Around the world, the way we read is changing: Eva Wissting digs into book sales data in Sweden and finds a spike in digital subscription services amid the pandemic, Peera Songkünnatham reports that Thai poets are reinventing a classic form, and Allison Braden rounds up a slew of Women in Translation Month events. The annual celebration, dedicated to shaking up the canon, makes for a perfect moment to envision the heady, vivid future of literature.
Eva Wissting, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Sweden
A literary project called Bokbastionen (“The Book Bastion”) is finally about to launch in Sweden. The Swedish Arts Council has granted Svenska Bokhandlareföreningen, an association of Swedish booksellers, 400,000 SEK to support in-store events with authors. Although it was the challenges posed by the pandemic that led to the idea of supporting booksellers, coronavirus restrictions have delayed its start because gatherings have not been possible until now. Finally, the first event supported by the project will be held this coming week at a poetry festival in picturesque Söderköping. The initial plan for Bokbastionen included twenty author events this year, but about half of these will spill over into next year instead. The interest to host events has been particularly large among smaller, independent bookstores, which now are looking for ways to create interest among readers and book lovers.
Even though the pandemic has had severe consequences for much of the cultural sector, book sales have had a positive development in Sweden, according to a new report from the Swedish Publishers’ Association. In the first half of 2021, overall book sales have increased by over 10 percent, but there is an ongoing shift between sales channels. The largest growth is in digital subscriptions with almost 20 percent, followed by an almost 15 percent increase in online bookstores. Physical bookstores, on the other hand, have had an 8 percent decrease in sales during the first half of this year. Both digital and printed books increased in sales, by 14 percent and 7 percent respectively, indicating that ebooks are not replacing physical books. Out of all book sales in Sweden, almost 80 percent take place online—50 percent through online bookstores and 28 percent through digital subscriptions. The report concludes that book sales have been greatly influenced by the pandemic. More customers have turned to online options, including digital subscription services. Though there are more bookstores closing down permanently than there are starting up, readers seem to be returning to physical bookstores as vaccination rates increase.
Peera Songkünnatham, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Thailand
The writing contest “Government-Scolding Machines: Against the Dangers of COVID-19,” now in its second edition, was open to submissions until July 24. Selected entries will be published online as well as in print by soi press—for posterity. The first edition’s twenty-one winning “essays,” out of 274 submissions in April/May, show the diversity of approaches to airing out political grievances, from deliberately antiquated prose to hip-hop rhymes, from a whole essay by an ex-supporter of the 2014 military takeover (which put in power the kingdom’s current prime minister) to a blank submission entitled “Love and Faith in the Government.” Most remarkable are rants elaborated in traditional Thai poetic forms, showcasing a love for the Thai language and literature on the part of the so-called “nation haters” as government supporters like to paint them. There are layers to the fun of this contest: it also pokes fun at run-of-the-mill Thai literary contests, many of them hagiographic in character.
And what can be more representative of hagiography in Thai literature than asirawat, verses offering blessings to high-born figures? One of the most widely read and shared poems in Thailand this year turned that kind of writing on its head. From behind bars, Parit Chiwarak released his “Verses in Praise of the People, Creators of the Nation” (see an English translation) on the anniversary of the founding of Bangkok, coterminous with the founding of Thailand’s ruling dynasty more than two centuries ago. Masterfully composed in khlong si suphap, a relatively elaborate form, Parit’s verses speak the simple yet still unspeakable truth that the capital was not summoned out of thin air by kings but built on the backs of common people. The word suphap happens to coincide with the word for “polite.” Parit’s verses are full of fancy words, yet seen from the eyes of polite society they may be some of the rudest things a Thai poet can say on such an auspicious day. The full meaning of suphap goes beyond politeness to encompass goodness as beautiful and harmonious. Discordant voices of protest today offer instead a rude awakening.
Allison Braden, Assistant Blog Editor, reporting from the USA
This month, readers and book professionals around the world are celebrating the seventh annual Women in Translation Month, launched in 2014 by scholar Meytal Radzinski to raise awareness of global women writers and translators. For the occasion, Radzinski unveiled a website, which she calls a “one-stop shop for information about #WITMonth.” An FAQ page on the site dispels misunderstandings and explains why the effort is so urgent:
Research based on both the Three Percent database and other sources shows that women writers account for just around 30% of new releases of fiction and poetry titles in translation in the US per year. However, the actual rate of women in translation is even lower, once academic nonfiction translations and re-translations of classic works are taken into account.
The monthlong celebration has gained traction, with booksellers, publishers, and advocacy groups joining the initiative. The Out of the Wings Festival, which put on plays in translation in London this past July, featured a full lineup of women playwrights who write in Spanish or Portuguese. The Center for the Art of Translation has compiled replays of several recent events, including a conversation between Hong Kong surrealist writer Dorothy Tse, translator Natascha Bruce, and Calico editor Sarah Coolidge; a discussion of Jazmina Barrera’s On Lighthouses; and Jordan Stump’s presentation of his translation of French author Marie NDiaye’s That Time of Year.
PEN America is hosting a virtual reading series on three consecutive Thursdays this month, each featuring a stellar lineup of writers and their translators. The first installment, moderated by Piotr Florczyk on August 12, showcased translator-author pairs working in Hebrew, Japanese, Spanish, Swedish, and French. Scotland-based Charco Press, which publishes Latin American literature in English translation, has hosted multiple virtual events on Instagram Live, including a conversation between LOOP author Brenda Lozano and writer and editor Heather Parry and a discussion with translators Frances Riddle and Annie McDermott. (Stay tuned to Charco’s Twitter for future events.)
To get involved and find reading lists and recommendations aplenty, read Asymptote’s guide to starting the month with a bang, follow the #WITMonth and #womenintranslation hashtags and @Read_WIT on social media, and visit the official website. There, you can find a bingo card to encourage you to diversify your reading this month—and all year long.
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From new titles to subtitles, catch up on this week’s coverage on the Asymptote blog: