Hélène Gestern q& a

 

As I said when I reviewed the people in the photo last week .I had been given the chance to ask Hélène Gestern a few questions about her book and influences here are her answers .

1 Is the photo that is the key to the story real ? If so how did you get it ? And was it the kernel for the story ?
The photo isn’t real, and no photo described in the book is, except one. The first photo is of course the kernel : it’s the major enigma (who are these people, why they are together in Switzerland at this moment), and the starting of point of Hélène and Stéphane’s investigation.
2 The epistolary novel was almost declared dead a few years ago, but with the increased use of email it has been revived. What made you choose it ?
I read few contemporary books so I know little about epistolary novel revival. But I admire very much great letters writers, as Madame de Sévigné, and novels of the XVIIIth century like Dangerous Liaisons. Recently, my publisher offered me a fantastic one, Guidi Piovene’s Lettera di Una Novicia (translated in French as La Novice, 1941). This genre owes a particular and fascinating rhythm : each letter calls for an answer. It also allows the writer to introduce several characters with “I”, so to get a polyphonic narration, without creating the massive autobiographical effect from a single “I”. Regarding The People in the Photo, two dimensions are interwoven : the past elements Hélène and Stéphane find out together, and the way it influences their present lives. I needed personal voices to express what happens inside, as the journey goes along ; therefore I chose an epistolary pattern. It was especially easy for me as I’m used to communicating by writing letters or emails – I nearly never make phone calls.
3 Your book revolves around affairs and secrets. Given recent events in France do you think the French have a different view on these matters ?
In my point of view, nothing happened in France regarding François Hollande : a man has an affair with a woman, so what ? Foreign newspaper attacks against him on this point seemed exaggerated as well as slightly ridiculous. The general feeling here is that we would prefer hear about his politics, considering the economic and social context. I’m extremely affected by private life violation matters and am scared to observe how quickly internet can destroy a person’s intimacy. A society that requires of each of its citizens, including politicians, an exemplary sentimental life, and that forces him/her to apologize on a TV show each time he/she does something wrong at home – anyway, it should be interesting to define what “wrong” means – seems to me a dangerous nonsense. Maybe the French are more tolerant about politician’s private life, as it involves consenting adults… If your question refers to DSK, what he did is not a matter of “affairs” or “secrets”, but a range of serious offences. Everyone was flabbergasted to discover who he really was, and you won’t find now a single person in France to stand up for him.
4 Which writers have influenced your writing ?
Georges Perec had a major influence, regarding the matter of construction : he elaborated a brilliant system to build Life, A User’s Manual, which is one of the most amazing novels of the XXth century. As far as photography is concerned, I admire very much Anne-Marie Garat, a French writer whose novels and work are almost completely dedicated to photography and memory ; W.G. Sebald, for the same reason – he had a great French translator, Patrick Charbonnier. When I was younger, I was also keen on some novelists like Kazuo Ishiguro, with his amazing stylistic perfection (his sentences give the feeling to listen to a river flowing) or Antonio Munoz Molina, a great Spanish storyteller. But the majority of my reading, for 14 years now, is dedicated to autobiography and personal diaries. I often write reviews in La Faute à Rousseau and some of them are readable on my site.
5 My blog is dedicated to books in translation. Which French books would you suggest for my readers ?
For lovers of epistolary novels and classical literature, Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Choderlos de Laclos) ; for lovers of complex and brilliant story-telling, Life: A User’s Manual by Georges Perec. I would also recommend Sorj Chalandon’s My Traitor and Return to Killybegs, the strong, dark, moving story of lies and broken friendship between the author and Denis Donaldson. One text I would strongly recommend to English readers is Hélène Berr’s Journal. She was a young Jewish student at the Sorbonne and she died in Bergen-Belsen camp at the end of the war. She wrote one of the most radiant, sensitive, lucid and moving texts I have ever read. She decided to stay in Paris during WW2 despite the dangers (her own way to resist to Nazis) and describes how everyday life is turning to hell for her and her family. At the same time, she falls in love. Within the awfulness and the darkness, despite her conviction she will be caught and die in a camp, she remains able to perceive beauty of life, to tell of her love for Jean, her fiancé, for countryside, music and Yeats’s poetry. Everyone should read this text.
6 How easy was it to work with your translator ?
The work was very easy : I had nothing to do ! Actually, one of the translators, Ros Schwartz, is a friend of a friend a mine, but we discovered this extraordinary coincidence after the decision to translate was made by Gallic Books. I’m aware that I am especially lucky, as the book was translated by two people, Ros and Emily Boyce, to give a genuine touch to the epistolary effect. One day, Ros Schwartz sent a mail to ask me three questions about a chapter. They were so precise, regarding some very subtle meanings (even for a French-native speaker), that I knew the translation would be great – and it is. I read the whole book in English and was so moved to see to what extent they succeeded in keeping the original rhythm of writing – nothing is more difficult – and to express how a friendship turns into something else through the way the characters sign off their letters – although there is no equivalent between the two languages. This translation is amazingly faithful, but with its own grace, its own poetry.

Dutch Lit fortnight – Herman Koch Answers some questions

I was lucky to be able to Ask the writer of The dinner a few questions via E-mail ,so here are his answers ,you can also see my review Here and A look at the food in The dinner here .
1 Which writers have influenced you ?
I started with reading the Russians when I was sixteen, I think they still have the biggest influence: Tcheckov, Turgenev, Tolstoj and Dostojewski.

