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<?xml version="1.0"?><rss version="2.0"><channel> <title>the Literary Saloon</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/index.htm</link> <description>opinionated commentary on literary matters</description> <language>en-us</language> <copyright>Copyright 2025 the Complete Review</copyright> <docs>http://backend.userland.com/rss</docs> <managingEditor>mao@complete-review.com</managingEditor> <item> <title>HKW Internationaler Literaturpreis</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#il2</link><description><![CDATA[ HKW Haus der Kulturen have <a href="https://www.hkw.de/en/programme/internationaler-literaturpreis/kim-hyesoon-sool-park-uljana-wolf-autobiographie-des-todes" target="_blank">announced</a> the winner of this year's International Prize for Literature, a leading German prize for a translation of a contemporary work, and it is the German translation of <i>Autobiography of Death</i> by Kim Hyesoon; see also the publicity pages from <a href="https://www.andotherstories.org/autobiography-of-death/" target="_blank">And Other Press</a> and <a href="https://www.ndbooks.com/book/autobiography-of-death/" target="_blank">New Directions</a>, or get your copy at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0811227340/ref=nosim/completereview" target="_blank">Amazon.com</a>, <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/81962/9780811227346" target="_blank">Bookshop.org</a>, or <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1916751288/ref=nosim/completereview07" target="_blank">Amazon.co.uk</a>. ]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#il2</guid> </item> <item> <title>Cynthia Ozick Q & A</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#il3</link><description><![CDATA[ In the <i>Jewish Review of Books</i> Abraham Socher has a Q & A with the author, in <a href="https://jewishreviewofbooks.com/literature/18818/story-evades-cogitation-an-interview-with-cynthia-ozick/" target="_blank">Story Evades Cogitation: An Interview with Cynthia Ozick</a>. <br> Among Ozick's responses: <blockquote><font size="-1">I can't and won't reread: What's done is done. Print is writing's final fate; but it's also true that nothing written counts as done -- fully consummated -- until it lands in print.</font></blockquote> As longtime readers know, I'm a huge fan -- and almost all of Ozick's work is <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/authors/ozickc.htm" target="_blank">under review</a> at the <font color="#a52a2a"><i>complete review</i></font>.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#il3</guid> </item> <item> <title>Wales Books of the Year</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#il4</link><description><![CDATA[ They've <a href="https://www.literaturewales.org/wales-book-of-the-year-winners-2025/" target="_blank">announced</a> the winners of this year's Wales Books of the Year, with Carys Davies' <i>Clear</i> winning both the English-language fiction prize as well as being named Wales Book of the Year.<br> Gwenno Gwilym's <i>V + Fo</i> took the Welsh-language fiction award.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#il4</guid> </item> <item> <title>New RSL Fellows</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#il5</link><description><![CDATA[ The Royal Society of Literature has <a href="https://rsliterature.org/announcement-of-2025-fellows-and-honorary-fellows/" target="_blank">announced</a> the induction of twenty-eight new Fellows and eight new Honorary Fellows.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#il5</guid> </item> <item> <title>Akutagawa prize(less)</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ik5</link><description><![CDATA[ They award the two most prestigious Japanese book prizes, the Akutagawa and the Naoki, twice a year -- but apparently this summer-session's finalists were all duds: it's happened before =-- most recently apparently in 1998 -- and, as <i>The Mainichi</i> reports, this year again there were <a href="https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250717/p2g/00m/0sp/006000c" target="_blank">No wins in 2 prestigious Japanese literary awards, 1st in 27 yrs</a>. ]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ik5</guid> </item> <item> <title>Taiwan Literature Awards</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ik6</link><description><![CDATA[ The National Museum of Taiwan Literature <a href="https://award.nmtl.gov.tw/information?uid=2&pid=2294" target="_blank">announced</a> the winners of this year's Taiwan Literature Awards, awarded in nine categories; see also the article in the <i>Taipei Times</i>, <a href="https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2025/07/17/2003840432" target="_blank">Winners of Taiwan Literature Awards announced</a>. <br> Chen Long-ting won the Taiwanese-language novel prize with <i>Kéⁿ-kui</i>. ]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ik6</guid> </item> <item> <title>Genjipoems.org</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ik7</link><description><![CDATA[ This looks like a great new resource: as Alene Bouranova writes at <i>The Brink</i>, <a href="https://www.bu.edu/articles/2025/tale-of-genji-poems-join-digital-age/" target="_blank">The World’s First Novel Has Romance, Tragedy, Adventure. Now, After 1,000 Years, <i>The Tale of Genji’</i>s Poems Have Joined the Digital Age</a>, reporting on the launch of an: "interactive digital database of all 795 poems featured in <i>The Tale of Genji</i>" -- <a href="https://genjipoems.org/" target="_blank">genjipoems.org</a>. <br> Each of the poems is presented in the original Japanese as well as five translations.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ik7</guid> </item> <item> <title>Japanese fiction in translation</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ik8</link><description><![CDATA[ At <i>Prospect</i> Susie Mesure reports on how: 'Translated Japanese fiction is suddenly booming in the west. We spoke to publishers, editors and translators to discover why', in <a href="https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/books/70469/rising-sun-why-japanese-fiction-is-booming-in-the-west-sayaka-murata-yu-miri-mieko-kawakami-uketsu" target="_blank">Rising sun</a>. <br> A solid overview -- though noting also that: <blockquote><font size="-1">The twin pillars of comfort and crime are driving the boom, with an emphasis on the former: books about cats, cafés and bookshops dominate the bestseller lists for novels in translation from Japanese</font></blockquote> The closing observation by Morgan Giles seems, alas, all too likely: <blockquote><font size="-1">“I hope that a combination of translators pursuing their own aesthetic tastes and publishers taking more note of what the buzz is in Japan will lead to a new golden era of weird, wonderful Japanese fiction in translation showcasing the many underexamined sides of its society,” says Giles. “But it will probably just be more cats.”</font></blockquote> Many of the Japanese works mentioned here are <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/maindex/fareast.htm#japan" target="_blank">under review</a> at the <font color="#a52a2a"><i>complete review</i></font>.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ik8</guid> </item> <item> <title>Claus Peymann (1937-2025)</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ik9</link><description><![CDATA[ Theater director Claus Peymann -- most notably at the Viennese Burgtheater and at the Berliner Ensemble -- has passed away; see, for example, the <a href="https://orf.at/stories/3399879/" target="_blank">obituary</a> at ORF.<br> He staged many of the premieres of Thomas Bernhard's play; see also Bernhard's <a href="https://www.nplusonemag.com/issue-7/fiction-drama/claus-peymann-buys-himself-a-pair-of-pants-and-joins-me-for-lunch/" target="_blank">Claus Peymann Buys Himself a Pair of Pants and Joins Me for Lunch</a> <font size="-1">(mostly paywalled)</font> at n+1.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ik9</guid> </item> <item> <title>Freudenheim Translation Prize</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#il1</link><description><![CDATA[ The Jewish Literary Foundation has announced the new <a href="https://jewishliteraryfoundation.co.uk/awards-prizes/the-freudenheim-translation-prize" target="_blank">Freudenheim Translation Prize</a>, recognizing: "outstanding books that explore Jewish themes, history, identity or culture -- or are of significant interest to Jewish and wider audience", with the (£3,000) prize going to the translator of the work. ]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#il1</guid> </item> <item> <title>Georg-Büchner-Preis</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ik2</link><description><![CDATA[ The German Academy for Language and Literature has <a href="https://www.deutscheakademie.de/de/aktuell/2025-07-15/georg-buechner-preis" target="_blank">announced</a> the winner of this year's Georg Büchner Prize, the leading German-language author prize, and it is Ursula Krechel. <br> Not much of her work has been translated into English, but there's a bilingual edition of her <i>Voices from the Bitter Core</i> from Host Publications; see also their <a href="https://hostpublications.com/products/voices-from-the-bitter-core-by-ursula-krechel" target="_blank">publicity page</a>, or get your copy at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0924047666/ref=nosim/completereview" target="_blank">Amazon.com</a> or <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0924047666/ref=nosim/completereview07" target="_blank">Amazon.co.uk</a>. <br> She gets to pick up the prize on 1 November.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ik2</guid> </item> <item> <title>Banned in DoDEA schools</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ik3</link><description><![CDATA[ At Military.com Rebecca Kheel reports <a href="https://www.military.com/daily-news/2025/07/14/here-are-596-books-being-banned-defense-department-schools.html" target="_blank">Here Are the 596 Books Being Banned by Defense Department Schools</a> -- though in fact the books are not listed there, but there is a link to the <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iKxUEllBpsap4cmH_vfWtzv0h069jkSc/view" target="_blank">Memorandum Order</a> <font size="-1">(warning ! dreaded pdf format !)</font> where they are listed.<br> For some reason the <a href="https://www.dodea.edu/" target="_blank">DoDEA</a> was reluctant to release this list -- it took this court order. <br> The list is fairly predictable: anything LGBTQ- or gender-related -- right up to Virginia Woolf's <i>Orlando</i>, sigh --, anything race-related, and ... some AP psychology guides.<br> Dear god .....]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ik3</guid> </item> <item> <title>The Highest Exam review</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ik4</link><description><![CDATA[ The most recent addition to the <font color="#a52a2a"><i>complete review</i></font> is my review of Ruixue Jia and Hongbin Li, with Claire Cousineau, on <i>How the Gaokao Shapes China</i>, in <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/economic/gaokao.htm" target="_blank">The Highest Exam</a>, coming from Harvard University Press. <br><br> (I have and have long been meaning to review Ichisada Miyazaki's <i>China's Examination Hell: The Civil Service Examinations of Imperial China</i> -- see the Yale University Press <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300026399/chinas-examination-hell/" target="_blank">publicity page</a> -- which looks like it would make a nice complementary volume to this.)]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ik4</guid> </item> <item> <title>Dayton Literary Peace Prize finalists</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ij9</link><description><![CDATA[ The Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation has <a href="https://www.daytonliterarypeaceprize.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DLPP25_Finalists-Press-Release_2.pdf" target="_blank">announced</a> <font size="-1">(warning ! dreaded pdf format !)</font> the finalists for its awards, honoring: "writers whose work demonstrates the power of the written word to foster peace", in its two categories, fiction and non -- six titles each<br> Percival Everett's <i>James</i> is among the fiction finalists .....<br> I haven't seen any of these.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ij9</guid> </item> <item> <title>Martin Cruz Smith (1942-2025)</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ik1</link><description><![CDATA[ <i>Gorky Park</i>-author Martin Cruz Smith has passed away; see, for example, the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/gorky-park-author-moscow-martin-cruz-smith-death-b2788729.html" target="_blank">obituary</a> in <i>The Independent</i>. <br> I enjoyed <i>Gorky Park</i> when it came out, but haven't read any of the later Arkady Renko-novels; the last, <i>Hotel Ukraine</i>, apparently only came out recently. ]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ik1</guid> </item> <item> <title>Ocean Vuong Q & A</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ij6</link><description><![CDATA[ At <i>The Times of India</i> Sneha Bhura has a Q & A with <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-times/all-that-matters/ocean-vuong-indian-students-are-struggling-with-visas-but-the-most-exciting-literature-will-come-from-them/articleshow/122407429.cms" target="_blank">Ocean Vuong: Indian students are struggling with visas but the most exciting literature will come from them</a>.<br> Vuong says of his latest novel, <i>The Emperor of Gladness</i>: "The book is an epic of interiority. An epic that doesn't go anywhere". <br> Among the questions also: the now surely inevitable one about AI .....]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ij6</guid> </item> <item> <title>Goffredo Fofi (1937-2025)</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ij7</link><description><![CDATA[ Italian intellectual Goffredo Fofi has passed away; see, for example, the ANSA <a href="https://www.ansa.it/amp/english/newswire/english_service/2025/07/11/cinema-and-literary-critic-goffredo-fofi-dies-at-88-4_fc38a74b-1e7b-4e84-8ba7-4eb51c08c30b.html" target="_blank">obituary</a> and <a href="https://www.ilmessaggero.it/en/the_legacy_of_goffredo_fofi-8950442.html" target="_blank">The Legacy of Goffredo Fofi</a> at <i>il Messaggero</i>. ]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ij7</guid> </item> <item> <title>The Laboratory review</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ij8</link><description><![CDATA[ The most recent addition to the <font color="#a52a2a"><i>complete review</i></font> is my review of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore's 'last novel', <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/bengali/tagore2.htm" target="_blank">The Laboratory</a>. <br><br> Translated by the indefatigable Arunava Sinha, this is the first book published under his new imprint, Chowringhee Press, offering 'Translations from India' -- a promising-looking venture.