Having moaned and groaned about lazy publishing below, I thought I'd make a better suggestion. My personal German Publisher of the Year is Wolfgang Hörner of Galiani Verlag.
Not purely because they're the only German publishers who send out newsletters expressly to translators around the world, recognising that we can actually push the odd lever in the publishing industry. Not just because they always name their German translators, even in their Facebook status updates. Not only because Wolfgang is a totally and utterly nice guy who puts a personal touch into everything he does. Not merely because Galiani is the nearest German publisher to my house.
It's also because they have a fantastic and eclectic and risk-taking programme of literature and non-fiction, with everything from debut novels to award-winning daring prose to intelligent crime writing to banned Soviet geniuses to butterflies. I'm looking forward to Karen Duve - usually wickedly funny - on how to eat in a morally acceptable manner. I'm already in love with the blurb, in which she assumes she can continue drinking Diet Coke while only eating organic, as it's made entirely of chemicals (Why do I love writers who love Diet Coke? She's the second one I've come across.). The book comes out in January - and oh look, she's going on a mini-tour with Jonathon Safran Foer. Yum.
Sadly, the love german books German Publisher of the Year award does not come with any cash.
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
German Publisher of the Year
I like this little newsflash - trade mag Buchmarkt crowns its publisher of the year every December, chosen by the previous winners. This year it's Ulrich Genzler of Heyne Verlag - a Random House imprint that publishes almost entirely translations. Stephen King, John Grisham, Keith Richards, Stieg Larsson, Tom Clancy - apparently he has an infallible instinct for bestsellers.
I was about to express wonderment at the differences between the German and English-speaking publishing worlds. You know, my usual tirade about bestsellers in translation. But then I realised that in fact, Heyne's catalogue could just as easily be a British commercial publisher's list, taking safe bets on the exact same big names. Oh, and they have a delightful line in "dumb books for women" too. Congratulations.
(I have to admit I like the look of Heyne Hardcore though, with a very obscure mix of hymns to heavy metal, original erotica and strange things translated out of Scandinavian, Italian and Japanese as well as English. And David Peace alongside Beth Ditto!)
I was about to express wonderment at the differences between the German and English-speaking publishing worlds. You know, my usual tirade about bestsellers in translation. But then I realised that in fact, Heyne's catalogue could just as easily be a British commercial publisher's list, taking safe bets on the exact same big names. Oh, and they have a delightful line in "dumb books for women" too. Congratulations.
(I have to admit I like the look of Heyne Hardcore though, with a very obscure mix of hymns to heavy metal, original erotica and strange things translated out of Scandinavian, Italian and Japanese as well as English. And David Peace alongside Beth Ditto!)
Friday, 26 November 2010
And Win a Trip to Berlin
The Goethe-Instituts across Europe want to know what you think about Germany. And they're giving away a trip to Berlin to everyone who responds to their online survey. Or something like that.
The love german books Christmas List
Don't you love those magazine features that tell you what gifts to buy for girls, boys and grandparents? If you're anything like me, though, those lists will be a little short on recent German books for your taste.
So I've put together the ultimate seasonal book-buying guide for bombarding your loved ones with books translated out of German. I haven't read all of them, admittedly, but I'd still say it's a good bet they're pretty hot stuff. So gather those friends and family around you, stock up on the lebkuchen, light the candles on your Germanic tree, and rejoice - 'tis the season to be Teutonic.
And so, in no particular order, the recommendations.
For political crime fans:
Hans Werner Kettenbach / Anthea Bell, David’s Revenge
For bad girls:
Charlotte Roche / Tim Mohr, Wetlands
For the slightly silly:
Walter Moers / John Brownjohn, The Alchemaster’s Apprentice
For teenage girls:
Beate Teresa Hanika / Katy Derbyshire, Learning to Scream
For imaginative kids:
Reinhardt Jung / Anthea Bell, Bambert’s Book of Missing Stories
For the long-sighted:
Robert Walser / Susan Bernofsky, The Microscripts
For people you really like:
Jenny Erpenbeck / Susan Bernofsky, Visitation
For people who really love Rome:
Friedrich Christian Delius / Jamie Bulloch, Portrait of the Mother as a Young Woman
For map freaks:
Judith Schalansky / Christine Lo, Atlas of Remote Islands
For historically interested safer sex lovers:
Götz Aly, Michael Sontheimer / Shelley Frisch, Fromms
For vodka-drinkers:
Alina Bronsky / Tim Mohr, Broken Glass Park
For quiet rebels:
Hans Fallada / Michael Hofmann, Alone in Berlin
For people who don’t really like getting presents:
Thomas Bernhard / Carol Janeway, My Prizes: an accounting
For star-crossed lovers:
Paul Celan, Ingeborg Bachmann / Wieland Hoban, Correspondence
For Berlin fans:
Lyn Marven (ed.), Berlin Tales
For gullible romantics:
Siegfried Lenz / Anthea Bell, A Minute’s Silence
For delinquent physicists:
Juli Zeh / Christine Lo, Dark Matter
For closet Orientalists:
Rafik Schami / Anthea Bell, The Calligrapher’s Secret
For celebrities:
Daniel Kehlmann / Carol Brown Janeway, Fame
For crime fans with a sense of humour:
Jakob Arjouni / Anthea Bell, Kismet
For multiple fathers:
Günter Grass / Krishna Winston, The Box
For lovers of beautiful prose and/or mining towns:
Ralf Rothmann / Wieland Hoban, Young Light
For dead people:
David Safier / John Brownjohn, Bad Karma
For aged hippies:
Berhard Schlink / Shaun Whiteside, The Weekend
For prolific readers in the UK:
Peirene subscription
For prolific readers in the USA:
Open Letter subscription
I thought about linking to Amazon, but then I decided to let you choose where to buy them. So the links are to publishers' websites in the UK or the US, just to give you an idea of the books. Happy shopping!
So I've put together the ultimate seasonal book-buying guide for bombarding your loved ones with books translated out of German. I haven't read all of them, admittedly, but I'd still say it's a good bet they're pretty hot stuff. So gather those friends and family around you, stock up on the lebkuchen, light the candles on your Germanic tree, and rejoice - 'tis the season to be Teutonic.
And so, in no particular order, the recommendations.
For political crime fans:
Hans Werner Kettenbach / Anthea Bell, David’s Revenge
For bad girls:
Charlotte Roche / Tim Mohr, Wetlands
For the slightly silly:
Walter Moers / John Brownjohn, The Alchemaster’s Apprentice
For teenage girls:
Beate Teresa Hanika / Katy Derbyshire, Learning to Scream
For imaginative kids:
Reinhardt Jung / Anthea Bell, Bambert’s Book of Missing Stories
For the long-sighted:
Robert Walser / Susan Bernofsky, The Microscripts
For people you really like:
Jenny Erpenbeck / Susan Bernofsky, Visitation
For people who really love Rome:
Friedrich Christian Delius / Jamie Bulloch, Portrait of the Mother as a Young Woman
For map freaks:
Judith Schalansky / Christine Lo, Atlas of Remote Islands
For historically interested safer sex lovers:
Götz Aly, Michael Sontheimer / Shelley Frisch, Fromms
For vodka-drinkers:
Alina Bronsky / Tim Mohr, Broken Glass Park
For quiet rebels:
Hans Fallada / Michael Hofmann, Alone in Berlin
For people who don’t really like getting presents:
Thomas Bernhard / Carol Janeway, My Prizes: an accounting
For star-crossed lovers:
Paul Celan, Ingeborg Bachmann / Wieland Hoban, Correspondence
For Berlin fans:
Lyn Marven (ed.), Berlin Tales
For gullible romantics:
Siegfried Lenz / Anthea Bell, A Minute’s Silence
For delinquent physicists:
Juli Zeh / Christine Lo, Dark Matter
For closet Orientalists:
Rafik Schami / Anthea Bell, The Calligrapher’s Secret
For celebrities:
Daniel Kehlmann / Carol Brown Janeway, Fame
For crime fans with a sense of humour:
Jakob Arjouni / Anthea Bell, Kismet
For multiple fathers:
Günter Grass / Krishna Winston, The Box
For lovers of beautiful prose and/or mining towns:
Ralf Rothmann / Wieland Hoban, Young Light
For dead people:
David Safier / John Brownjohn, Bad Karma
For aged hippies:
Berhard Schlink / Shaun Whiteside, The Weekend
For prolific readers in the UK:
Peirene subscription
For prolific readers in the USA:
Open Letter subscription
I thought about linking to Amazon, but then I decided to let you choose where to buy them. So the links are to publishers' websites in the UK or the US, just to give you an idea of the books. Happy shopping!