2 How did you come up for the idea for the dinner ?
It starrted with a real event in Barcelona where two boys molested a homeless person in a cash machine. The boys looked so nice, so normal, they were laughing and having fun, and I thought: “They are ruining their whole future in five minutes….” So from the starting point I identified with the boys, not with their victim. That was the trigger for the book.

3 How many meals out did you have before deciding on the menu for the meal ?
I tried to remember all the absurd meals I had in the past twenty years. And I thought of all the restaurants where I would never go back again. That was my research.

4 Are the brothers problems meant to be seen in a wider context of Holland itself ?
No, I don’t think their situation applies particularly to Holland. More to Europe, or the ‘Western world’ in general. Although you will find some exaggerated political correctness in our country.

5 I have previously ask both Cees Nooteboom and Gerbrand Bakker to describe what makes Dutch literature so unique. What are your thoughts ?
I am not sure. We live in a rather boring and spoiled country. Maybe Dutch literature is only unique in that it wasn’t noticed in the past 200 years in the rest of the world.

6 What are you favourite Dutch books ?
For me there is only one, I think it has been translated into English: The Dark Room of Damocles by W.F. Hermans.

I put this up today as part of Iris on books Dutch Lit fortnight 

Gerbrand Bakker interview

I ‘m pleased to bring you an interview with the Independent foreign fiction prize longlistee Gerbrand Bakker .His longlisted book The detour (ten white geese in the Us) Has Just come out in paperback in the UK ,So when I was offered chance to ask him a few questions I jumped at the chance
1.Why do you goes such isolated locations for your books?
I like to put people away from distractions, big cities, hustle and bustle. Just to see what happens to them. And in a very strange way I’m – even though I live in Amsterdam – not really able to write about a city and all the things that happen in them. Just like I’m not really able to write about skating, and skating (speed skating) is what I’ve done for 15 years, including competition. It always looks strange, reads strange.
2.Have you a connection with Wales, and is that why you choose it for The Detour?
Because I’ve been there quite a number of times. In fact, I have the strange habit of wanting to climb Snowdon once a year. The land there feels old, ancient, mysterious. I always wanted to use it for ‘something’ and somewhere in 2009 Emily Dickinson, a woman (and a feeling) and North-Wales came together in my head.
3.Did you pick Emily Dickson first as the poet to be the one Emile taught or after as she fitted the character?
No, the book started with this poem, that’s why I choose it as the motto. So the woman (Emilie/Agnes) had to fit in with Dickinson, and not the other way round. And then, when I was writing, I discovered (and the woman discovers) that there are some similarities between her and Dickinson. So there is a sort of love-hate relationship between them.
4.How closely did you work with the translator on this book?
Quite close, closer than on any other book. Because there were some real problems in the translation. For instance: how do you translate a book that in Dutch deals with the translation of an American poem into Dutch? I thought the book couldn’t be translated, but David Colmer is very calm and he said: “Don’t worry, I’m the translator, let me do my job.”
5.What impact did winning the IMPAC prize for The Twin have for you?
I bought a house in The Eifel, Germany. I’m renovating it at the moment and there is going to be a wonderful ‘writing-room’ in it, which can only be accessed via a stairway on the outside of the house. There is going to be a log burner in it, as the whole house is heated with log burners. That is what happened in the end with the IMPAC money. I did (not yet) buy a carthorse with it. It also gave me the opportunity to NOT write for a while. I’ve not been inclined to write for a couple of years now, and the money partly enables me to do this. The IMPAC did not make me think: wow, I’m a real, big writer now, also because I myself have been in jury’s and I know how things work. There is always a bit of luck and bargaining involved…

6.I Asked Cees Nooteboom about Dutch literature last year he described it as ‘inward looking’. What is your view?
I presume that he meant this not as a compliment, and that he is not an inward-looking writer? I don’t think one can make such a general statement. There are enough writers who to me don’t write inward-looking, like Anon Grunberg or Peter Buwalda. But it is maybe true that Dutch writers take it on them to write about for instance world politics, maybe because in the end we are a very small country. And not many Dutch writers have the stature of Orhan Pamuk. I cannot think of one Dutch writer who ever became ‘big’ in the UK or the United States. There is also a reverence for especially English and American writers here. If you look at the bestselling books at the end of a year, there’s hardly a Dutch book to be found in the top 10. I don’t think that’s the case in the US or the UK. And nobody can convince me that American or English books are intrinsically better than Dutch books.
7.What you currently working on?
Nothing. I’m working in my house and garden, and sometimes I write articles in magazines. I travel a lot for my work these days. To Germany, but also to Argentina, the US and South-Africa.
8.What is your favourite Dutch book not written by you?
Het Bureau (The Office), written by J.J. Voskuil. A book that consists of seven parts, 5000 pages in total, about a man who works in an office for 35 years and is struggling with that. Only recently the first book was translated into German, it has not been translated into English. That would be a mammoth-task for any translator…

Many thanks Gerbrand and good luck with the IFFP 2013

Here are my reviews of his two novels

The twin

The detour

An Interview with the shadow IFFP winner Sjon

1. In both From the Mouth of the Whale and The Whispering Muse there is a seafaring feel do you sail or have a connection to the sea ?

Being born on island means that from an early age you are very aware of the sea. Throughout history things and people have come floating to your shores and the only way out was over the sea. So, I think sailing, swimming, and sinking will always be a part of the stories told on an island. As well as the great depths teeming with strange beings and everything the sea has swallowed.

2. Myth plays a big part in your fiction. What is your favourite myth ?

In general, I like the mischievous gods: the tricksters. So, Loki’s stories are a favourite: especially the one where he helps the Aesir (the principle members of the pantheon of Norse gods) to get out of the deal they made with a giant about building the fortress walls around Asgard. The gods promise the giant the Sun, the Moon and the hand of the fertility goddess Freyja as a reward if he finishes the job in time. When they realize too late that the giant will be able to do it they look to Loki for help. So, Loki transforms himself into a gray mare and lures the giant’s work horse away. Without his horse the giant can’t finish the walls. Later Loki has an affair with the horse, which results in the birth of Odin’s eight legged horse Sleipnir. Sleipnir, is the Nordic Pegasus, who can easily transport us across the borders of the many worlds that make up our universe …

3 .You’ve been connected to music. As I’ve read your books I feel a rhythm. Do you listen to music as you write? If so, what music?

Each of my novels has a special form and style, a new challenge for me to meet, so I listen to different kinds of music while writing them. I usually try to find something that in one way or another fits the theme or the mood of the novel, either by contrasting with it or by complementing it. With From the Mouth of the Whale it was two particular pieces by the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt: Alina and Spiegel am Spiegel; with The Blue Fox it was Schubert’s string quartets and with The Whispering Muse it was Theolonius Monk.

4. We all loved Victoria’s translations. How closely did you work with her ?

And I love them as well! How close she wants me to be depends on the work. Sometimes I get many emails with questions about my intention with this phrase or that, or what outside source I am alluding to in one scene or another. Then sometimes she just asks me to read it over when the work is done. I trust her 100% and am always at her service if needed.

5. Which writers have influenced you ?

Samuel Beckett, Karen Blixen, Jorge Luis Borges, Mikhail Bulgakov, André Breton, Leonora Carrington … To name some of Bs and one of the Cs …

6. As much as your books are historic, are we meant to read a modern context into them ?

Yes, you are!

7 .Which of your books are not yet translated. Should we keep an eye out for any when they come out ?

This year I am finishing the third volume of a trilogy I have been working on since the early 90s. It tells the story of a man in Reykjavik who is telling an eager but sceptical listener the story of how he came into being as the result of the rendez-vous between a Jewish man fleeing the concentration camps and a chamber maid in a guesthouse in northern Germany in the middle of WWII. That he believes himself to have been fashioned from a lump of clay taken from the remains of the Golem of Prague is just one of the threads in the novel. There is also a corrupt stamp-collector, a gender confused archangel, a self-mutilating swimming pool attendant, a government official who believes half of the Icelandic population are descended from werewolves, a girl with four fathers, and many more characters with their own stories and occupations. Yes, I hope you will be on the lookout for those three …

8. For the person that has not read you, can tell them what to expect from you in one sentence ?

The smell of a puffin stew cooking over camp fire flickering in the shadows of gallows built on the ruins of a great library.

9. What’s the literary scene like at home and are there any writers from your
country we should read?

It is quite robust, thank you. Of our contemporary authors, I recommend Kristín Ómarsdóttir. Her novel Children in Reindeer Woods has just been published by Open Letter Books in the US. And for the deceased ones, I recommend our Nobel Prize winner Halldór Laxness. I am especially fond of his turn of the 20th century novel The Fish Can Sing.

Frank Wynne interviews winstonsdad B.B.A.W SWAP

I wanted to do something different for interview swap so I decided to get the prize-winning translator Frank “terrible man ” Wynne to interview me as I felt he would ask questions to give a deeper insight into me and the blog than a straight forward swap with another blog

1.What is the first book you can remember being profoundly moved by?

oh a tough one as a kid I loved Abel’s island by William Steig a mouse stuck on an island and Charlotte’s web they showed me how powerful emotion can be in books .I remember as a young teen trying Camus and going this is different to everything  else I ve read that maybe was first time I was moved by literature in  translation it was The plague I just found it opened a world of literature where there maybe isn’t a happy ending and yes life is very tough at times as I found out by reading this book .2 What was the last book that frustrated you enough to hurl it at the wall (swearing under your breath at the author will do at a push)?

Oh this is very easy Jonathan Littell the kindly ones I m not a huge novel fan but have tried to read more  large novels over recent years but this one I just couldn’t get on with I felt it was printed in to small a font that was also a little light on the eye that made it hard to read in first place but the main problem was the research He had researched it to well I felt the narrative just got bogged down in acronyms ,ranks and German army terms from the second world war I didn’t throw it but after 300 pages and little progress in two weeks I decide to call it a day and pull up stumps to a sunny day and more time so it has sat on my shelf for last two years  .3 You are a great champion of literature in translation; what draws you to writers in translation?

I always find this hard to sum up I feel I like other places I spent my 20’s reading uk/us literature with a few translations but as years gone by I just feel more drawn to world literature a sense of adventure as an armchair traveler ,but also the different  tones of grammar ,narrative  and description ,A french african novel is so different from a book from  Latin america but in some ways similar ,I like lines of literature how book a knocked on to make book b etc and I like seeing this as a global effect how Cervantes ,Borges, Tolstoy  and say Calvino have had knock on effect in different countries .

4 What language/book/author (if any) would you most like to be able to read in the original?
Know a couple of years ago I would say German I lived there and have a base that maybe could have launched into reading German overtime but as of late I have a real desire to maybe learn and read in spanish one day I feel more and more drawn to spanish and latin american literature and would love to read them in the original language ,I hope one day to have the time to do a Spanish course and start on the path to reading in Spanish .
5 Do you ever read aloud to Winston?

I don’t I hate my reading voices ,hence I never vlog on the blog I ve to deep and northern english accent for my liking .I maybe should practice for when I have kids .

6 How do you decide on which books to read/review? 

I do get sent a number of books I try to review the ones that  appeal on time other than that it what ever takes my fancy from local library or my own collection .I tend to be a butterfly read jumping from places to places .I m terrible at sticking to long-term plans ,so over time I ve  blogged  I found this best way to go a book at a time ,rather than have it all planned out .

6 William Phelps once said “I divide all readers into two classes; those who read to remember and those who read to forget”, do you fit into either category? do you think the categories are valid?

I don’t ,I read to discover new places and times also to escape the every day humdrum of my life ,so on whole I disagree although I suppose escapism is also part of forgetting in a way .I call my self a reader that reads to escape and discover ! .7 Do you prefer the smell of freshly printed books or are you excited by the possibilities of eReaders, iBooks and Kindle?
I love new books I love hardbacks most of all nothing feel better in the hand than a nice new hard back ,I did have a e reader til the screen broke in my work bag ,I m hoping to get a kindle for christmas ,the ability to read  classics is what draws me to e readers lesser known writers are available to read via Guttenberg for free which draws me to getting a replacement as I was enjoying dipping in and out of classics which draws me to getting a replacement also less modern works in translation that are starting to be made available like some of your works are .

8 where as many critics seem to enjoy penning vitriolic reviews, revelling in a stinging putdown, book bloggers tend to enjoy sharing  their passion for literature with the world: would you (do you) feel wary or writing a negative review or would you simply ignore a book you disliked?

I tend to trust my own choices in what I read I can also see the positive aspects in a lot of books I read even if others don’t .I struggle to write negative reviews as I m not a very negative person  in real life  ,I maybe should try to bring some negative points in but at moment I enjoy being positive and upbeat about what I read ,because that on the whole is the way I feel about the books I read .I feel that I know the books I d like accross genres so know if I will enjoy a book before I start most of the time .

9  How has blogging about books changed your life, your reading habits, Winston’s walking schedule?

It takes time to blog ,it hasn’t effect Winston we still go out four times a day for his walks like we always have ,I do read a lot more than I use to and I tend to read for longer than I did a few years ago most evening of i divide time between the blog and reading .It’s all about finding balance  in life and feel I ve got it right at moment with posting a few times a week rather than every day .

10  In “If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller”, Italo Calvino gives a wondrous, dizzying list of  “Books You Haven’t Read, which were frowning at you from the tables and shelves, trying to cow you. But you know you must never allow yourself to be awed, that among them there extend for acres and acres the Books You Needn’t Read, the Books Made For Purposes Other Than Reading, Books Read Even Before You Open Them…” Of Calvino’s “countless embattled troops”,  three phalanxes haunt me… Can you give personal examples of:
*Books That Fill You With Sudden, Inexplicable Curiosity, Not Easily Justified
*Books Read Long Ago Which It’s Now Time To Reread
*Books You’ve Always Pretended To Have Read And Now It’s Time To Sit Down And Really Read
(mine: Riddley Walker, Confederacy of Dunces, Jane Eyre)

I m always curious about the other side of the fence more commercial fiction ,what makes these writers so popular ,I often tempt to try a Grisham or Picoult to see what the fuss is about but never do lol .

I ve been looking at a lord of the rings collection at local books sale I read it years ago and often feel I d like to go on the journey again Tolkien was such a great story-teller and this is such an epic book I felt as I read Don Quixote a click went in my head ,that this must have been a book that influence in a little way lord of the rings .Well like you I maybe admit to reading some Victorian female writers mine be wuthering heights I ve not read it but always feel I have maybe kate Bush summed it up to well or one of the film versions of the book I ve seen made me feel I d already read the book

at some point which I have not .

11   Are there any books you wish you had read when you were younger, or books where you feel you should have waited?

I always feel I maybe tackled Dickens to young as it was at hand ,when I was young due to us have a complete collection its been many years since I read him and I wonder if I would enjoy him more as a middle-aged man ,as for the flip side Don Quixote is a book that entered my life to late II would be further down the path of translation than I am if I’d had read this book years ago as it is so much a part of spanish and Latin American literature it helps you place modern books in context .12  What, for you, is the most satisfying thing about blogging?

I love the blogger I meet via blogging in the virtual world and also in real life ,I love the fact the I spread the word on translation which is the main aim of the blog I m not the biggest blogger and never will be ,nor the most talented but I feel I found my own niche and am happy where winstonsdad is and I feel that is the place for translation and world literature ,there are other bloggers in this field but I think I bring a lot breadth to this field .

