This week our writers report on a timely translation of a Chilean novel, a new translation of Antoine Saint-Exupéry’s classic, The Little Prince, into Kaqchikel, literary prizes in Guatemala, and grime rapper Stormzy’s pop-up publishing event in London. Read on to find out more!
Scott Weintraub, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Santiago
In a recent op-ed in the Chilean newspaper La Tercera (October 19, 2019; trans. Natasha Wimmer published in The Paris Review), writer Nona Fernández speculates as to the nature of the “big joke” responsible for the massive protests against President Sebastián Piñera’s neoliberal policies, among other social and political issues:
The fare hike? The minister of the economy’s advice to take advantage of cheaper early morning fares and get up at 6 A.M.? The pizza that President Piñera is eating right now at an upscale Santiago restaurant, deaf to the voice of the city? The pathetic pensions of our retirees? The depressing state of our public education? Our public health? The water that doesn’t belong to us? The militarization of Wallmapu, the ancestral territory of the Mapuche people? The incidents apparently staged by soldiers to incriminate Mapuches? The shameful treatment of our immigrants? The hobbling of our timid abortion law, due to government approval of conscientious objection for conservative doctors? The ridiculous concentration of privileges in the hands of a small minority? Persistent tax evasion by that same minority? The corruption and embezzlement scandals within the armed forces and the national police? The media monopoly of the big conglomerates, owners of television channels, newspapers, and radio stations? The constitution written under the dictatorship that still governs us to this day? Our mayors, representatives, and senators who once worked for Pinochet? Our pseudodemocracy?
The punch line, the uprising—which continues as I write this column, with millions protesting in Santiago and around the country and with dozens dead and thousands injured at the hands of brutal police repression—was intimately present in my reading of the recently-published translation of Fernández’s novel Space Invaders, which was masterfully rendered into English by Natasha Wimmer (Graywolf Press, 2019). This minimalist novel is about pre-teen/adolescent dreams and the hard realities of growing up in a repressive military dictatorship, as well as secrets, complicity, and consequences.
The plot revolves around a group of childhood friends looking back both nostalgically and critically to their youth, with a particular focus on the mysteries surrounding their friend, Estrella, and her family. They become increasingly aware of Estrella’s family’s complicity with Pinochet’s dictatorship and gaze into the past, fixating on important coming-of-age moments, questions of budding political activism, and, of course the infamous Atari video game, Space Invaders, which was somewhat of an obsession for the protagonists. The senseless violence of this early video game was particularly resonant for me in the troubling context of conceptualizing resistance in the form of an alien invasion—which is precisely what Chilean First Lady Cecilia Morel called the uprising (“una invasión extranjera, alienígena”), shortly after President Piñera claimed that “We are at war against a powerful enemy, one which is ready to use unlimited violence” (“Estamos en guerra contra un enemigo poderoso, que está dispuesto a usar la violencia sin ningún límite”). While Space Invaders addresses the later years of Pinochet’s brutal military regime and its aftermath, it is a novel that is urgently relevant for understanding of the current socio-political climate in Chile.
José García Escobar, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Central America
During late October, Guatemala saw the second edition of Ri Ch’uti’ Ajpop, the translation into Kaqchikel of Antoine Saint-Exupéry’s classic, Le Petit Prince. Sponsored by the French Embassy in Guatemala, and supervised by Maya researcher Celia Ajú, Ri Ch’uti’ Ajpop was initially published in 2011. However, this new edition was revised and expanded by Ajú. The researcher made sure not only that the translation was accurate, but that people in Kaqchikel communities actually used the words in the text. The original 2011 edition was translated by Lolmay Pedro Oscar García Matzar.
Additionally, a few days ago, Guatemala’s Ministry of Culture and Sports announced that Andrea Mariana Morales was the winner of the Certamen Permanente Centroamericano 15 de Septiembre. Andrea won the poetry category with her book “Nación Quimera.” In 2017, Andrea Morales’s story, “El pájaro de fuego,” won that year’s Premio Carátula—Central America’s most prestigious award given to a single short story. Andrea is one of the region’s most exciting new talents.
Daljinder Johal, Assistant Manager, reporting from the UK
In 2018, grime rapper Stormzy launched an imprint with one of the UK’s biggest publishing houses, Penguin, to establish #Merky Books. But this week, Londoners can enjoy the imprint’s first pop-up in Shoreditch.
This is sure to be a memorable experience, as talks and workshops from the likes of nationally renowned poet and theatre maker Inua Ellams and award-winning journalist and author Reni Eddo-Lodge will take place from Thursday, November 14 to Saturday, November 16.
Alongside the chance to peruse books by authors of color, self-produced zines, art, and merchandise from the imprint, the events will also showcase music, art, spoken word, film, and new writing. The imprint’s third title, That Reminds Me
It’s excellently targeted to the imprint’s young audience with its exciting, and mostly importantly free, program that will hopefully encourage more young people to find a space within the literary industry.
In fact, Penguin Random House’s parent company Bertelsmann has enjoyed a positive 2019. In comparison, another behemoth, Harper Collins, and its parent, MediaCorp, have experienced a dip. However, there are still the final few months of the year.
As the end of the decade approaches, many aren’t just reflecting on the end of the year. The BBC has unveiled a list of 100 Novels That Shaped Our World as a way to launch the company’s yearlong celebration of literature in 2020. Unsurprisingly, this has proved controversial in publications ranging from national newspaper The Telegraph to literary business magazine The Bookseller.
However, it must be questioned how effective this approach is in comparison to the clear success of events that directly engage with their intended audience—exactly like the above pop-up. While Penguin seems to have learned this lesson quickly—thanks to previous events with magazine companies like gal-dem or influential London arts venues including the Southbank Centre—for the UK’s biggest broadcaster and the biggest in the world, this seems a bitter pill to swallow.
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