This week, our editors-at-large fill us in on literary controversies, new releases, and returning festivals. From a conflict over a literary prize in Bulgaria to new short story collections from Asymptote alums, read on to find out more!
Andriana Hamas, Editor-at-Large, Reporting from Bulgaria
In July, I reported on the then unfolding conflict surrounding the proclaimed winner of the Novel of the Year award, given by the endowment fund 13 Centuries Bulgaria. It had turned out that Boris Minkov, the editor of the book (Вулкан or “Volcano” by Elena Alexieva), had also been a member of the jury, a fact that seemingly everyone had overlooked. The heated debates surrounding the legitimacy of the final choice led to Alexieva giving up her prize and the annulment of the decision.
In a recent development, Manol Peykov, managing partner at Janet 45, Вулкан’s publishing house, announced he would be withdrawing all nominated Janet 45 books from the competition as a way of making a statement against the way the above-mentioned crisis was resolved. The formal written withdrawal, which he shared on his personal Facebook profile, described the manner of dealing with the situation as “unacceptable, unprofessional, unethical and unfair.” The document questioned an existing legal ambiguity in the contest’s terminology: “No less worrying is the fact that neither [the organizers’] statements nor the published rules of the competition make it clear exactly what the definition of ‘conflict of interest’ is. Is it a conflict of interest for a member of the jury to have been or currently be published by one of the participating publishers? Or be close friends (or even bitter enemies) with any of the nominees? Or to have very recently received an unequivocal rejection from one of the other participating publishers?”
An official reply has yet to be issued.
José García Escobar, Editor-at-Large, reporting on Central America
The last several weeks have been good ones for Latin American literature, with wonderful new releases, exciting upcoming books, and the return of a beloved festival.
Guatemala’s F&G Editores released the story collection Polvo (Dust), the latest book by famed novelist Denise Phé-Funchal (Guatemala). Phé-Funchal’s book is made up of fourteen stories that center around the “lives of forgotten people,” as fellow Guatemalan writer David Unger pointed out in his blurb for the book, “the dead and their ghosts, drug addicts, women living in poverty who become sex workers, peasants, children abandoned in foster homes.” Denise is the author of novels such as Las Flores and Ana Sonríe. Asymptote published an early version of a story from the collection, Antes de que llegaran, translated into English by David Unger as Before They Came. You can read it here.
And in early September, Penguin Random House released Ensayos y cuadernos by Horacio Castellanos Moya (El Salvador). This book is a collection that includes the backbone of Moya’s work as an essayist: La metamorfosis del sabueso, Roque Dalto: correspondencia clandestina y otros ensayos, and Envejece un perro tras los cristales. Moya is the author of esteemed novels such as Insensatez, published as Senselessness by New Directions, and Tirana Memoria, published as Tyrant Memory, also by New Directions.
A few days ago, Columbia University’s Sundial House announced the books they’ll put out next June, which include Archeology of a Swan by Juliana Rozo, translated into English by Vivian Arimany (Guatemala). You can read Arimany’s work, including her thesis on “queerness, feminism, and the symbolism of nature in the poetry of Gabriela Mistral,” here.
Finally, following another highly successful edition of Centroamérica Cuenta, the most important literary festival in Central America just announced the host of next year’s edition. Centroamérica Cuenta 2025 will occur in Guatemala from May 20 to 24.
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