This week at Asymptote, our Editors at Large report on the use of artificial intelligence in publishing, the return of in-person events in Hong Kong’s literary scene, and exciting award announcements! From a new book of poetry to multi-disiplinary festivals, read on to learn more!
José García Escobar, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Central America
In February, Guatemalan poet Eduardo Villalobos published his latest book of poems entitled Ixtab (Catafixia Editorial), which draws inspiration from the Mesoamerican deity of suicide. Ixtab is Eduardo’s fourth book of poems, and he remains one of Guatemala’s most celebrated poets today. He has been invited to renowned festivals in Guatemala and around the world, such as the Copenhagen Literature Festival and the Festival Internacional de Poesía de Quetzaltenango.
Also in February, Slash and Burn by El Salvadorean writer Claudia Hernández and translated by Julia Sanches, was announced as the runner-up of the Premio Valle Iclán, awarded each year by the UK’s The Society of Authors. Hernández is the author of four novels and several short story collections and in 2004, she earned the prestigious Anna Seghers Prize. Slash and Burn was also shortlisted for the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute Translation Prize.
Finally, Hernández’s fellow countryman, Javier Zamora, was recently announced as the winner of the 2022 Christopher Ishwerwoord Prize for his memoir Solito which recounts his journey as an unaccompanied minor traveling from El Salvador to California when he was nine years old. Solito was previously longlisted for the 2023 PEN Open Book Award and shortlisted for the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction.
Eva Wissting, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Sweden
Recently, the municipal government of the southern university town Lund has announced that it is applying to become a member of UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network, UCCN. The UN network was created in 2004 to facilitate collaboration among cities with creativity and cultural industries at the core of their sustainable urban development. Today, the network includes almost 300 cities. Lund is primarily hoping to focus on development related to literature. Sebastian Jaktling, chair of the municipal culture committee, explains that being part of the network would mean recognition of Lund as a city of culture and literature, as well as giving it broader global connections and fostering knowledge-sharing in the literary field. The municipal government believes that membership in the network will help increase the number of international writers, poets and guest lecturers participating in events, education and various literary projects in Lund, as well as helping to establish more platforms where various participants in the literary industry can connect with each other, something the town has worked actively to promote since 2018. The municipality is expecting a response to its application sometime in the fall.
Other current aspirations within the literary industry in Sweden include the development of artificial intelligence at several publishing houses. One publisher, Bokfabriken, has started using artificial intelligence for translations of technical books. According to the publisher, the translations are ultimately of good quality and are useful, but a lot of manual editing is necessary both before and after the automated translations. Bokfabriken also uses artificial intelligence to create audio books. The sound quality is good, although it is clear to listeners that it is an automation. This is not necessarily an entirely negative quality. Some listeners may prefer a more even and less performative reading, especially for technical books as opposed to, for example, fiction. The main reasons Bokfabriken has begun working with artificial intelligence, however, relate to cost and stability. Bokfrabriken says that finding suitable translators, especially for longer projects like series of books, can be challenging.
Charlie Ng, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Hong Kong
With the lifting of social distancing measures and the mask mandate last week, Hong Kong’s literary and cultural scene is beginning to pick up the pace after the three-year long pandemic. Yat-sen, an original musical written by Sunny Chan and directed by Tang Wai-kit, was performed in the 51st Hong Kong Arts Festival last week. The Cantonese musical follows the turbulent life of young Sun Yat-sen, the father of modern China, and dramatises his student days in colonial Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the International Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong) curated the online programme, “Crossover Stages,” an appreciation of Hong Kong’s long tradition of original Cantonese drama. In several videos, prominent local playwrights such as Raymond To, Poon Wai-sum, and Cheung Tat-ming discuss their works, while drama critics provide guided appreciation of the performances. Each episode also contains performances by Hong Kong artists interpreting works of theatre in other mediums.
This year’s Hong Kong International Literary Festival, which takes place between March 6 and March 12, offers still more programming for book lovers in town. International and local writers, poets, editors, agents, and scholars have been invited to participate in a series of events to share their recent works and experiences with the audience. The topics covered vary from the traditional literary forms of fiction and poetry to photobooks and children picture books. British novelist Pico Iyer, 2022 Booker Prize Winner Shehan Karunatilaka, and Pulitzer-Prize winner Jonathan Kaufman are included among the invited speakers. One session is also dedicated to remembering the life and works of recently deceased Hong Kong writer Xi Xi.
Renowned Hong Kong poet Lau Yee-ching (also known by his pen name Yam Gong), has also been invited by local literary group Spicy Fish Cultural Production to be the guest speaker for two poetry reading sessions to discuss his recently published poetry collection with his editor, Louise Law. The collection includes a total of 112 new and selected old poems of Yam Gong collected in two specially printed volumes. Readers are invited to discover various surprises hidden in the edition. The first reading was held on March 3 and the second is coming up soon on March 17.
*****
Read more on the Asymptote blog: