A jury of 18 leading Slovene literary critics and historians chose Lojze Kovačič as the outstanding Slovene novelist since Slovenia achieved its independence in 1991. Kovačič’s 1991 novel, Time of Crystal, was chosen among the top 25 novels that have been awarded the annual Kresnik prize from 1991-2016 and deemed the Kresnik of Kresniks.
A General Theory of Oblivion by José Eduardo Agualusa, translated by Daniel Hahn, has been shortlisted for the 2016 Man Booker International Prize. Agualusa is the first Angolan writer to appear on a Man Booker list. See the complete list of nominees here.
The 2016 DUBLIN International Literary Award shortlist was announced Tuesday, April 12th. The list includes ten novels and Archipelago’s own, Scholastique Muksonga for Our Lady of the Nile, translated by Melanie Mauthner. The Award is presented annually for a novel written or translated into English. See the complete list here.
Khoury was cited both for his large and diverse literary output and for his attention to Palestine, which has been a cornerstone of his writing and activism.
University president Abdel Latif Abu Hijleh said, according to WAFA, “Elias Khoury has been a long-standing supporter of the Palestinian cause. He is a man of great thought who has made tremendous literary contributions to the Palestinian liberation struggle.”
Khoury is a Lebanese novelist, playwright, critic and a prominent public intellectual, who has published ten novels, which have been translated into several foreign languages, as well as several works of literary criticism.
He has written three plays and served as editor of Al-Mulhaq, the weekly cultural supplement of the Lebanese daily newspaper Al-Nahar between 1993 and 2009.
Khoury currently teaches literature at New York University and is co-editor of the Majallat al-Dirasat al-Filastiniyya, published by the Institute of Palestine Studies.
Abu Hijleh said, “Khoury’s generous gift is just one more example of his leadership in the educational and intellectual arenas, and devotion to the Palestinian cause.”
The Mahmoud Darwish Awards were announced in Jordan, on the anniversary of the poet’s birth, and awarded to – in addition to Khoury – Palestinian poet Ghassan Zaqtan and American novelist Alice Walker. Each prizewinner was awarded $25,000.
Zaqtan was awarded this prize for his great knowledge of poetic tradition and his modernism, while Walker won for both her novels (The Color Purple in particular) and her anti-racism activism.
Faisal Darraj led the judging committee, which consisted of other members, namely Egyptian writers Ibrahim Abdel Maguid, Sa’eed Kafrawi, and Amani Fuad, Jordanian writers Hisham Bustani, Basma al-Nsour, and Jamal Naji, Lebanese novelist Jabbour Douaihy, Mahmoud’s brother Zaki Darwish, Palestinian writer Akram Musallam, and the Iraqi short-story writer Luay Hamza Abbas.
source: http://www.imemc.org/article/75359
Ivan Vladislavić, author of The Folly, spoke to Nuruddin Farah and Robert Kelly at Bard College in October. Read the full conversation over at LitHub.
Le Prix du Premier Roman, France’s prize for the best novel of the year, has been awarded to Maja Haderlap for Angel of Oblivion!
Check out the article here.
“…very readable, slightly chaotic yet seductively atmospheric. For all the vicious side swipes, it concludes with a tender exchange between an ancient mother and her already elderly son as he fears she is about to die. He wants her to live forever, just as a reader may wish that Sagarra’s very long novel could have continued for, at the very least, another 200 pages of mischief.” – Eileen Battersby, The Irish Times
Read the full review of Private Life here
Colombian novelist Héctor Abad Faciolince is interviewed here, in Spanish, about his novel La Oculta, which Archipelago will be publishing in 2017, translated by Anne McLean.
Poets & Writers new issue has arrived, and includes a great roundtable conversation with independent publishers doing work in translation.
Joining Archipelago’s Publisher, Jill Schoolman, are editors and publishers from New Directions, Two Lines Press, Open Letter Books, and Europa Editions. The conversation was coordinated by Jeremiah Chamberlin.
Check out the roundtable here.
Archipelago author Ivan Vladislavić has a new essay featured on Lit Hub. Read it here.
Vladislavić’s novel The Folly, our first fall book, is out now.
The Folly is mysterious, lyrical and wickedly funny – a masterful novel about loving and fearing your neighbor.
You can buy a copy here.
Read Yale’s Windham Campbell Prize’s description here. Mr. Vladislavić is one of this year’s winners for fiction.
And join us next week at local bookstores in NYC, and at Bard College, UMass Amherst and Columbia University for readings and discussions with Mr. Vladislavić! All events are free and open to the public.
