Overlooked classics, happy birthday Asymptote, and more

January 23, 2015

by Kaitlin Hawkins

News, Reviews, and Interviews

This week, author Valeria Luiselli sat down with NPR to talk about why she chooses to have her work translated, despite being bilingual. (Luiselli’s forthcoming novel Stories of My Teeth is one of the books our editors are most looking forward to reading in 2015.)

A hearty congratulations and very happy birthday wishes to our friends at Asymptote Journal! If you haven’t visited their website lately, make sure you don’t miss out on their birthday festivities or their world-class archive of writers and poets.

To celebrate the Threepenny Review’s 35th anniversary, the Paris Review recently re-published Javier Marías’s essay on how a home isn’t complete without stacks of books.

Our congratulations go out to Sinan Antoon, the 2014 winner of the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation, and the first author in the prize’s history to self-translate the winning title.

For Your Calendar

If you’re in the NYC area next week, celebrate the long-awaited publication of Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s Guantánamo Diary with a night of readings with PEN American on Monday, January 26. (Tickets are currently sold out, but a wait-list will be available at the door. Make sure to get there early!)

Here’s your chance to translate alongside reputable translators in a beautiful metropolis! Apply today for Translate in the City, hosted at City University in London.

Fun Finds and Inspiration

It turns out that your name may be an indicator of your future (or true) profession. This study reveals the most common names for writers, poets, and librarians.

You may think you know all of the classics, but did you know about these ten neglected classics? Though they’re often overlooked, they’re still worth a deep read!

A fantastic reading list from the Arabic Literature (in English) blog: Arab women writers recommend their favorite Arab women writers. Worth a look!

Looking for some weekend movie ideas? How about any one of these eight films inspired by classic literature.

NPR