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ij8</guid> </item> <item> <title>'The African Book Industry'</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ij4</link><description><![CDATA[ They launched this a couple of weeks ago, but it's only come to my attention now: UNESCO has released a substantial new report on <a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000394048/PDF/394048eng.pdf.multi" target="_blank">The African Book Industry: Trends, Challenges and Opportunities for Growth</a> <font size="-1">(warning ! dreaded pdf format !)</font>.<br> There's a lot of information here -- including details about the situation in each African country, including the number of titles published in each country, the number of bookstores, and the number of public libraries. <br> The thorough report offers a very useful overview; it's well worth downloading.<br><br> This also gives me opportunity to remind you of the invaluable source of books from Africa, the <a href="https://africanbookscollective.com/" target="_blank">African Books Collective</a>. ]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ij4</guid> </item> <item> <title>Mulk Raj Anand profile</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ij5</link><description><![CDATA[ At Scroll.in Pushpesh Pant profiles <a href="https://scroll.in/article/1084270/mulk-raj-anand-and-his-imagination-of-global-resistance-against-caste-colonialism-propaganda" target="_blank">Mulk Raj Anand and his imagination of global resistance against caste, colonialism, propaganda</a>. ]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ij5</guid> </item> <item> <title>Mizumura Minae profile</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ij1</link><description><![CDATA[ In <i>The Japan Times</i> Hanako Lowry profiles the <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/japannew/mizumuram.htm" target="_blank">A True Novel</a>- author, in <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/07/08/books/minae-mizumura-karuizawa-literature/" target="_blank">Between reality and fiction: A summer’s day in Karuizawa with Minae Mizumura</a> <font size="-1">(possibly paywalled ?)</font>.<br> Disappointingly: <blockquote><font size="-1">Though she considers her latest novel to be her final work of fiction, Mizumura says she is now focusing more on the act of writing memoirs — a natural shift in Japanese literary tradition, she notes, for writers who reach a certain stage.</font></blockquote> (That latest novel is 大使とその妻; see also the Shinchosha publicity pages for volumes <a href="https://www.shinchosha.co.jp/book/407704/" target="_blank">one</a> and <a href="https://www.shinchosha.co.jp/book/407705/" target="_blank">two</a>.)<br> Interestingly: <blockquote><font size="-1">“I am sure AI will write wonderful stories in the future,” Mizumura says, pausing a moment before continuing. “I am glad I am shifting to memoir and writing my life’s stories as AI cannot write them with the same humanity.”</font></blockquote>]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ij1</guid> </item> <item> <title>C.M.Naim (1936-2025)</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ij2</link><description><![CDATA[ Urdu scholar C.M.Naim has passed away; see, for example, <a href="https://thewire.in/books/cm-naim-urdu-scholar-academic-passes-away" target="_blank">One of Urdu's Greatest Scholars, C.M. Naim, Passes Away</a> and Narendra Pachkhédé on <a href="https://www.thewire.in/books/cm-naim-urdu-scholar-no-more-obituary" target="_blank">C. M. Naim and the Many Lives of Urdu</a>, both at The Wire.<br><br> I would <i>really</i> love to see his <i>Urdu Crime Fiction, 1890-1950: An Informal History</i>; see the Orient BlackSwan <a href="https://www.orientblackswan.com/details?id=9789354423826" target="_blank">publicity page</a>.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ij2</guid> </item> <item> <title>Fish Letters review</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ij3</link><description><![CDATA[ The most recent addition to the <font color="#a52a2a"><i>complete review</i></font> is my review of a collection of stories by Goderdzi Chokheli, <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/georgia/chokhelid2.htm" target="_blank">Fish Letters</a>, now out from Dedalus.<br><br> Always good to see more translations from Georgian -- though Dedalus seems to be the only publisher currently doing this.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ij3</guid> </item> <item> <title>The German book market, 2024</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ih8</link><description><![CDATA[ As Christina Schulte reports at <i>Börsenblatt</i>, <a href="https://www.boersenblatt.net/news/buchhandel-news/die-offiziellen-zahlen-fuer-den-buchmarkt-2024-sind-da-380809" target="_blank">Die offiziellen Zahlen für den Buchmarkt 2024 sind da</a>, as the German numbers for 2024 are in.