Thursday, 25 November 2010
Karen Duve: Weihnachten mit Thomas Müller
Here's another post by my daughter, this time about a children's book written by one of my favourite grown-up writers, Karen Duve. I'm waiting for adolescence to kick in, but until then I shall enjoy every minute of my daughter liking the same writer as me.
Weihnachten mit Thomas Müller is a couple of years old (2003) but hasn't dated. And it's written with Karen Duve's inimitable wry humour, which she uses to take all the characters in the story down a peg or two - and that makes them all the more loveable.
I first read it a month or so ago, drunk. And loved it, even sober. Here's what Elli has to say (I've translated her original post behind the link):
In this gorgeous picture book, "Thomas Müller" isn't a goalkeeper, he's a little teddy bear.
His family has left him behind, sadly. His owner Marc Wortmann dropped him. :(
Presumably when he saw the sneakers with integrated disco lights in the toys and sports store.
As he's sitting all alone by a fountain, a slim black cat comes along and they get talking.
The two of them decide to look for the Wortmann family; after all, Marc must be really missing him at Christmas, mustn't he?
A fun picture book with great illustrations.
Absolutely recommended!
Weihnachten mit Thomas Müller is a couple of years old (2003) but hasn't dated. And it's written with Karen Duve's inimitable wry humour, which she uses to take all the characters in the story down a peg or two - and that makes them all the more loveable.
I first read it a month or so ago, drunk. And loved it, even sober. Here's what Elli has to say (I've translated her original post behind the link):
In this gorgeous picture book, "Thomas Müller" isn't a goalkeeper, he's a little teddy bear.
His family has left him behind, sadly. His owner Marc Wortmann dropped him. :(
Presumably when he saw the sneakers with integrated disco lights in the toys and sports store.
As he's sitting all alone by a fountain, a slim black cat comes along and they get talking.
The two of them decide to look for the Wortmann family; after all, Marc must be really missing him at Christmas, mustn't he?
A fun picture book with great illustrations.
Absolutely recommended!
no man's land issue 5 now online
Incredibly, amazingly, we can hardly believe it ourselves-ly, the fifth issue of no man's land is now online at www.no-mans-land.org.
The only magazine devoted entirely to new German writing in English translation, it's chock-full of delights this time around. We have fiction by Volker Braun, Werner Bräunig, Dietmar Dath, Johanna Hemkentokrax, Kai Gero Lenke, Siegfried Lenz, PeterLicht, Milena Oda, Gerhard Roth and Lutz Seiler and poetry by Lars-Arvid Brischke, Ulrike Draesner, Jörg Fauser, Claudia Kohlus, Fitzgerald Kusz, Marcus Roloff, Ulrike Almut Sandig and Tzveta Sofronieva.
We were thrilled to receive an unprecedented number of submissions this year, and I'd like to say a big thank you to all the excellent translators who sent us the fruits of their hard work.
And now take the rest of the day off work and read the damn thing! You won't regret it.
The only magazine devoted entirely to new German writing in English translation, it's chock-full of delights this time around. We have fiction by Volker Braun, Werner Bräunig, Dietmar Dath, Johanna Hemkentokrax, Kai Gero Lenke, Siegfried Lenz, PeterLicht, Milena Oda, Gerhard Roth and Lutz Seiler and poetry by Lars-Arvid Brischke, Ulrike Draesner, Jörg Fauser, Claudia Kohlus, Fitzgerald Kusz, Marcus Roloff, Ulrike Almut Sandig and Tzveta Sofronieva.
We were thrilled to receive an unprecedented number of submissions this year, and I'd like to say a big thank you to all the excellent translators who sent us the fruits of their hard work.
And now take the rest of the day off work and read the damn thing! You won't regret it.
Monday, 22 November 2010
no man's land issue #5 launch - don't ask me...
The wonderful, amazing online magazine of contemporary German-language literature in translation no man's land (which I co-edit) launches its fifth issue on Wednesday! In Berlin! Come along! The new issue should go live at about the same time. Please don't ask me what to expect at the launch, as I have no idea whatsoever. Here's the announcement:
DER IGEL FLIEGT HEUT NACHT/THE IGEL FLIES TONIGHT
Launch of the 5th edition of no man’s land
- the online magazine for new German literature in English
November 24, 2010
8:30 p.m.
CCCP
Rosenthaler Str. 71, Berlin
5 € / 3 € / 0 €
Founded in 2006, no man’s land (www.no-mans-land.org) is the only online magazine to publish exclusively new German literature in English translation. For many readers, it their first comprehensive introduction to contemporary German literature. And no man’s land’s vital culture of translation builds bridges between the local literary scene and English-language translators, writers and readers in Berlin and all around the world.
The 5th edition presents fiction by Volker Braun, Werner Bräunig, Dietmar Dath, Johanna Hemkentokrax, Kai Gero Lenke, Siegfried Lenz, PeterLicht, Milena Oda, Gerhard Roth and Lutz Seiler and poetry by Lars-Arvid Brischke, Ulrike Draesner, Jörg Fauser, Claudia Kohlus, Fitzgerald Kusz, Marcus Roloff, Ulrike Almut Sandig and Tzveta Sofronieva.
Instead of the usual launch reading with German writing and English translations, we’re celebrating with a special event. This time the two languages will be shaken and mixed in a bi- and interlingual edition of the infamous “analysis show” ROTTEN KINCK OHNE: “The Igel Flies Tonight” with star poets Ann Cotten and Monika Rinck, a performance that will also be documented in the issue.
Monika Rinck and Ann Cotten: For the launch of no man’s land # 5 we present ROTTEN KINCK OHNE, a reduced edition of the format known as the ROTTEN KINCK SCHOW, this time with Ann Cotten und Monika Rinck, unfortunately without Sabine Scho, who is in Sao Paolo at the moment.
Under the title "THE IGEL FLIES TONIGHT" the NOVEMBER RKO will enlighten the dark corridor of language. Language as in English and in German, corridor as in Buñuel. The whole drudgery of translation will come into play: Hypnosis-Cabin, Etym-Oubliette, Hackepeter-Hedgehog.
THE RKS and RKO try by all (epistemological) means possible to produce ANSCHAULICHKEIT. Associations are eo ipso arguments. Nothing is simplified - even though it can get rough sometimes. Things will be used.
We await the Igel in suspense… and hope to see you there!
Yours truly,
The Editors, no man’s land
+*#+#'*'#*#*#**'''#+'+##*'##*#*''#*#*''
#' THEIGELFLIESTONIGHT *#
*##*''*#'#+*#'#*##'*''###*#*#*##*#*##
I TOLD YOU LIKE IT WAS: THE IGEL FLIES TONIGHT
GERMAN-English RKO – with Ann Cotten, Monika Rinck,
JUST THIS ONCE WITHOUT Sabine Scho
HYPNOSIS-CABIN
KASPAR HAUSER FORCESLEEP-HORTUS
Hackepeterhedgehog – Too Important To Go Away
#WHERE SLEEPS HETSCHHOTSCH TONIGHT?
# DOOMSDAY for the TRANSLATOR (Exorcism or: BRIDGE of VOMIT)
# TO REVERBERATE – ALIEN VOICE
# READING HORSE'S FACES (after Silvan S. Tomkins)
# GENERAL KNUSEMONG – en general que nous aimons
# WATTHAPPEN? IDONNO IWILLASCK
ENSUITE: .. The ERROR-stretch of imagination -- the dark shaft of details .. the psycho-physio analogy of vis inertiae .. work performance of natural beings … land ownership comme competence … expelled from the circle of juices .. pièce de resistance ..auri sacra fames .. exculpation par sameness of conditions .. The centripetal and the centrifugal tendency in schmantz .. the blessing of being with very close people the veiling nivellement of kludge. --- the rhythm in the rolling of indifference.. "On the Terminology of the Sales Tax in Switzerland"
DER IGEL FLIEGT HEUT NACHT/THE IGEL FLIES TONIGHT
Launch of the 5th edition of no man’s land
- the online magazine for new German literature in English
November 24, 2010
8:30 p.m.
