This week, our writers bring you news from China, Albania, and Central America. In China, the prestigious October Literature Prizes have been presented, with Jidi Majia awarded the 2020 Special Achievement Award; in Albania, the National Center for Books and Reading has revealed the winners of the its 2020–2021 translation fund; and in Central America, Carlos Fonseca and José Adiak Montoya have been featured on Granta‘s best young Spanish-language authors list. Read on to find out more!
Xiao Yue Shan, Blog Editor, reporting for China
October 十月, the renowned literature magazine founded in August 1978, gets its name from the downfall of China’s Gang of Four (a group of Communist Party leaders who took most of the blame for the Cultural Revolution’s devastations) in the October of 1976—upon which, as the line goes, the people of China were able to put behind them ten years of terror, and begin anew the aspirational proceedings of a new national context. As such, it is a publication that took upon itself the tremendous responsibility of delineating the rapidly changing cultural milieu, as well as rousing once more the imaginary and illuminating capacities of a language crippled from years of demolishment. It remains today one of the most prestigious publications of the nation, and the October Literature Prize amongst the highest honours awarded to Chinese writers.
On April 16, the sixteenth and seventeenth October Literature Prizes were presented in “the first town built on the Yangtze”—Lizhuang in Sichuan province. Of each edition, twelve writers were honoured in categories of Novel, Novella, Short Story, Essay, Poetry, and Special Achievement. Jidi Majia 吉狄马加 received the 2020 Special Achievement Award for his book-length poem, 裂开的星球 (The Split Planet), a totemic work that brings the soaring epics of myth into the startling light of the present, as inquiries to the human soul once again come to the poet’s consciousness; the work is emblematic of Jidi’s conviction that poetry holds a knowledge of the future. Also amongst the awardees was writer A Lai 阿来 for his novel 云中记 (In the Clouds), which describes the complete disappearance of a Tibetan village in the aftermath of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, and a local priest’s invocations of how one copes in the face of profound, replete obliteration. A full list of winners can be found here (Chinese only).
If you are to find yourself somewhere near Nanjing, it would be worth your time to visit the Tangshan Quarry Park, a devastatingly beautiful, painterly topography formed from a past limestone mine. It is also the site of the latest location of the Librairie Avant-Garde, a chain of bookshops well-respected for its literary selections, newly opening this month. Taking over the site of an abandoned processing plant, the newly opening Librairie is a stunning feat of contemporary architecture, preserving the red-brick facades rounded towers of its past life, while adopting cleanly to the slopes and gentle light of its natural surroundings. And even if you’re not the type to be impressed with elegant arches and staircases, the books should do; Librairie Avant-Garde is known especially for their revere of poetry, and the thousand-volume collection available here, ranging from Bei Dao to Pessoa, is given proper regard and pertinence. The opening event, held on April 17, also featured the first Librairie Avant-Garde Poetry Awards.
Where large, public gatherings are still a faraway dream to many of us, the Langyuan x Zuoshu Book Fair, held in Beijing, was in full swing from April 16 to 18, with 160 publishers and 500 editors in attendance. With design studios, a vast market selection, and even workshops on making books by hand, the fair is an opportunity for publishers to show off their own wares, as well as gush over and side-eye the works of others. And of course, readers are probably going to get a kick out of the whole experience as well.
Barbara Halla, Assistant Fiction Editor, reporting from Albania
The Albanian National Center for Books and Reading recently revealed the list of Albanian authors and titles that applied for its translation fund for the 2020–2021 publishing year. For the winners, the fund covers both translation and publication costs. There were only thirteen applications put forward this year, and they included an interesting mix of established names and a few newcomers, covering a range of mostly European languages, with Arabic being the only outlier.
Despite the prize’s fairly short history, a few trends have emerged which are in full display in this year’s list as well: Italian dominates the list, which is not a surprise given the fact Italy boasts an independent press, Besa Editrice, focused on Albanians writing in or translated into Italian. A good portion of the translators are heritage translators, which can be rare for translated fiction. At the same time, English is again conspicuously absent which might have a lot to do with the discrepancy between how English-language publishing works and the fund’s application process, which requires the book being translated to already be under contract with a known publisher. The winners will be revealed during the summer.
I have talked in the past about the various issues that have plagued the Albanian book industry, between falling readership mostly due to unaffordable prices rather than a lack of real interest. Following global trends, there was a global uptick in book buying across the country during 2020, although the cancelling of Tirana’s physical 2020 Book Fair (where the bulk of book buying happens for a good portion of Albanians living in Tirana who take advantage of the considerable discounts) did leave its mark. The Center for Books and Reading has sought to combat this sluggishness by using its funds to support independent literary projects and works published by young writers. The issue is that the results of these funds rarely reach the public and fail to tackle the economic factors that making reading an unaffordable luxury for many Albanians.
José García Escobar, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Central America
In early April, Granta highlighted the work of twenty-five Spanish-language writers, following on the tradition that first started eleven years ago when they praised the work of writers such as Andrés Neuman and Pola Oloixarac. This time, two Central American writers made Granta’s list: Carlos Fonseca (Costa Rica/Puerto Rico) and José Adiak Montoya (Nicaragua).
Carlos Fonseca, thirty-four, is the author of Colonel Lágrimas (Editorial Anagrama & Restless Books) and Museo Animal (Editorial Anagrama). José Adiak Montoya, thirty-three, is the author of novels such as Aunque nada perdure (Seix Barral) and Lennon bajo el sol (Tusquets). Centro América Cuenta, the region’s most important literary festival, joined the party when Claudia Neira, the festival’s director, talked with both authors. The interview is available here.
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