<br> Turnover was up 1.8 per cent -- with Belletristik (basically trade fiction), which made up 36.6 per centof the market, up 4.3 per cent. Imterestingly, backlist titles (titles first published more than twelve months ago) made up 57 per cent of sales. Meanwhile, the number of new titles published dropped another 3.1 per cent, to 58,346. (As recently as 2019 70, 395 new titles were published.) <br> The percentage of titles that were translations increased from 14.5 per cent to 15 per cent.<br> The number of book-buyers decreseased 2 per cent, with the only age groups with an increase in book-buyers those aged 16 to 19 (up an impressive 9.6 per cent) and 20 to 29 (up 7.7.per cent). ]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ih8</guid> </item> <item> <title> Fanny Howe (1940-2025)</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ih9</link><description><![CDATA[ American author Fanny Howe has passed away; not much coverage yet, but the <i>Boston Globe</i> has a (paywalled) <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/10/metro/fanny-howe-cambridge-poet-and-novelist-dies-at-84/" target="_blank">report</a>. <br><br> See Q & As with Howe at <a href="https://bombmagazine.org/articles/2013/01/01/fanny-howe/" target="_blank">Bomb</a>, <a href="https://kenyonreview.org/conversation/fanny-howe/" target="_blank">The Kenyon Review</a>, <a href="https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/8412/the-art-of-poetry-no-118-fanny-howe" target="_blank">The Paris Review</a>, and <a href="https://www.thewhitereview.org/feature/interview-with-fanny-howe/" target="_blank">The White Review</a>]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507b.htm#ih9</guid> </item> <item> <title>PEN Pinter Prize</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ih6</link><description><![CDATA[ English PEN has <a href="https://www.englishpen.org/posts/news/leila-aboulela-awarded-pen-pinter-prize-2025/" target="_blank">announced</a> that Leila Aboulela has been awarded this year's PEN Pinter Prize, awarded: "to a writer resident in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Commonwealth or former Commonwealth who, in the words of Harold Pinter’s Nobel speech, casts an ‘unflinching, unswerving’ gaze upon the world, and shows a ‘fierce intellectual determination … to define the real truth of our lives and our societies’"]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ih6</guid> </item> <item> <title>Serge review</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ih7</link><description><![CDATA[ The most recent addition to the <font color="#a52a2a"><i>complete review</i></font> is my review of Yasmina Reza's novel <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/rezay/serge.htm" target="_blank">Serge</a>, due out in English next month, from Restless Books. ]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ih7</guid> </item> <item> <title>Upcoming books</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ih5</link><description><![CDATA[ The Literary Hub recently published their <a href="https://lithub.com/lit-hubs-most-anticipated-books-of-2025-part-two/" target="_blank">Lit Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2025, Part Two</a>, and now The Millions has their <a href="https://themillions.com/2025/07/the-millions-great-summer-2025-book-preview.html" target="_blank">Great Summer 2025 Book Preview</a>, with: "just over 100 titles".]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ih5</guid> </item> <item> <title>Preserving the homes of Black literary figures</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ih3</link><description><![CDATA[ At <i>The Guardian</i> Nneka M Okona look in some detail at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2025/jul/06/black-authors-home-preservation" target="_blank">Who preserves the homes of Black literary giants</a> (in the United States). ]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ih3</guid> </item> <item> <title>CARICON Prize</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ih4</link><description><![CDATA[ They've <a href="https://cari-con.org/the-inaugural-caricon-prize-winners-have-been-announced-a-landmark-moment-for-caribbean-literature/" target="_blank">announced</a> the winners of the first CARICON Prize, a new prize for Caribbean literature awarded by the Caribbean Literature Conference.<br> Prizes were awarded in four categories; <i>A House for Miss Pauline</i>, by Diana McCaulay, took the fictipn prize; see the publicity pages from <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/diana-mccaulay/a-house-for-miss-pauline/9781643757223/" target="_blank">Algonquin Books</a> and <a href="https://www.dialoguebooks.co.uk/titles/diana-mccaulay-2/a-house-for-miss-pauline/9780349704265/" target="_blank">Dialogue</a>.<br> The Lifetime Achievement Award for Caribbean Literature went to Earl Lovelace.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ih4</guid> </item> <item> <title>Amitava Kumar Q & A</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ih1</link><description><![CDATA[ At Frontline Majid Maqbool has a Q & A with the author, in <a href="https://frontline.thehindu.com/columns/amitava-kumar-interview-books-literary-influences-reading-journeys/article69776350.ece" target="_blank">Reading is good when it disturbs you: Amitava Kumar</a>. <br><br> Among Kumar's responses, the somewhat surprising: <blockquote><font size="-1"><b>Your go-to Indian classic ? One that you would recommend everyone should read ?</b><br><br>I have always liked Pankaj Mishra's <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/mishrap/bcinludh.htm" target="_blank">Butter Chicken in Ludhiana</a>.</font></blockquote> The only Kumar title under review at the <font color="#a52a2a"><i>complete review</i></font> is <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/ghistory/kumara.htm" target="_blank">A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of his Arm a Tiny Bomb</a>.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ih1</guid> </item> <item> <title>American Psycho review</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ih2</link><description><![CDATA[ The most recent addition to the <font color="#a52a2a"><i>complete review</i></font> is my review of Bret Easton Ellis' notorious 1991 novel, <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/popus/ellisbe2.htm" target="_blank">American Psycho</a>. <br><br> With books that got this much review (and other) coverage, it can sometimes be a real chore going through that for quotes, etc., but I rather enjoyed looking back on all the outrage about this one from back in the day. ]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ih2</guid> </item> <item> <title>Philippe Jaccottet profile</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ig8</link><description><![CDATA[ At swissinfo Mariella Radaelli reports how <a href="https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-fine-arts/literary-world-celebrates-centenary-of-swiss-poet-philippe-jaccottet/89612574" target="_blank">Literary world celebrates centenary of Swiss poet Philippe Jaccottet</a>. (Jaccottet came close to celebrating himself, only passing away in 2021.) <br> Seagull has brought out several of his books; see their <a href="https://seagullbooks.org/collections/author-philippe-jaccottet" target="_blank">author page</a> for him.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ig8</guid> </item> <item> <title>Guyana Prize for Literature</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ig9</link><description><![CDATA[ They've announced the winners of the 2024 Guyana Prize for Literature -- though there doesn't seem to be an (active) official site for the prize, and the only report I could find -- at <i>Stabroek News</i> -- is <a href="https://www.stabroeknews.com/2025/07/05/news/guyana/top-writers-honoured-at-2024-guyana-prize-for-literature/" target="_blank">largely paywalled</a>, revealing the name of the author who took the fiction prize -- Oonya Kempadoo -- but not the work ..... But an older <a href="https://www.stabroeknews.com/2025/06/21/news/guyana/guyana-prize-for-literature-announces-2024-shortlists-across-six-categories/" target="_blank">article</a> on the shortlist-announcement reveals it must be <i>Naniki</i>; see also the Dundurn Press <a href="https://www.dundurn.com/books_/t22117/a9781459751491-naniki" target="_blank">publicity page</a>. ]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ig9</guid> </item> <item> <title>Premio Strega</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ig6</link><description><![CDATA[ They've <a href="https://premiostrega.it/PS/andrea-bajani-vince-la-lxxix-edizione-del-premio-strega/" target="_blank">announced</a> the winner of this year's Premio Strega, the leading Italian novel prize, and it is <i>L'anniversario</i>, by Andrea Bajani; see also the Feltrinelli <a href="https://www.feltrinellieditore.it/opera/lanniversario/" target="_blank">publicity page</a>. <br> Almost a third of voters voted for this -- 194 out of 646 --, but three other titles got over 100 votes each, and the fifth got 99. <br> See also the Rice News profile, <a href="https://news.rice.edu/news/2024/rice-novelist-andrea-bajani-finds-himself-translation" target="_blank">At Rice, novelist Andrea Bajani finds himself in translation</a>.<br> The only Bajani title under review at the <font color="#a52a2a"><i>complete review</i></font> is <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/italia/bajania.htm" target="_blank">If You Kept a Record of Sins</a>, while <i>The Book of Homes</i> is forthcoming from Deep Vellum in August; see their <a href="https://store.deepvellum.org/products/the-book-of-homes" target="_blank">publicity page</a>. This one should be out in English soon, too.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ig6</guid> </item> <item> <title>CWA Daggers</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ig7</link><description><![CDATA[ The Crime Writers' Association has announced the winners of this year's <a href="https://thecwa.co.uk/awards-and-competitions/the-daggers/" target="_blank">CWA Daggers</a> -- though not in one convenient press release; but see, for exmple the <a href="https://theartsshelf.com/2025/07/04/2025-cwa-dagger-awards-winners-revealed/" target="_blank">run-down</a> at The Arts Shelf.<br> The only winning title under review at the <font color="#a52a2a"><i>complete review</i></font> is the Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger-winner -- Sam Bett's translation of Otani Akira's <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/japannew/otania.htm" target="_blank">The Night of Baba Yaga</a>. ]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ig7</guid> </item> <item> <title>Korean literature abroad</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ig4</link><description><![CDATA[ They recently held a forum on <a href="https://www.ltikorea.or.kr/en/board/notice_en/boardView.do?bbsIdx=15568" target="_blank">Strategies for fostering the Global Expansion of Korean Literature</a>, and in <i>The Korea Times</i> Kim Se-jeong reports that <a href="https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/lifestyle/books/20250703/despite-han-kangs-nobel-win-korean-literature-still-struggles-for-global-recognition-experts-say" target="_blank">Despite Han Kang’s Nobel win, Korean literature still struggles for global recognition, experts say</a>. <br> In his keynote speech Kwon Young-min pointed out: <blockquote><font size="-1">Korean literature remains on the margins of global literary discourse, with international readers still lacking a deep understanding of its essence.</font></blockquote> While I'm no huge fan of this kind of status-seeking, at least they do put considerable effort into spreading the literary word -- would that more countries and languages did that .....]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ig4</guid> </item> <item> <title>Blowfish review</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ig5</link><description><![CDATA[ The most recent addition to the <font color="#a52a2a"><i>complete review</i></font> is my review of Jo Kyung-Ran's 2010 novel <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/korea/jokr2.htm" target="_blank">Blowfish</a>, now out in English.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ig5</guid> </item> <item> <title>(Revised) Dutch canon</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ig2</link><description><![CDATA[ <a href="https://athenaeumscheltema.nl/nieuws/2025/de-nieuwe-literaire-canon-2025" target="_blank">Via</a>, I'm pointed to the fact that, for the third time after 2015 and 2020, the (Flemish) Royal Academy for Dutch Language and Literature has released its Dutch literary canon-list of <a href="https://literairecanon.be/" target="_blank">50 (+1) essentiële werken uit de Nederlandstalige literatuur</a>.<br> Re-considering such a list every five years seems like a good idea; it's also interesting to compare to the lists from <a href="https://canon2015.literairecanon.be/nl/werken" target="_blank">2015</a> and <a href="https://canon2020.literairecanon.be/nl/werken" target="_blank">2020</a>.<br> The most recent title on the list dates back more than three decades -- Harry Mulisch's 1992 <a href="https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/mulischh/heaven.htm" target="_blank">The Discovery of Heaven</a>.]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ig2</guid> </item> <item> <title>BRICS Literary Prize</title> <link>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ig3</link><description><![CDATA[ Though it was established last fall, they've apparently now 'launched' the new <a href="https://bricsaward.org/" target="_blank">BRICS Literature Award</a>, which: "targets authors of the BRICS countries" -- currently: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia. <br> At Realnoe Vremya Ekaterina Petrova reports on it, in <a href="https://realnoevremya.com/articles/8923-brics-literary-prize-makes-an-ambitious-claim" target="_blank">‘Between the Prix Goncourt and the Nobel’: BRICS Literary Prize makes an ambitious claim</a> -- though it turns out that this claim is that: <blockquote><font size="-1">neither publishers nor authors will submit applications; instead, the jury will nominate candidates from each country. Furthermore, the nominations will be for authors themselves, not specific works.</font></blockquote> Each of the ten national juries will apparently nominate three writers (the longlist), with one writer from each country then making the shortlist. Translating the works for the jurors from the different countries to judge them would seem to be a problem .....]]></description> <guid>https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202507a.htm#ig3</guid> </item> </channel></rss> If you would like to create a banner that links to this page (i.e. this validation result), do the following:
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