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<?xml version="1.0"?><rss version="2.0"><channel> <title>the Literary Saloon</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/index.htm</link> <description>opinionated commentary on literary matters</description> <language>en-us</language> <copyright>Copyright 2024 the Complete Review</copyright> <docs>http://backend.userland.com/rss</docs> <managingEditor>mao@complete-review.com</managingEditor> <item> <title>Margaret Atwood profile</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#dq2</link><description><![CDATA[ At <i>The Guardian</i> Lisa Allardice profiles the author, in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/may/04/i-can-say-things-other-people-are-afraid-to-margaret-atwood-on-censorship-literary-feuds-and-trump" target="_blank">‘I can say things other people are afraid to’: Margaret Atwood on censorship, literary feuds and Trump</a>.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#dq2</guid> </item> <item> <title>Magnesia Litera</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#dq3</link><description><![CDATA[ I missed this a couple of weeks back, but they've <a href="https://www.magnesia-litera.cz/rocnik/2024/" target="_blank">announced</a> the winners of this year's Magnesia Litera awards, the leading Czech literary prize.<br> <i>Hella</i>, by Alena Machoninová, won book of the year; see also the maraton <a href="https://www.emaraton.cz/hella/" target="_blank">publicity page</a>.<br> The Czech translation of Szilasi László's <i>A harmadik híd</i> won for best translation; see the publicity pages from <a href="https://protimluv.net/laszlo-szilasi-treti-most/" target="_blank">Protimluv</a> (Czech) and <a href="https://magveto.hu/konyvek/a-harmadik-hid/139423805" target="_blank">Magvető</a> (Hungarian). (This was also <a href="https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2014/november/harmadik-hid-maganerdeku-feljegyzesek-foghorn-peter-halalanak-ugyeben-laszlo-szilasi" target="_blank">reviewed</a> in <i>World Literature Today</i> in 2014 -- unfortunately, paywalled.)]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#dq3</guid> </item> <item> <title>'Me, me, me' reviewing</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#dp7</link><description><![CDATA[ The new -- 23 May -- <a href="https://www.nybooks.com/issues/2024/05/23/" target="_blank">issue</a> of <i>The New York Review of Books</i> offers the usual interesting mix, and I'm looking forward to making my way through it. However, upon my initial leaf-through when my print copy arrived yesterday I couldn't help but notice that in <i>four</i> (out of thirteen) reviews the reviewer begins personally, mentioning themselves in the <i>opening sentence</i>: <ul> <li>Martin Filler: "In the pre-Trump, prepandemic paradise of 2015, when I first wrote in these pages about [...]"<br><br> <li>Joanna Biggs: "I was eight, and I wore a black tulle petticoat from Marks and Spencer."<br><br> <li>Pamela Druckerman: "When I was a child, my grandmother used to tell me [...]"<br><br> <li>Clair Wills: "If it is true, as Saint Augustine says, that the dead aren’t absent but merely invisible, then somewhere round about, as I write about her and you read about her, Hilary Mantel is present."</ul> One almost has to admire Matthew Aucoin's restraint -- he waits until the second sentence to introduce himself ("For most composers, the only way to learn how to write operas is to write operas. I may not love every one of the works that W.A. Mozart dashed off [...]":) .....<br> (Two more pieces <i>also</i> have an "I" in the opening sentence, but Catherine Lacey certainly gets a pass -- she's quoting from the book under review ("“I was wrong to buy this notebook, very wrong,” writes Valeria Cossati [...]") -- and Stephen Breyer's piece is adapted from a lecture he gave, so the personal mention seems more reasonable ("For more than forty years I served as a federal judge").)<br><br> The success of 'BookTok' certainly suggests that the personal approach -- the reviewer front and center -- appeals to audiences, and certainly the reviewer putting themselves out there is ... honest -- after all, there is a person, an individual, behind the review --, but I have to say, I long for the days of the (more or less) invisibility of the reviewer (even if that is entirely artificial); indeed, I'd love to see a whole lot less 'personal' writing in non-fiction generally ..... ]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#dp7</guid> </item> <item> <title>Edgar® Award winners</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#dp8</link><description><![CDATA[ The Mystery Writers of America Inc. has <a href="https://mysterywriters.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/EdWinners2024.pdf" target="_blank">announced</a> <font size="-1">(warning ! dreaded pdf format !)</font> the winners of this year's Edgar® Awards, with <i>Flags on the Bayou</i> by James Lee Burke winning Best Novel.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#dp8</guid> </item> <item> <title>NSW Premier's Literary Awards shortlists</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#dp9</link><description><![CDATA[ They've announced the shortlists for this year's <a href="https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/awards/nsw-premiers-literary-awards" target="_blank">NSW Premier's Literary Awards</a>, "the richest and longest running state-based literary awards in Australia".