Subjectivity in translation, open your own publishing house, and more

T. S. Eliot once described the month of April as the “cruellest month,” but we can’t believe how chock-full of celebration it is! From National Poetry Month to National Library Appreciation Week, April seems to have it all for literary lovers. Find these celebrations plus more in the links below.

News, Reviews, and Interviews

In addition to being National Poetry Month, April is also Jazz Appreciation Month. NPR recently ran a piece on the points where jazz and poetry intersect to commemorate the month. (We’ll also point you to our special jazz poetry section from the March 2011 issue of WLT.)

South Korea is the focus of this year’s London Book Fair. What can their stories tell us about their North Korean brothers and sisters?

Sad news from New York City this week, where Rizzoli, an iconic independent bookstore that operated for nearly fifty years, finally closed its doors for good this week.

Will Evans, founder of Deep Vellum Publishing, recently pleaded with readers of the Boston Quarterly blog to start their own translation publishing house. Melville House now offers commentary on which is better: founding a new publisher or promoting what’s available?

Yuri Mamleyev’s Russian cult classic Shatuny has now been fully translated into English for the first time by Marian Schwartz (and published under the title The Sublimes), making its grand debut at the London Book Fair last week.

For translators, a subjective approach to a work is not only inevitable, it’s often essential to success, finds this Oxford University Press article.

Laziness? Not Lydia Davis. In a recent interview with Kirkus Reviews, the author talks about her passion, her inspiration, and that one time when a literary committee called her lazy.

For Your Calendar

Words Without Borders is currently taking nominations for the 2014 Ottoway Award, which honors individuals who are passionate about furthering translated literature around the world.

Asymptote needs your help! Their current fundraising effort is almost halfway complete and will help support the magazine’s Close Approximations contest, which awards grants to emerging translators.

Summertime means summer writing workshops! Tin House is currently taking online applications for its fiction, creative nonfiction/memoir, and poetry courses.

For our Canadian readers, the 2014 Edmonton Poetry Festival kicks off next week, celebrating poetry in all of its various forms in a week-long celebration.

Fun Finds and Inspiration

Poem in Your Pocket Day is next week, April 24. If you’re in need of a poem to print or carry with you, check out our special Poems for your Pocket Pinterest board, with many of the poems from the pages of our magazine.

Soundtracks for books are one of our new favorite things! Here is a reading soundtrack chosen by author Bushra Rehman to accompany your reading of her novel Corona. (For more soundtracks, explore our recurring blog section, Sound It Out.)

Take a photographic tour of American libraries to celebrate the end of National Library Appreciation Week.