CCCP
Rosenthaler Str. 71, Berlin
5 € / 3 € / 0 €
Founded in 2006, no man’s land (www.no-mans-land.org) is the only online magazine to publish exclusively new German literature in English translation. For many readers, it their first comprehensive introduction to contemporary German literature. And no man’s land’s vital culture of translation builds bridges between the local literary scene and English-language translators, writers and readers in Berlin and all around the world.
The 5th edition presents fiction by Volker Braun, Werner Bräunig, Dietmar Dath, Johanna Hemkentokrax, Kai Gero Lenke, Siegfried Lenz, PeterLicht, Milena Oda, Gerhard Roth and Lutz Seiler and poetry by Lars-Arvid Brischke, Ulrike Draesner, Jörg Fauser, Claudia Kohlus, Fitzgerald Kusz, Marcus Roloff, Ulrike Almut Sandig and Tzveta Sofronieva.
Instead of the usual launch reading with German writing and English translations, we’re celebrating with a special event. This time the two languages will be shaken and mixed in a bi- and interlingual edition of the infamous “analysis show” ROTTEN KINCK OHNE: “The Igel Flies Tonight” with star poets Ann Cotten and Monika Rinck, a performance that will also be documented in the issue.
Monika Rinck and Ann Cotten: For the launch of no man’s land # 5 we present ROTTEN KINCK OHNE, a reduced edition of the format known as the ROTTEN KINCK SCHOW, this time with Ann Cotten und Monika Rinck, unfortunately without Sabine Scho, who is in Sao Paolo at the moment.
Under the title "THE IGEL FLIES TONIGHT" the NOVEMBER RKO will enlighten the dark corridor of language. Language as in English and in German, corridor as in Buñuel. The whole drudgery of translation will come into play: Hypnosis-Cabin, Etym-Oubliette, Hackepeter-Hedgehog.
THE RKS and RKO try by all (epistemological) means possible to produce ANSCHAULICHKEIT. Associations are eo ipso arguments. Nothing is simplified - even though it can get rough sometimes. Things will be used.
We await the Igel in suspense… and hope to see you there!
Yours truly,
The Editors, no man’s land
+*#+#'*'#*#*#**'''#+'+##*'##*#*''#*#*''
#' THEIGELFLIESTONIGHT *#
*##*''*#'#+*#'#*##'*''###*#*#*##*#*##
I TOLD YOU LIKE IT WAS: THE IGEL FLIES TONIGHT
GERMAN-English RKO – with Ann Cotten, Monika Rinck,
JUST THIS ONCE WITHOUT Sabine Scho
HYPNOSIS-CABIN
KASPAR HAUSER FORCESLEEP-HORTUS
Hackepeterhedgehog – Too Important To Go Away
#WHERE SLEEPS HETSCHHOTSCH TONIGHT?
# DOOMSDAY for the TRANSLATOR (Exorcism or: BRIDGE of VOMIT)
# TO REVERBERATE – ALIEN VOICE
# READING HORSE'S FACES (after Silvan S. Tomkins)
# GENERAL KNUSEMONG – en general que nous aimons
# WATTHAPPEN? IDONNO IWILLASCK
ENSUITE: .. The ERROR-stretch of imagination -- the dark shaft of details .. the psycho-physio analogy of vis inertiae .. work performance of natural beings … land ownership comme competence … expelled from the circle of juices .. pièce de resistance ..auri sacra fames .. exculpation par sameness of conditions .. The centripetal and the centrifugal tendency in schmantz .. the blessing of being with very close people the veiling nivellement of kludge. --- the rhythm in the rolling of indifference.. "On the Terminology of the Sales Tax in Switzerland"
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