Thanks Frank for some great questions ,I hope that gives your more of an insight into me Stu any thing else you want to know feel free to ask me in comments .

Cees Nooteboom talks to winstonsdad

I ve been lucky enough  to Ask The best Known Living Dutch writer Cees Nooteboom ,the prize winning writer is often mentioned as a Nobel prize winner for his body of Work so to tie in with his newest collection of stories being released in English and Iris of Iris on book Dutch literature month some questions About his books and Translation-.

1. You are a travel writer ,art critic ,poet and literary writer – of these which is closest to your heart ?

The combination. My prose would not be the way it is without my interest, both as a writer and a reader, in poetry. Poetry goes to the heart of things, finds new ways for words, forces one to be precise,and at the same time implies an enormous freedom of thought and expression.

1. How do you manage to find the time to write so prolifically ?                           Time is always there, it depends what you want to do with it. Couperus, who was more prolific than I am, always claimed that he was lazy.
2. In this latest collection of stories to be translated  into English ,which came first The theme or The stories  ?                                                                                        The theme belongs to my age. Friends separate, colleague’s die, people disappear in all kinds of ways, and one finds time to reflect on all that, which belongs the work of memory.
3. In the Foxes Come at Night how much of your own life has been invested into the stories ?                                                                                                                              This question was often asked of Marcel Proust. After all, the protagonist of his 4000 page book was called Marcel, like the author, and many people wanted to recognize themselves and others in his book. But he was adamant and said it was all fiction, including the author in the book with whom he shared a first name.

He was right, if only for the simple fact that Proust is dead, and the other Marcel is still very much alive in all these pages.

5. How closely do you work with your translators ?                                                    Very close, especcially when they need me.
6. How  important are champions of literature in translation such as publishers lik MacLehose Press ?                                                                                                         They are the salt of literary life, a last bulwark against the ever increasing commercialism of the international booktrade.
7. I’m doing this as part of Iris on books Dutch Literature month – What is special about Dutch literature for the readers that may not have been introduced to it before ?                                                                                                        The Dutch are a rather special tribe, like the english, but smaller. On the other hand,Holland is not an island. It has taken the world a long time to recognize that there are some interesting writers out there, like Hermans, Mulisch, Claus, Mortier, van Dis, Grunberg, and many others. And of course it does not help that we know much more about English writers than English readers know about dutch literature. A small language can be a prison. Translation is liberation.
8. Why do you think the English sometimes do not understand Dutch literature ?                                                                                                                                                      For the reason I have just indicated. Dutch literature may be an acquired taste, we are a metropolitan country, very densely populated, forced by size, inclination and the necessity of trade to be international, though lately rather inward looking. There is not enough land to serve as a counterweight to the cities. That makes for a rather special society. The language is spoken by 21 milion sometimes conceited citizens, with opinions about practically everything, in an eternal dialogue with each other.
9. Do you have a favourite book (If yes please name it )?                           Remembrace of Things past, by Marcel Proust. Ala Recherchedu Temps Perdu.
10. Which of your own books stands out for you ?                                                           The Knight has died ( De Ridder is gestorven, 1963), which has not been published in theUK. It is maybe not my best book , but it was very important in my writing life, since in it I understood for the first time what writing really was about. It was published in english long ago byLouisianaStateUniversityPress, and as I noticed recently inAustraliaandIndia, some of my fans have been able to find it in the ever expanding labyrinth of the internet where nothing is ever lost.

Cees new collection is out now by Maclehose press ,my review will follow shortly ,Many thanks to Nicci at Maclehose who help me get chance to ask Cees these questions .

Laura Watkinson Translator talks to winstonsdad

I manage to ask Dutch translator some questions via e mail ,she has translated the new Peirene book tomorrow Pamplona ,she has her own site here .She is also doing a blog tour for Peirene at moment with Jan the writer of tomorrow Pamplona ,so you may want look at the other questions she has been asked .also may one to check Iris  on books blog for more tips on Dutch literature as she is hosting Dutch literature month

1 How did you get into translating?

I’ve always been interested in languages, literature and different cultures. At school, I leaned strongly in that direction and I went on to study medieval and modern languages and literature at university. I’ve since lived in Germany and Italy and moved to the Netherlands in 2003.

With that background, translation’s a very tempting career. It allows you to work with the languages you’ve studied, to maintain contact with the countries you’re interested in and, from a practical point of view, it’s the perfect portable career. You can translate anywhere you can use a laptop.

I’ve been translating since I left university, combined with other language-related jobs, but my first serious move towards a career in literary translation was in 2001, when I took the postgraduate certificate in literary translation from Dutch into English at University College London, a year-long introduction into the world of publishing and translating. That was a great foundation and gave me the confidence to approach publishers. The Dutch Foundation for Literature and the Expertisecentrum Literair Vertalen in Utrecht are also very helpful in providing training and networking opportunities for both new and experienced translators.

2 How long does the average translation take?

This is an interesting question, but there’s really no such thing as an average translation. Something that looks straightforward can turn out to be tricky, while other pieces may seem to flow from your fingertips! I have heard 2000 words a day given as a rough guideline for literary translation, but I’m not quite sure how that was calculated.