<br> They do a horrible job of presenting the shortlists at the official site -- come on folks, one simple press release (but, please, <i>not</i> in pdf form ...), listing categories and finalists, it shouldn't be this hard ! -- but the Australian Arts Review does it <a href="https://artsreview.com.au/shortlists-announced-for-2024-nsw-premiers-literary-awards/" target="_blank">much better</a>. ]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#dp9</guid> </item> <item> <title>Mina's Matchbox review</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#dq1</link><description><![CDATA[ The most recent addition to the <font color="#a52a2a"><i>complete review</i></font> is my review of Ogawa Yōko's <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/japannew/ogaway14.htm" target="_blank">Mina's Matchbox</a> -- coming out in English this August (in both the US and UK).]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#dq1</guid> </item> <item> <title>Stella Prize</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#dp3</link><description><![CDATA[ They have <a href="https://stella.org.au/2024-stella-prize-winner-announcement/" target="_blank">announced</a> the winner of this year's Stella Prize, an Australian prize awarded: "to one outstanding book deemed to be original, excellent, and engaging" and written by a woman or non-binary author, and it is <i>Praiseworthy</i>, by Alexis Wright.<br> See also the publicity pages from <a href="https://giramondopublishing.com/books/alexis-wright-praiseworthy/" target="_blank">Giramondo</a>, <a href="https://www.ndbooks.com/book/praiseworthy/" target="_blank">New Directions</a>, and <a href="https://www.andotherstories.org/praiseworthy/" target="_blank">And Other Stories</a>, or get your copy at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0811238016/ref=nosim/completereview" target="_blank">Amazon.com</a>, <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/81962/9780811238014" target="_blank">Bookshop.org</a>, or <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1913505928/ref=nosim/completereview07" target="_blank">Amazon.co.uk</a>.<br> I do have a copy of this and am looking forward to getting to it.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#dp3</guid> </item> <item> <title>Prix Jean d'Ormesson finalists</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#dp4</link><description><![CDATA[ They've announced the finalists for the prix Jean d'Ormesson, a French prize where the jurors get to select whatever books they want -- old or new -- to be considered; somewhat disappointingly, this year's finalists are all more or less new publications; see, for example, the Livres Hebdo <a href="https://www.livreshebdo.fr/article/la-derniere-selection-du-prix-jean-dormesson-2024" target="_blank">report</a>. <br> The winner will be announced 29 May.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#dp4</guid> </item> <item> <title>John Guillory Q & A</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#dp5</link><description><![CDATA[ At Public Books John Plotz and Nicholas Dames have a Q & A with the <i>Professing Criticism</i>-author, <a href="https://www.publicbooks.org/interpret-or-judge-john-guillory-on-the-future-of-literary-criticism/" target="_blank">Interpret or Judge ?: John Guillory on the Future of Literary Criticism</a>.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#dp5</guid> </item> <item> <title>'Faith and Russian Literature'</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#dp6</link><description><![CDATA[ At First Things Gary Saul Morson writes about <a href="https://www.firstthings.com/article/2024/05/faith-and-russian-literature" target="_blank">Faith and Russian Literature</a>. <br> I'm not sure about sweeping generalizations such as: "Russians dwell in abstractions and aren’t very good at producing actual things (apart from weapons), which is one reason their economy always lags behind", so .....]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#dp6</guid> </item> <item> <title>Paul Auster (1947-2024)</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#do7</link><description><![CDATA[ American author Paul Auster has passed away; see, for example, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/may/01/paul-auster-dies-aged-77-death-american-author-new-york-trilogy" target="_blank">Paul Auster, American author of The New York Trilogy, dies aged 77</a> in <i>The Guardian</i> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/30/books/paul-auster-dead.html" target="_blank">Paul Auster, the Patron Saint of Literary Brooklyn, Dies at 77</a> in <i>The New York Times</i> <font size="-1">(presumably paywalled)</font>. <br> I've enjoyed some of his work, but haven't read any of his mroe recent work; none of his books are under review at the <font color="#a52a2a"><i>complete review</i></font>.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#do7</guid> </item> <item> <title>Peter Demetz (1922-2024)</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#do8</link><description><![CDATA[ Czech-born author Peter Demetz has passed away; see, for example, Benjamin Ivry on <a href="https://forward.com/culture/607846/peter-demetz-jewish-intellectual-historian-prague-appreciation/" target="_blank">How a Jewish son of Prague became a 101-year-old historian of human ideals</a> in <i>Forward</i> and Andreas Platthaus on this <a href="https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/buecher/autoren/germanist-peter-demetz-mit-101-jahren-gestorben-19690302.html" target="_blank">Jahrhundertfigur der Literaturwissenschaft</a> in the <i>Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung</i> .<br> A longtime professor at Yale, Demetz was also a judge for the annual <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201103140934/http://franzkafka-soc.cz/cena-franze-kafky/" target="_blank">Franz Kafka Prize</a>, which had a very nice run for a while. The only one of his works I've read is his useful look at (then-) 'Recent Writing in the Germanies, Austria, and Switzerland', <i>After the Fires</i>; get your copy at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0156028921/ref=nosim/completereview" target="_blank">Amazon.com</a> or <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0156028921/ref=nosim/completereview07" target="_blank">Amazon.co.uk</a>. ]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#do8</guid> </item> <item> <title>New World Literature Today</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#do9</link><description><![CDATA[ The <a href="https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2024/may" target="_blank">May-June issue</a> of <i>World Literature Today</i> is now available, with a spotlight as The City Issue: Buenos Aires -- and of course the always interesting and extensive <a href="https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/book-review/2024/May" target="_blank">book review section</a>.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#do9</guid> </item> <item> <title>Walter Scott Prize shortlist</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#dp1</link><description><![CDATA[ They've <a href="https://www.walterscottprize.co.uk/shortlist-for-2024-prize-announced/" target="_blank">announced</a> the shortlist for this year's Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction.<br> One of the six titles is under review at the <font color="#a52a2a"><i>complete review</i></font>: Tan Twan Eng's <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/malaysia/tante3.htm" target="_blank">The House of Doors</a>.<br> The winner will be announced 13 June.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#dp1</guid> </item> <item> <title>Dominican literature</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#dp2</link><description><![CDATA[ In <i>Evangelical Focus</i> Tomás Gómez Bueno complains about there being <a href="https://evangelicalfocus.com/latin-american-perspectives/26430/no-dominican-evangelical-literature" target="_blank">No Dominican evangelical literature</a>.<br> I don't know about the 'evangelical' part -- who needs or wants that ? -- but striking that: "over 95% of the titles on offer here are by foreign authors", so there's certainly some room for some local literature in the Dominican Republic. (I do think they might fare better gaining market share by decidedly <i>not</i> focusing on or worrying about: "Dominican evangelical reality".)]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#dp2</guid> </item> <item> <title>Ottaway Award</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#do4</link><description><![CDATA[ Words without Borders has <a href="https://wordswithoutborders.org/read/article/2024-04/marcia-lynx-qualey-to-receive-2024-ottaway-award-for-the-promotion-of-international-literature/" target="_blank">announced</a> the winner of this year's Ottaway Award for the Promotion of International Literature, and it is Marcia Lynx Qualey, of the essential <a href="https://arablit.org/" target="_blank">ArabLit</a> -- certainly a deserving winner !<br> She will receive the prize on 4 June.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#do4</guid> </item> <item> <title>Writers and AI</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#do5</link><description><![CDATA[ At npr Chloe Veltman reports that <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/04/30/1246686825/authors-using-ai-artificial-intelligence-to-write" target="_blank">AI is contentious among authors. So why are some feeding it their own writing ?</a><br> Among them: Ken Liu, who: <blockquote><font size="-1">attempted to train an AI model solely on his own output. He says he fed all of his short stories and novels into the system — and nothing else.<br><br>Liu says he knew this approach was doomed to fail.<br><br>That's because the entire life's work of any single writer simply doesn't contain enough words to produce a viable so-called large language model.<br><br>"I don't care how prolific you are," Liu says. "It's just not going to work."