Pamuk and Petterson up for Foreign Fiction prize
The Turkish Nobel prize winner Orhan Pamuk and a winner of the International Impac Dublin Literary Award, the Norwegian writer Per Petterson, are among those shortlisted for the London Independent’s Foreign Fiction Prize, worth £10,000, details of which were announced this week.
Pamuk, winner of the first Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, in 1990, is shortlisted for The Museum of Innocence, translated by Maureen Freely. Petterson, who won in 2006 for Out Stealing Horses, which won the Impac prize the following year, is nominated for I Curse the River of Time, translated by Charlotte Barslund in collaboration with Petterson.
The others on the six-book list are Visitationby Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Susan Bernofsky, Kamchatkaby Marcelo Figueras, translated by Frank Wynne, Red Aprilby Santiago Roncagliolo, translated by Edith Grossman (whose Why Translation Mattersis reviewed in today's Paperbacks), and The Sicknessby Alberto Barrera Tyszka, translated by Margaret Jull Costa.
Boyd Tonkin, judge and literary editor of the Independent, makes the point that, as well as much- loved authors, the list introduces new voices. "From Orhan Pamuk's romantic epic of love and change in Istanbul to Santiago Roncagliolo's thrilling, chilling novel of Peru in conflict; from Per Petterson's wistful and touching account of a troubled youth in Norway to Jenny Erpenbeck's lyrical vision of German history via a single house and its inhabitants, the selection will move, inspire and enlighten."
The prize salutes writer and translator equally, recognising the latter’s ability to bridge the gap between languages and cultures. They receive £5,000 each at the award ceremony, in London on May 26th.
Gutter Bookshop wins place among the stars
The Gutter Bookshop, on Cow’s Lane in Temple Bar, Dublin, which opened only in 2009, has been named the Irish Independent Bookseller of the Year at the Bookseller Industry Awards. The overall winner of the prize for the UK and Ireland will be announced in London on May 16th. Gutter owner Bob Johnston, a bookseller for 22 years, says that, with Ireland’s independent retailers finding times tough, it is great that personal service and being part of a local community are being recognised. Since it opened, the shop, named after an Oscar Wilde quote – “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars” – has put itself on the literary map of the city big time with book launches and events and via its website.
Stinging flies land at writers’ centre
A free public reading of poetry and prose by contributors to the latest issue of the Stinging Flytakes place on Wednesday at 7pm at the Irish Writers' Centre, on Parnell Square in Dublin. The line-up includes Dermot Healy, Colin Barrett, Mary Costello, Jane Clarke, Ted Deppe, Cheryl Donahue, Andrew Jamison, Maggie O'Dwyer and Donna Sørensen. See stingingfly.org/current.html.