Of course, the process isn’t only about the actual translation. I’ve just checked my emails and see that my first communication with Peirene Press about Tomorrow Pamplona was way back in January 2010. First we mailed backwards and forwards and agreed to go ahead with the project together. Then I translated the book and took it through various drafts before sending it to the Peirene copy-editor. Meike from Peirene also read the following version and made some comments, which I reacted to. We discussed a few points and then the book went to a proof-reader and to Jan before I gave it a final check. So, from negotiation to publication, it’s been almost a year and a half for this book.

3 How much contact do you have with writers?

That depends very much on the project. Jan was great to work with, as he made it clear that he was available for queries and then let me get on with it. Some authors like to be closely involved in the translation, while others aren’t that bothered. Translating from Dutch can be an interesting process though, as so many Dutch authors have excellent English. They often come up with really good suggestions and are generally happy to talk things through, while respecting your role as a translator and a native speaker of English. I’ve sometimes even collaborated with authors on translations of their work, which can be great fun. It’s good for the lonesome translator to get out there and talk to other people sometimes!
4 In Tomorrow Pamplona you manage to keep the maleness of Jan’s words. Was this hard?
Thanks, Stu. That’s good to hear. Jan has a very strong voice as an author and I knew that I needed to keep that force and bluntness in the language. Danny’s a boxer, after all, and he’s a real bloke, a man’s man. During the editing process, one of our debates was about the swearing in the book. We discussed toning it down a little, but I didn’t want Danny – or Robert – to mince their words, so the swearing stayed.

Interestingly, although there are plenty of male literary translators, the German, French and English translations of Tomorrow Pamplona are all by women. I’m not sure that gender matters too much as long as you focus on the individual characters and the distinctive voice of the author.

 

5 What is your favourite book you’ve translated?

Tomorrow Pamplona! Next question? 😉

Seriously, this has been a great project to work on, not only because of the book, the author and the Peirene team, but also because there’s been so much involvement from the internet community of bloggers and tweeters. It’s great to have that thoughtful feedback and direct contact with readers.

6 Is there a book you would like to translate from Dutch?

Hmm. Well, I’m currently translating Berlin by Cees Nooteboom for MacLehose Press, which is something of a dream project, as it combines one of my favourite Dutch writers, one of my favourite cities and a great publishing house.

An author I’ve enjoyed working with in the past is Karlijn Stoffels. I translated her young adult novel Heartsinger for Arthur A. Levine at Scholastic. She has a fantastic, dry wit and writes with a beautifully lyrical touch. She’s recently written a novel for adults, Zuiderzeeballade, and that’s one title I’d be very interested in working on.

Other than that, there’s a classic Dutch children’s epic adventure of knights and chivalric exploits, De brief voor de koning by Tonke Dragt, which is a real favourite in the Netherlands. It’s been made into a film and was voted the best Dutch children’s book ever. Although some foreign publishers have shown interest, no one has picked it up for translation yet. I still have my fingers crossed!
7 Why is so little Dutch lit read in the UK you think? Will books like Tomorrow Pamplona help this?

An interesting question. Firstly, there’s the fact that publishers in the English-speaking world are notoriously reluctant to produce books in translation. After all, there are so many authors out there already writing in English, which means that the publishers get to read the entire book before they decide to buy, as there’s no language barrier. I can see why having to go to the trouble of getting the book translated and then perhaps finding that you don’t like the book or translation would be an obstacle. Then there’s the issue of the bookshops and what they decide to stock. Some more literary texts may only be available in the larger bookshops or online.
However, I am largely optimistic, perhaps because I’m attuned to the number of Dutch books published in English. More would always be welcome, of course, but there are some wonderful titles out there, such as Marieke van der Pol’s Bride Flight, translated by Colleen Higgins, or The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker, translated by David Colmer, which won the 2010 IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Even Dutch classics are getting a look in, such as Louis Couperus’s 1889 novel Eline Vere, translated recently by Ina Rilke. So I think there’s quite a lot of Dutch literature out there in English. It’s just a question of hunting it down! I certainly hope that Tomorrow Pamplona will play a part in helping to bring more Dutch literature to English-speaking readers.

 

 

8 What do you say to readers that are nervous of translations?

I know that a lot of people aren’t keen on reading books in translation, but I’d say that if you’ve had a bad experience in the past, maybe it’s time to give it another go, as there’s so much high-quality translated literature available now from all over the world. You could start by choosing a book that’s set in a location you know well and focusing first on the place and the atmosphere – if it’s a good read, the writing and the characters should draw you in before long.

 

I’d also like to suggest that readers, including myself, should try to be a little gentle with literature in translation. Sometimes I feel that if we’re aware that a work has been translated we tend to approach it with that in mind, looking for evidence that it’s not the original text, hunting down any slightly awkward phrases so that we can dismiss the writing as ‘just a translation’. I suspect that a lot of perceived literary infelicities in translations would be overlooked or forgiven if they appeared in an original work. So, my advice to any readers who are nervous of translations would be to try to switch off that hyper-sensitive ‘translationese’ alarm for the first few pages and to allow the narrative to carry you along. There’s a whole world of great stories and characters out there in translation and it’d be a shame to miss out on them

Raja Shehadeh Interview with the voice of Palestine

I was lucky enough to ask the award winning Palenstine writer and Human rights Lawyer  Raja Shehadeh ,about his current book and its main character his Ottoman uncle Najib ,also his views on the current situation in the wider Arabic world .He was the 2008 Orwell prize winner .

