This week our writers bring you news from Central America, Hong Kong, and France. In Central America, renowned Guatemalan writer Eduardo Haldon has released his latest novel, Cancón, and Savladoran writer Claudia Hernández’s book Slash and Burn has been released in English translation by & Other Stories. In Hong Kong, literary journal the Voice & Verse Poetry Magazine has pertinently published a special feature about “Distance,” while in France, Italian writer Sandro Veronesi has won the Foreign Book Prize for Le Colibri, to be published in English translation in spring. Read on to find out more!
José García Escobar, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Central America
Guatemalan poet Carmen Lucía Alvarado was recently nominated for the Rhysling Award for her poem El vacío se conjuga entre tus manos (The void blends in your hands), translated by Toshiya Kamei. Read the poem in English and Spanish here. Famed Guatemalan writer Eduardo Halfon released his new novel called Canción (Song). Published by Libros del Asteroide, his latest book tells a new chapter of the history of Halfon’s family, centering on his maternal grandfather and his kidnap during the Guatemalan Civil War (1960-1996). You can read an excerpt of Canción in English at The New York Review of Books site.
Also in Guatemala, the veteran poet and journalist Ana María Rodas released a new collection of short stories entitled Antigua para principiantes (Antigua for beginners). This new book includes several of Ana María’s most renowned short stories, plus other unpublished stories. This marks Ediciones del Pensativo’s first book of the year.
Additionally, in early January, & Other Stories published Slash and Burn, by the Salvadoran short story writer Claudia Hernández. The book was translated into English by Julia Sanches, who has translated the work of writers such as Daniel Galera (Brazil) and Noemi Jaffe (Brazil).
Charlie Ng, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Hong Kong
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we have a renewed awareness of the dimension of physical distance in life. Measures to deal with the spread of coronavirus, such as social distancing and travel restrictions, limit our movements and ways of interactions. Physical distance has now become difficult and the resort to online means of interaction is a compromised solution. The new issue of a local Hong Kong literary journal published on 29 January, the Voice & Verse Poetry Magazine, has a special feature on “Distance.” The bilingual poetry magazine showcases poems in Chinese and English by local and foreign poets and writers, including Jacky Yuen, Tsai Yim Pui, Natalia Chan, Yam Gong, Chow Hon-fai, Lian-Hee Wee, D.J. Hamilton, Loren Goodman, Kan Ren Jie, and many more. They reflect on life during a pandemic and explore modes of experience with distance in various senses. This issue also includes Chinese translations of poems by Filipa Leal and Leonard Cohen.
As the Book Fair was cancelled last summer, book selling events have become scarce. But from 13 January to 18 February, a small-scale independent book fair is being organised by a local bookstore, Book Punch. Meanwhile, the House of Hong Kong Literature is going to organise a second-hand book selling event on 6-7 February at Foo Tak Building in Wan Chai after receiving book donations by local writers, including Huang Canran, MA Ka Fai, Chan Ching-kiu, Law Wing-sang, Ho Sin Tung, and Lo Kwai Cheung. The revenue of the event will be used to support activities for the promotion of literature.
Clémence Lucchini, Educational Arm Assistant, reporting from France
Fall is known in France for its prestigious literary awards during the period called the rentrée littéraire, a time during which publishers compete for attention as hundreds of new book are being published. But my preference is for the busy month of January that sees the results of more diverse literary prizes (read the full calendar in French here) that not only award a more extended selection of genres and formats, but are also composed of committees originating from outside of France’s closed publishing and literary circles.
The Foreign Book Prize, created in 2017 by the magazine Le Point and France Inter (a major public radio station), annually celebrates a book in French translation. This year’s award went to Le Colibri (Il Colibrì) by Sandro Veronesi and translated into French by Dominique Vittoz for Grasset. This comes after over a year of praise, impressive sales, and an announcement by Weidenfeld & Nicolson for a Spring 2021 English translation for a book that I believe is a real stimulant in a year of restrictions.
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