Posted on October 1, 2009 by lucy
‘International Writing with a Wayward Streak’ is the headline in Booktrade.info announcing Harvill Secker’s approaching centenary celebrations in 2010.
From January through to December 2010, the Random House imprint Harvill Secker will be celebrating a centenary of publishing. Harvill Secker has published some of the most iconic and inspiring literary works of the last 100 years, [...]
Filed under: Cultural history, foreign languages, translation, translator | Tagged: Harvill Press, Harvill Secker centenary, Isle of Lewis, Linkedin, Martin Secker, Random House, Secker & Warburg, translated fiction, Vagabond Voices | Leave a Comment »
Posted on September 10, 2009 by lucy
I missed his birthday on 7 September, but there’s a chance for more cake and 300 candles on 18 September (apparently after the change of calendar in 1752 he celebrated his birthday on 18 September).
There’s been so many wonderful Johnson features on radio and in the press, but I just wanted to comment on a [...]
Filed under: Cultural history, foreign languages, reading, translation, translator | Tagged: 300th anniversary, Canongate, Dr Johnson's House, Edinburgh, Hodge, James Boswell, Johnson on language, Johnson on translation, Johnson's Dictionary, Samuel Johnson, Samuel Johnson's cat | 1 Comment »
Posted on July 8, 2009 by lucy
Youssef Ziedan’s Azazeel (or Azazil) – to give it its original title – won the 2009 International Prize for Arabic Fiction and will be published as Beelzebub by Atlantic Books in 2010.
The availability of money for the translation – courtesy of IPAF – is a major boost to opening the doors to this rich literary [...]
Filed under: Cultural history, book reviews, foreign languages, historical fiction | Tagged: Atlantic Books, Azazeel, Bahaa Taher, Beelzebub, Coptic church, Egypt, Humphrey Davies, IPAF 2009, Sunset Oasis, Youssef Ziedan | 1 Comment »
Posted on May 28, 2009 by lucy
This piece appeared as the cover story for the latest issue of Solander.
More than a Matter of Words: Lucinda Byatt looks at four Italian historical novels in translation
I’ve included the full article on a separate page (click to read it here)
Just to whet your appetite, the novels I’ve chosen are The Leopard, The Name of [...]
Filed under: Cultural history, Italy, book reviews, foreign languages, historical fiction, reading, translation, translator | Tagged: Dacia Maraini, Francesco Sorti, Giuseppe Tomasi, Imprimatur, Italian historical novels in English, Linkedin, Rita Monaldi, The Leopard, The Name of the Rose, The Silent Duchess, Umberto Eco | Leave a Comment »
Posted on March 12, 2009 by lucy
I’m sorry that I haven’t posted on this earlier but – like many interesting topics – I came across the whole question by chance. Having read a little more about the issues involved, the whole subject seems so fundamental that I hope as many readers as possible will follow it for themselves and sign the [...]
Filed under: Cultural history, foreign languages, translation, translator | Tagged: BBC Russian service, BBC World Service, Greg Hands, Linkedin, Moscow BBC World Service, Nigel Chapman, Robert Chandler, UK petition on World service | 1 Comment »
Posted on January 7, 2009 by lucy
Giving a new twist to the usual flurry of New Year’s resolutions to lose a pound or two of excess weight, a rather bizarre exhibition trial was staged in New York recently. As was widely reported, both in the New Yorker and on Radio 4’s Today programme, the Shylock v Antonio proceedings were -
held [...]
Filed under: Cultural history, Italy, foreign languages, translation | Tagged: John Florio, Portia, Shakespeare, Shylock, The Merchant of Venice | Leave a Comment »
Posted on December 14, 2008 by lucy
This is the title of a book recently published by Azimut whose subtitle is crucially important: “Storie di traduttori e traduzioni”.
I came across it through the website of one of the contributors, Anna Mioni, and this excellent blog. The book is edited by Chiara Manfrinato and includes contributions by other leading translators. But, as the [...]
Filed under: Italy, foreign languages, reading, translation, translator | Tagged: Anna Mioni, Chiara Manfrinato, Il Mestiere di Riflettere, Italian translation, Linkedin, Translators | Leave a Comment »
Posted on November 21, 2008 by lucy
While news of a major redirection of Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy towards stewardship rather than overproduction rightly takes the limelight, the opening of an equally epoch-making European resource Europeana went live on 20 November with less of a fanfare. Nonetheless the extent of the demand was overwhelming. With over 10 million hits an hour yesterday, [...]
Filed under: Cultural history, foreign languages, reading | Tagged: Bodleian Library, British Library digitisation projects, digitisation, European cultural heritage, European Digital Library Foundation, Europeana, Linkedin, OCR, Oxford-Google Digitisation Project | 1 Comment »
Posted on November 12, 2008 by lucy
After years of ignoring translation and frequently failing to mention translators’ names, Amazon has risen to the challenge of promoting translated fiction. Given the dominance of this online bookseller, the move may even boost sales of foreign authors from the pitiful current levels.
The new Literature in Translation page offers access to bestselling titles as well [...]
Filed under: book reviews, foreign languages, reading, translation | Tagged: Bitter Lemon Press, Amazon, Literature in Translation, If:Book London, Andrea Camilleri, Salvo Montalbano | 2 Comments »
Posted on October 19, 2008 by lucy
Frankfurt is over for another year – not that I was there, so I’m only commenting vicariously on the basis of what I’ve read. However, apparently translation deals were few and far between, and – to judge from the decision taken by Nobel prizewinner Le Clézio’s French publisher, Gallimard – not even a matter for [...]
Filed under: book reviews, foreign languages, reading, translation | Tagged: Alison Flood, Chad Post, Le Clezio, Linkedin, Lisa Jardine, Three Percent, translated fiction | Leave a Comment »