</font></blockquote>]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#do5</guid> </item> <item> <title>Censorship in ... Russia</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#do6</link><description><![CDATA[ At France 24 Sébastian Seibt reports that <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240430-russia-s-book-police-anti-gay-law-opens-ugly-new-chapter" target="_blank">Russia’s book police: literature, once exempt, gets censor’s chop</a>. ]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202405a.htm#do6</guid> </item> <item> <title>VCU Cabell Award shortlist</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#do2</link><description><![CDATA[ They've announced the shortlist for this year's <a href="https://firstnovelist.vcu.edu/" target="_blank">VCU Cabell First Novelist Award</a> -- "a tribute to debut novelists who have navigated their way through the complex worlds of imagination to arrive at a moving contribution to the literary arts" -- not yet at the official site, last I checked, but see, for example, their <a href="https://twitter.com/FirstNovelVCU/status/1784994742524125497" target="_blank">tweet</a>.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#do2</guid> </item> <item> <title>Red Side Story review</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#do3</link><description><![CDATA[ The most recent addition to the <font color="#a52a2a"><i>complete review</i></font> is my review of Jasper Fforde's latest, <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/popgb/ffordej12.htm" target="_blank">Red Side Story</a>, the second in his <i>Shades of Grey</i>-series.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#do3</guid> </item> <item> <title>International Prize for Arabic Fiction</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dn9</link><description><![CDATA[ They've <a href="https://arabicfiction.org/en/node/2364" target="_blank">announced</a> the winner of this year's International Prize for Arabic Fiction, the leading Arabic-language novel prize, and it is قناع بلون السماء ('A Mask, the Colour of the Sky') by Basim Khandaqji, selected from 133 submitted titles.<br> For those who want to read more into the selection: Palestinian author Khandaqji has been in jail since 2004, serving a life sentence for his involvement in a bombing. ]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dn9</guid> </item> <item> <title>OCM Bocas Prize</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#do1</link><description><![CDATA[ They've announced the winner of this year's <a href="https://www.bocaslitfest.com/awards/ocm/" target="_blank">OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature</a>, selected from the three category winners, with non-fiction winner <i>Say Babylon</i> by Safiya Sinclair taking the prize; no word yet at the official site, last I checked, but see, for example, the <i>Newsday</i> <a href="https://newsday.co.tt/2024/04/28/safiya-sinclair-takes-bocas-top-prize/" target="_blank">report</a>.<br> See also the publicity pages for <i>Say Babylon</i> at <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/How-to-Say-Babylon/Safiya-Sinclair/9781982132330" target="_blank">37 Ink</a> and <a href="https://www.4thestate.co.uk/products/how-to-say-babylon-a-jamaican-memoir-safiya-sinclair-9780008491321-2/" target="_blank">4th Estate</a>.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#do1</guid> </item> <item> <title>Bookselling in ... Japan</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dn6</link><description><![CDATA[ In <i>The Japan Times</i> Alex K.T.Martin reports that <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2024/04/22/books/bookshops-economy-japan-jimbocho/" target="_blank">The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores</a> -- even though, as he notes: "it's not a vocation for entrepreneurs looking to earn quick cash".<br> The story doesn't sound great, as: "The number of bookstores nationwide [...] had plunged to 10,918 by March this year" -- and: "Over one-fourth of Japan's 1,741 municipalities no longer have any bookstores". But, hey, sure, maybe renting out shelves is the way of the future .....]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dn6</guid> </item> <item> <title>Kazakhstan's literary industry</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dn7</link><description><![CDATA[ At the <i>Times of Central Asia</i> they offer <a href="https://timesca.com/the-art-of-words-writer-andrei-orlov-discusses-the-development-of-kazakhstans-literary-industry/" target="_blank">The Art of Words: Writer Andrei Orlov Discusses the Development of Kazakhstan’s Literary Industry</a>.<br> Gotta like the ... attitude ? <blockquote><font size="-1"><b>What are the main challenges facing Kazakhstani writers today ?</b><br><br>The challenge is not to die ! But jesting aside, there are many difficulties faced by contemporary authors.</font></blockquote> Among the other issues: "People in Kazakhstan are still unused to reading their writers" .....<br> So, yes, hoping to see more Kazakh literature in translation seems like a really tall order. Maybe someday .....]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dn7</guid> </item> <item> <title>Salome in Tehran</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dn8</link><description><![CDATA[ My new novel <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/mao/salome_in_graz.htm" target="_blank">Salome in Graz</a> explores, among other things, the evolution of the Salome-story and the many variations on it, and while in the novel the 1906 performance of Strauss' opera in Graz is presented as the *definitive* performance -- the be-all, end-all -- the play and the opera and other variations on the story continue to appear (see, for example, my recent <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404b.htm#dk4" target="_blank">mention</a> of Atom Egoyan's latest film, <i>Seven Veils</i>).<br> The opera is regularly performed worldwide -- catch it next at the Opéra Bastille in Paris, where <a href="https://www.operadeparis.fr/en/season-23-24/opera/salome" target="_blank">it's on</a> 9 through 28 May -- but Wilde's play is staged much less frequently (never mind the many other stage-versions, very few of which are revived). There was a rare production of a stage <i>Salome</i> just a few months ago, however -- in Tehran, of all places, directed by Babak Parham; see, for example, the <i>Tehran Times</i> preview-report from November, <a href="https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/491638/Adaptation-of-Salome-to-go-on-stage-at-Tehran-theater" target="_blank">Adaptation of “Salome” to go on stage at Tehran theater</a>; there's also basic cast and production information, as well as photographs, -- and lots of comments -- at the <a href="https://www.tiwall.com/p/saloomeh" target="_blank">Tiwall page</a>; see also a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0nwvuSIKxP/" target="_blank">trailer of sorts</a> on Instagram, with Salome-actor Nakisa Oqbai getting made up, plus some stills.<br><br><center><img src="https://www.complete-review.com/image/Salome_in_Tehran.jpg" alt="Salome in Tehran" frameborder="0"></center><br> The <i>Tehran Times</i> describes it as an "an adaptation of Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde's play", but Parham's <a href="https://city.theater.ir/fa/173443/%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%A8%DA%A9-%D9%BE%D8%B1%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%8C-%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1%DA%AF%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%86%D9%85%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B4-%C2%AB%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%88%D9%85%D9%87%C2%BB:%D8%B3%D8%B9%DB%8C-%DA%A9%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%85-%D8%A8%D8%A7-%D8%AD%D9%81%D8%B8-%D9%87%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%87-%D8%A7%D8%B5%D9%84%DB%8C-%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%AA%D8%8C-%D9%86%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87%DB%8C-%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B2%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%B4%D8%AE%D8%B5%DB%8C%D8%AA-%DB%8C%DA%A9-%D8%B2%D9%86%D9%90-%D9%85%D9%88%D8%AB%D8%B1-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B4%D8%AA%D9%87-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B4%D9%85" target="_blank">note</a> about the play (studiously ?) avoids mention of that source-material -- while the <a href="https://city.theater.ir/fa/173379/%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%87-%D9%86%D9%82%D8%AF-%D9%88-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%B1%D8%B3%DB%8C-%D9%86%D9%85%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B4%C2%AB%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%88%D9%85%D9%87%C2%BB-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%AA%D8%A6%D8%A7%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%B4%D9%87%D8%B1-%D8%A8%D8%B1%DA%AF%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%B4%D8%AF:%D9%86%D9%85%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B4%D9%90-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%A8%DA%A9-%D9%BE%D8%B1%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%B7%D8%A8-%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%B3%D9%88%DB%8C-%DA%98%D8%B1%D9%81%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%B2%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%BE%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B3%DB%8C-%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%82-%D9%85%DB%8C%E2%80%8C%D8%AF%D9%87%D8%AF" target="_blank">summary</a> of the 'review-session' of the play had the first speaker describe it as 'a new reading of Oscar Wilde's work', and obviously Wilde's play influenced Parham's version -- though other participants also mention other source material.<br> Most interesting is what was presumably the biggest change: Parham's سالومه is a one-woman play. This obviously allowed him to avoid the overt ... passions that are so prominent in Wilde's play and the opera-version (and which would presumably not fly in Iran ...) -- as well as doing without Herodias --, but also allows/makes for a focus entirely on the figure of Salome.<br> It seems unlikely this will be produced or published outside Iran anytime soon; a shame, I'm very curious about it.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dn8</guid> </item> <item> <title>PEN World Voices Festival cancelled</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dn2</link><description><![CDATA[ Things are not going well at PEN America: after cancelling their literary awards (see my recent <a href="#dl9" target="_blank">mention</a>), they have now also <a href="https://pen.org/press-release/pen-america-cancels-2024-world-voices-festival/" target="_blank">announced</a> that they have cancelled this year's <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20240425015007/https://worldvoices.pen.org/" target="_blank">PEN World Voices Festival</a>, which was to run 8 through 11 May in New York City (and 8 through 18 May in Los Angeles).