1.      What do you think your Uncle Najib would make of the current  situation in the Arabic world ?

Najib was a man of the people who believed in people’s power. What is now taking place around many of the Arab countries exemplifies this. He would have felt confirmed in his belief that people can win freedom if they work together against those exploiting and oppressing them.

 

2.      What would have been different if people like your uncle had been listened to more at the turn of the century pre-1948 ?

It is uncertain whether he could have rallied enough support to turn the tide. It is just as possible that those countries and movements behind the change were just too powerful to be stopped in their tracks by any degree of resistance from such prescient people like Najib.

3.      I’ve recently read the 1948 novel Khirbet Khizeh by S. Yizhar and wondered if there was a Palestinian novel that gave the other side of the story written, set at the same time ?

 

What immediately comes to mind is Elias Khoury’s novel published a few years ago, Gate of the Sun.

4.      I got a real sense of the warmth of people around Lebanon and Palestine and wonder why this is not portrayed in western media as much?

Western media has by and large assisted in sustaining the negative stereotype of the Arab. But there is also the fact that it is only the shocking and horrific that makes it to the news bulletin and not the tranquil and warm which is manifest in abundance amongst Arab society as in many others.

 

5.      What are your feelings on the current wave of freedom/liberation sweeping the Arabic world ?

The most significant change that occurred is that it brought renewed hope and cured many of the young of the debilitating cynicism that can so often lead to horrible consequences when it infects the new generation.

 

6.      How do you think the current activities in the Arab world will  effect Palestine?

They will have a tremendous impact by shaking forever the status quo that has enabled the suffering of the Palestinians to continue with impunity with one disaster following another, always deemed justifiable and necessary to prevent worse evils. Many of the assumptions and fears that were used to hold together this shaky world of the Middle East have since been found to be exaggerated and often the creation of autocrats who propagated them to help them hold on to the reins of power.

 

7.      Your personal history has been tinged by sadness; how do you remain so positive and poetic?

I find writing to be therapeutic. I believe authors have a duty to help create new and better realities by first imagining them and whenever possible turn the “stuff of life” into poetry.

 

8.      Which Palestinian voices in literature should we be reading?

Suad Amiry, Murid Barghouti, Adania Shibli and Fadi Joudah.

 

9.      What are you currently working on?

A work of non-fiction based on my diaries that tries to make sense of the developments of the past two years.

 

 

Thanks to Raja and Jazz and the people at profile for this interview .I shall be review some other Rajas other books and another book from a Palenstine writer by Profile books.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the inheirtance blog tour questions with Peter Stephan Jungk

The other week i was asked to take part in the blog tour for Peter Stephan Jungk new book in english the inheritance ,I ask to ask Peter some questions here are his answer my review will follow next week .

1. Why did you choose to set inheritance in south America ,had you visited the places mention in the book ?

yes, i know the places described in the novel rather well: caracas and panama. they are very different from one another, surprisingly different, considering how close they are geographically. venezuela seems terribly harsh and unwelcoming, panama quite the opposite.

 

2. the themes in the book seem tireless greed and deceit ,was this intend ,as the book could have been set at any point in the last 500 years ?

i’m afraid  greed and deceit will remain themes humanity will live with for as long as humanity exists. the intention was of course to show how ruthless one becomes when money is involved, even when family ties or close friendships are involved. money and greed can kill family bonds and friendships. 

 

3 .Your father was a famous writer how has this effected or influenced your own writing ?

he had no influence on my writing whatsoever, but don’t forget robert jungk was purely a non-fiction writer. his influence on me was tremendous as a personality, his values, his way of seeing the world. but not re. literature or writing.
 

4. I know your a fan of the writer Franz Werfel and wrote his biography is he a big influence and can you tell us briefly about him as he is not so well known in U.K ?

werfel interested me in the first place for his biography, his life torn by history, growing up in prague, living in vienna, france, fleeing to america. his marriage to alma mahler, his conflict with judaism. not so much his writing. although i find two novels quite amazing: “the 40 days of musa dagh” about the armenian massacre in 1915/16 and his strange science fiction novel, completed a few days before he died: ” star of the unborn”…

 

5 .the character of Konrad Krishman seemed to have another story to tell about his escape from Germany may you return to him at some point ?  

no, i never ever even want to even think of this wretched character again, ever!

 

6. How closely did you work with Michael Hofmann on the translation ?

michael is a dear friend and i trust him completely. as soon as i read his translation, i felt that very, very little needed to be done.

 

7 Is there Plans for any more of your wonderful books to be translated ?

thank you for your compliment! 4 of my other books are translated into english so far:

– shabbat – a rite of passage in jerusalem, times books, new york, 1983

– franz werfel, a life torn by history, weidenfeld & nicolson, 1991

– the snowflake constant, faber and faber, 2002  
 
– the perfect american, other press, 2004, will be adapted as an opera by philip glass in 2013

the rest of blog tour dates 

The Truth About Lies http://jim-murdoch.blogspot.com/ 14^th June

Wormauld: a Life in Books and Music http://wormauld-alifeinbooksandmusic.blogspot.com/16^th June

Winstonsdads Blog https://winstonsdad.wordpress.com/ 17^th June

A Common Reader http://www.acommonreader.org 18^th June

Behind the scenes – serpentstail pr Rebecca Gray

I meet rebecca via twitter she works for serpents tail ,who publish some wonderful books including a lot of world fiction .I asked Rebecca for a interview via e-mail she agreed ,I want to do a series of interviews with people working behind the scenes at piblishing house to get the books we all love published .any way here are rebeccas answers .

