holding. so I decided to read it. It is a long poem which originates out of a moment of athleticism from a an African American basketball player. Usually. I am not a fan of sports allusions in books but this one works well I think. Plus there are more Sebald like moments in the poem. I leave link to a review from the Kenyon Review.https://kenyonreview.org/reviews/be-h...
Does anyone know when the longlists come out? Last year it was in the third week of December.
The Mookse and the Gripes
Books mentioned in this topic
The Night Circus (other topics)The Wake (other topics)
Beast (other topics)
Codex 1962 (other topics)
Love (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Percival Everett (other topics)Hanne Ørstavik (other topics)
https://pen.org/2019longlists/