<br> What next ?]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dn2</guid> </item> <item> <title>RSL Ondaatje Prize shortlist</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dn3</link><description><![CDATA[ The Royal Society of Literature has announced the shortlist for this year's <a href="https://rsliterature.org/rsl-ondaatje-prize/" target="_blank">RSL Ondaatje Prize</a>, awarded: "for a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry, evoking the spirit of a place" -- not yet at the official site, last I checked, but see for example the <a href="https://www.thebookseller.com/news/isabella-hammad-and-benjamin-myers-shortlisted-for-10k-ondaatje-prize" target="_blank">report</a> in <i>The Bookseller</i>. <br> Six titles are left in the running, selected from 194 entries.<br> The winner will be announced on 14 May. ]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dn3</guid> </item> <item> <title>'Chronicles'</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dn4</link><description><![CDATA[ <a href="https://twitter.com/SanSip/status/1783861676279820640" target="_blank">Via</a> I'm pointed to the announcement that <a href="https://www.ashoka.edu.in/the-ashoka-centre-for-translation-partners-with-penguin-random-house-india-to-unveil-chronicles/" target="_blank">The Ashoka Centre for Translation partners with Penguin Random House India to unveil ‘Chronicles’</a> (also <a href="https://www.penguin.co.in/newsroom/penguin-random-house-india-partners-with-the-ashoka-centre-of-translation-to-unveil-chronicles/" target="_blank">at</a> PRH India). <br> It's a new: "non-fiction translation series aimed at bringing creative-critical textual narratives from various Indian languages into English". That sounds promising, and is certainly welcome; the inaugural lineup shows a nice range in both languages and subjects.<br> Let's hope these titles also make it into markets beyond just India; I certainly would love to see them.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dn4</guid> </item> <item> <title>Nicholas Royle Q & A</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dn5</link><description><![CDATA[ At Bookmunch Richard Clegg has <a href="https://bookmunch.wordpress.com/2024/04/25/not-part-of-the-mainstream-an-interview-with-nichols-royle-author-of-shadow-lines/" target="_blank">“Not part of the mainstream” – an interview with Nicholas Royle, author of Shadow Lines</a>.<br> He certainly collects a lot .....<br> Royle's <i>White Spines</i> and <i>Shadow Lines</i> (Salt publicity pages <a href="https://www.saltpublishing.com/products/white-spines-9781784632137" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="https://www.saltpublishing.com/products/shadow-lines-9781784633073" target="_blank">here</a>) certainly sound like they're right up my alley; I look forward to checking them out at some point. (Meanwhile, two of his novels are under review at the <font color="#a52a2a"><i>complete review</i></font>: <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/popgb/roylen2.htm" target="_blank">First Novel</a> and <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/popgb/roylen.htm" target="_blank">Antwerp</a>.)]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dn5</guid> </item> <item> <title>EBRD Literature Prize finalists</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dm9</link><description><![CDATA[ The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development has <a href="https://www.ebrd.com/news/2024/ebrd-literature-prize-2024-finalists-revealed.html" target="_blank">announced</a> the three finalists for its Literature Prize, "awarded to the year's best work of literary fiction translated into English, originally written in any language of the regions in which the Bank currently invests and published for the first time by a European (including UK) or North American publisher in the period in question". <br> The finalists are: <ul> <li><i>Barcode</i>, by Tóth Krisztina (tr. Peter Sherwood) <li><i>The End</i>, by Bartis Attila (tr. Judith Sollosy) <li><i>The Wounded Age</i>, by Ferit Edgü (tr. Aron Aji)</ul> The winner will be announced 13 June.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dm9</guid> </item> <item> <title>Surrealism</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dn1</link><description><![CDATA[ At <i>Art in America</i> Ara H. Merjian offers a list of <a href="https://www.artnews.com/list/art-in-america/columns/most-important-books-surrealism-art-movement-1234704174/nadja-by-andre-bretontrans-richard-howard/" target="_blank">Eight Essential Books About Surrealism</a> -- including André Breton's <i>Nadja</i> and Mark Polizzotti's recent <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/surreal/polizzotti.htm" target="_blank">Why Surrealism Matters</a>.<br> I'd make a case for Gérard Durozoi's <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/surreal/durozoi.htm" target="_blank">History of the Surrealist Movement</a>, too .....]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dn1</guid> </item> <item> <title>Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dm6</link><description><![CDATA[ They've <a href="https://womensprize.com/announcing-the-2024-womens-prize-for-fiction-shortlist/" target="_blank">announced</a> the six-title-strong shortlist for this year's Women's Prize for Fiction, "awarded annually to the author of the best full-length novel of the year written in English and published in the UK". <br> I haven't seen any of these.<br> The winner will be announced 13 June.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dm6</guid> </item> <item> <title>Helen Vendler (1933-2024)</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dm7</link><description><![CDATA[ Poetry critic and scholar Helen Vendler has passed away; see, for example, <i>The New York Times</i>' <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/24/books/helen-vendler-dead.html" target="_blank">obituary</a> <font size="-1">(presumably paywalled)</font>.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dm7</guid> </item> <item> <title>How Nietzsche Came in From the Cold review</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dm8</link><description><![CDATA[ The most recent addition to the <font color="#a52a2a"><i>complete review</i></font> is my review of a <i>Tale of a Redemption</i>, as Philipp Felsch writes about <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/nietzsche/felschp.htm" target="_blank">How Nietzsche Came in From the Cold</a>.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dm8</guid> </item> <item> <title>Deutscher Sachbuchpreis shortlist</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dm3</link><description><![CDATA[ They've <a href="https://www.deutscher-sachbuchpreis.de/en/news/detail/nominees-2024" target="_blank">announced</a> the shortlist for the German Non-Fiction Prize -- eight titles, selected from 225 (unfortunately not revealed) submissions.<br> The winner will be announced 11 June.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dm3</guid> </item> <item> <title>Cullman fellows</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dm4</link><description><![CDATA[ The New York Public Library has <a href="https://www.nypl.org/press/new-york-public-library-announces-new-class-fellows-dorothy-and-lewis-b-cullman-center" target="_blank">announced</a> the latest batch of fellows at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers who will now receive: "a stipend of up to $85,000, the use of an office with a computer, and full access to the Library’s physical and electronic resources" for the term of the fellowship, which runs September through May.<br> The fifteen fellows were selected from 620 applicants, from 66 countries. They include <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/egypt/mersali.htm" target="_blank">Traces of Enayat</a>-author Iman Mersal and <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/argentina/pronp.htm" target="_blank">My Fathers' Ghost is Climbing in the Rain</a>-author Patricio Pron.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dm4</guid> </item> <item> <title>Sudhir Kakar (1938-2024)</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dm5</link><description><![CDATA[ Psychoanalyst and author Sudhir Kakar has passed away; see, for example, Rishika Singh's <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/author-sudhir-kakar-passes-away-who-is-he-9284725/" target="_blank">report</a> in the <i>Indian Express</i><br> Two of his books are under review at the <font color="#a52a2a"><i>complete review</i></font>: <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/kakars/theaod.htm" target="_blank">The Ascetic of Desire</a> and <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/kakars/ecstasy.htm" target="_blank">Ecstasy</a>.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dm5</guid> </item> <item> <title> PEN America Literary Awards</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dl9</link><description><![CDATA[ PEN America has <a href="https://pen.org/press-release/pen-america-statement-regarding-the-2024-literary-awards-ceremony-and-conferral-of-annual-prizes/" target="_blank">announced</a> the cancellation of its Literary Awards ceremony -- and, with 28 authors and translators of 61 nominated for the book awards having withdrawn their books from consideration, several of the prizes are going without winners being named.<br> With nine of the ten authors nominated for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award withdrawing their work from consideration, "the Estate of Jean Stein has directed PEN America to donate the $75,000 award to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund"<br> One author who didn't have a chance to withdraw her name will get her prize: Maryse Condé is getting this year's PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature posthumously.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dl9</guid> </item> <item> <title>Merve Emre Q & A</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dm1</link><description><![CDATA[ In the <i>Hindustan Times</i> Simar Bhasin has a Q & A with <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/books/merve-emre-things-should-be-read-in-as-many-different-ways-as-possible-101713800846929.html" target="_blank">Merve Emre - "Things should be read in as many different ways as possible"</a>.<br> Among her responses: <blockquote><font size="-1"><b>Any other contemporary writers who, in your opinion, deserve more literary attention ?</b><br><br>I think the next Nobel Prize winner should be Gerald Murnane, who is an Australian novelist and is utterly, utterly brilliant. There is a fantastic English writer named Lars Iyer who is a genius, I think, and writes these fantastic academic satires. Brilliant. Very, very, very funny.</font></blockquote> (Two Iyer novels are under review at the <font color="#a52a2a"><i>complete review</i></font> -- <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/gbx/iyerl.htm" target="_blank">Spurious</a> and <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/gbx/iyerlWjr.htm" target="_blank">Wittgenstein Jr.</a> -- as are several works by Murnane, e.g. <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/murnane/barley.htm" target="_blank">Barley Patch</a>.)]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dm1</guid> </item> <item> <title>The Answer to Lord Chandos review</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dm2</link><description><![CDATA[ The most recent addition to the <font color="#a52a2a"><i>complete review</i></font> is my review of Pascal Quignard's <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/modfr/quignp4.htm" target="_blank">The Answer to Lord Chandos</a>, coming out from Wakefield Press. <br><br> This is Quignard's response to Hugo von Hofmannsthal's classic 'Lord Chandos Letter' -- see, for example, the recent Joel Rotenberg translation from <a href="https://www.nyrb.com/products/the-lord-chandos-letter-and-other-writings" target="_blank">New York Review Books</a>. Quignard dates his letter to Chandos 23 April 1605 -- and today, 23 April, happens also to be Quignard's birthday !]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dm2</guid> </item> <item> <title>CWA Daggers longlists</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dl7</link><description><![CDATA[ The Crime Writers' Association has announced the longlists for their <a href="https://thecwa.co.uk/awards-and-competitions/the-daggers/" target="_blank">Daggers</a> awards -- unfortunately not in one convenient list; annoyingly, you have to click on each category to see the longlisted titles. (<i>The Bookseller</i> has an (incomplete) <a href="https://www.thebookseller.com/news/mick-herron-lee-child-and-john-banville-longlisted-for-cwa-dagger-awards" target="_blank">overview</a>.) <br> One of the titles longlisted for the <a href="https://thecwa.co.uk/awards-and-competitions/the-daggers/gold-dagger/" target="_blank">Gold Dagger</a> for best crime novel is under review at the <font color="#a52a2a"><i>complete review</i></font> -- <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/herronm/secret_hours.htm" target="_blank">The Secret Hours</a>, by Mick Herron. <br> Disappointingly, I haven't seen any of the titles longlisted for the <a href="https://thecwa.co.uk/awards-and-competitions/the-daggers/dagger-for-crime-fiction-in-translation/" target="_blank">Dagger for Crime Fiction in Translation</a>.<br> The shortlists will be announced 10 May, and the winners on 4 July.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dl7</guid> </item> <item> <title>The Novices of Lerna review</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dl8</link><description><![CDATA[ The most recent addition to the <font color="#a52a2a"><i>complete review</i></font> is my review of a collection of stories by Ángel Bonomini, <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/argentina/bonominia.htm" target="_blank">The Novices of Lerna</a>, coming out from Transit Books.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dl8</guid> </item> <item> <title>L.A. Times Book Prizes</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dl5</link><description><![CDATA[ They've <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2024-04-19/la-times-book-prizes-winners-2024" target="_blank">announced</a> the winners of this year's L.A. Times Book Prizes -- twelve categories, with Ed Park's <i>Same Bed Different Dreams</i> taking the fiction prize.<br><br> I not only have not reviewed any of the winning titles, I haven't <i>seen</i> a single one of the sixty (!) finalists. I am apparently really not keeping up with the latest titles .....]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dl5</guid> </item> <item> <title>The Sleepwalkers review</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dl6</link><description><![CDATA[ The most recent addition to the <font color="#a52a2a"><i>complete review</i></font> is my review of the latest Scarlett Thomas, <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/thomass/sleepwalkers.htm" target="_blank">The Sleepwalkers</a>. ]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202404c.htm#dl6</guid> </item> </channel></rss> If you would like to create a banner that links to this page (i.e. this validation result), do the following:
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