Many thanks for doing this Rebecca ,want to do some behind scenes of people in publishing for blog to show hard work you do .

black water rising

1. introduce yourself and what is it you do at Serpents tail Rebecca ?  I split my time between editorial and publicity. My job has changed quite a bit over the last few years, because as I’ve done more editorial work for Serpent’s Tail, my publicity work has become more focused on Profile, which is brilliant. I’ve discovered that as well as the fiction I’ve always loved, I’m also a huge fan of popular science writing (Michael Brooks’ 13 Things That Don’t Make Sense especially) and all sorts of things I would never have read on my own. That’s one of the great joys of publishing I think, you’re always pushed to have an open mind.
2. what is the P.R process that goes into publishing a book ? It very much depends on the book, but extends from announcements when the book is bought to working with the author all through publication and beyond. Publicity has always had the potential to just go on and on, but with the growth of the web there are now so many possibilities that publicists need help from authors more than ever. So while we approach the press, TV, radio, blogs, festivals and so on, what we can’t do is the kind of networking that authors can do online – that has to be authentic. The most obvious example is Stephanie Meyer, but Kate Pullinger and Michael Brooks have a really positive online presence too. The other thing is that it’s invaluable when authors contribute their own ideas and, when relevant, are willing to talk about how real life influenced their writing.
3. what has been you biggest success with serpents tail ? We Need to Talk about Kevin is definitely our biggest seller of all time, and the book that has had the most attention. It’s the kind of book that lingers with you long after you’ve finished it and definitely made me think differently about parenthood. But there are masses of books that we’re deeply proud of or that have garnered a lot of attention, or both. We’re just putting out our first four classics, with more to follow, which I hope is a big statement about those books we’ve published over the years which really stand the test of time (which, by the way, is really a test of what readers love – obviously we think all our books are classics in the making). One of those is …Kevin and the other three are The Book of Disquiet, Shoedog and Devil in a Blue Dress. I could carry on like this all day, mentioning David Peace’s Red Riding quartet, Attica Locke’s Black Water Rising on this year’s Orange shortlist, Jonathan Trigell’s Boy A…
   

   We need to talk about kevin

4. Is there a book that got away so to speak ? Depends whether you mean one that someone else bought or one I wish we’d got more attention for. The former would be Jasper Jones, which Windmill are publishing now-ish I think, and which I really loved and offered on. They offered more money and in that situation you have to be philosophical – so few writers get big advances that you can’t grudge it when they take the money, although I would have loved to be publishing it.
5. what is your favourite book you’ve been involved with ? There are too many, without even thinking about those writers I worked with before I came to Serpent’s Tail, but Amanda Smyth’s Black Rock will always have a deservedly special place in my heart, primarily because it’s beautiful and sad and really a perfect novel, and partly because it was the first book I edited.
   

   black rock amanda smyth

6. what is your favourite book /writer ? I know it’s utterly pathetic, but I’m not really a list person. My mind just goes blank.  Without my shelves to prompt me, I’ll tell you about some old favourites, with the conscious exclusion of work-related titles: The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen is heartbreaking and skewers the agony of not fitting in; The Tortoise and the Hare by Elizabeth Jenkins made me cry until my face and neck were greasy with tears; Jilly Cooper is a genius – especially Rivals; Cold Comfort Farm and I Capture the Castle are essential to any shelf; Dorothy L Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey rocks; The Woman in Black made me nauseous with fear (A Good Thing); Lisa St Aubin de Teran’s The Hacienda is an extraordinary memoir by a woman far braver than me; and a token man – Tim Guest’s memoir My Life in Orange makes a tragic childhood immediate and an amazing source of insight. Plus every child should read Carbonel the Witch’s Cat – a more perfectly arch and wry cat never lived.

Want the Serpent’s Tail ones now too?

1. what impact will digital publishing have on serpents tail do you think ? Oh, save the easy ones for last. I honestly have no idea – hopefully it’ll mean greater diversity, with people reading print and/or online, every book ever published being available to buy electronically, narratives that don’t even look like novels with music and pictures and links, greater word of mouth, people being able to self-publish if they can’t find a publisher but also a longer-term consolidation of the importance of publishers, whether of writing or music or journalism. I have this idea that the self-starting (this is a word I would never normally use but it seems to fit here) can co-exist happily with the professional (deliberately not saying corporate), and that when we all get used to the ‘brave new world’, there’ll still be an appetite for people who devote their careers (in publishing, often their lives!) to finding great books and giving them the best treatment, from editorial to marketing. If anything, the wealth of material to choose from will make this even more necessary. I feel that this is already happening now – there’s a good feeling about the fact that people who love reading can now be in touch with authors and people in the industry via social networks. However, I feel I’m on shaky, too-Utopian ground, so if you want to talk more about this, you could request an interview with our digital publisher…

many thanks Rebecca .