This week, our editors-at-large take us around the world for updates on award-winning literature from Nicaragua and Guatemala; the blend of art and letters in recent events centering Chinese literature in translation; and a dedication to one of the most influential literary figures in Macedonia, the late Olivera Nikolova.
José García Escobar, Editor-at-Large, Reporting for Central America
Last month, Mexico’s FIL (Guadalajara International Book Fair) announced that the Guatemalan editor Raúl Figueroa Sarti will receive the inaugural Federico García Lorca Prize. The Premio Federico García Lorca a la Libertad de Expresión y Publicación is awarded to people or organizations that have promoted and protected freedom of speech across Latin America and Spain. Raúl Figueroa Sarti is the founder and director of F&G Editores, one of Guatemala’s and Central America’s most renowned publishing houses, and in 2021, he also won APP’s Freedom to Publish Award.
Furthermore, famed Nicaraguan author Gioconda Belli recently released her latest novel titled Un silencio lleno de murmullos (Seix Barral). The author of The Inhabited Woman and Infinite in the Palm of Her Hand, Gioconda has won the Anna Seghers Award and the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Award.
Earlier this month, prolific Guatemalan writer Eduardo Halfon received the prestigious Prix Médicis étranger Award for the French version of his latest novel, Tarantula. This is only a few weeks after he received the 2024 Berman Literature Prize for his previous novel, Canción. This year, the Prix Médicis étranger Award also recognized works by authors like Mircea Cărtărescu (Romania), Benjamín Labatut (Chile), and Alia Trabucco Zerán (Chile).
Jiaoyang Li, Editor-at-Large, Reporting for China
Invisible Kitties, the first short story collection by acclaimed poet Yu Yoyo, will be launched on November 19 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Accent Society’s venue in Union Square, New York City. The collection comprises sixty interconnected tales centered around cats, blending magical realism with keen observation and exploring the boundaries between reality and imagination through whimsical storytelling and vivid illustrations. The book has been translated into English by Jeremy Tiang, a renowned novelist, playwright, and literary translator, who skillfully preserves the depth and charm of Yu’s work for a broader audience. Moderating the event is Tenny Liu, a bilingual writer and MFA candidate at Sarah Lawrence College. This launch is the first book launch event hosted by Accent Sisters at their new location in Union Square, Manhattan. Accent Accent, as a bilingual organisation, is a space to promote cross-boundary literature and art with an Asian diasporic spice, which recently moved from Jersey City to the heart of New York City and continues to serve as a hub for diasporic and international literary and artistic exchanges.
At the Louvre: Poems by 100 Contemporary World Poets will be officially released on November 26, 2024, as a collaboration between New York Review Books and the Louvre Museum. Edited by Antoine Caro, Edwin Frank, and Donatien Grau, with a foreword by Laurence des Cars, this anthology brings together one hundred newly commissioned poems inspired by the Louvre’s vast collection and its rich history, offering a unique exploration of art and its cultural impact through contemporary poetry. The collection features prominent Chinese poets who bring a distinctive depth and resonance. Lan Lan’s evocative poetry explores themes of identity and human connection, while Xi Chuan’s intricate verses weave together historical and personal narratives. Jeffery Yang offers cross-cultural reflections that provide fresh perspectives on the museum’s treasures. Wang Yin, founder of Limelime Poetry—a nonprofit dedicated to blending music, poetry, and theatre—lends his innovative voice to the collection, and his work promises to bring further international perspectives to New York’s literary scene. During the anthology’s New York launch earlier this month, an audience member inquired whether any endangered language poetry was represented. Editor Edwin Frank responded, “Yes—English,” emphasizing the importance of including new voices and translations to keep the language vibrant and evolving, a testament to the anthology’s mission to expand and rejuvenate poetic expression.
Finally, poet and documentary director Ruoyun Chen’s feature-length documentary, People’s Republic of Letters (formerly titled We Swim Among Oceans), has been selected for the IDFA Forum 2024, standing out among 820 entries as one of 55 chosen projects. This film delves into the lives of young Chinese diasporic poets, exploring their experiences of living and writing across different languages and regions. Filmed in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Hong Kong, New York City, London, and Australia, it offers a collaborative, co-created portrayal of these poets’ struggles and triumphs. Through an intimate lens, Chen examines how this generation, once considered ‘global villagers’ raised during the height of cosmopolitanism, now navigates a changing world marked by rising conservatism and de-globalization. The film highlights their efforts to establish cross-regional and intimate public spaces through community building, artistic expression, and social engagement, illustrating their resilience and creativity amid shifting cultural landscapes. Incubated at the MIT Open Documentary Lab and UnionDocs Summer Lab, People’s Republic of Letters embodies daring artistic vision and a commitment to pushing narrative and stylistic boundaries. Chen’s participation in the IDFA Forum, taking place in Amsterdam from November 17–20, brings this powerful story of poets suspended between worlds to an international platform dedicated to innovative documentary filmmaking.
Sofija Popovska, Editor-at-Large, Reporting for North Macedonia
Recently, the Macedonian literary scene has been suffused with mourning; the reason for this is the passing of the legendary Olivera Nikolova on November 4, 2024. “Stronger than the pain is only my love for her and gratitude for everything she has done for each of us”, writes Macedonian-German author Kitsa Kolbe for Deutsche Welle.
Olivera Nikolova (b. 1936 in Skopje), was an editor and dramatist for Macedonian radio and television and a member of the Macedonian Writers’ Association. She has had a foundational influence on Macedonian culture, having shaped and enriched it with her rigor and originality. Nikolova wrote the first ever Macedonian children’s book set in an urban environment—her debut novel Zoki Poki, published in 1963. This book—written in “the year when the city of Skopje became a pile of ruins,” as Kolbe puts it, referring to the earthquake which had decimated most of Skopje—brought much-needed escapism to the atmosphere of the time, presenting a cozy, whimsical Skopje neighborhood as a background to the comedic antics of a group of children. Title character Zoki Poki, a then-outlier in an imaginative landscape populated with pastoral figures, has remained a recognizable cultural icon to this day, as witnessed by a recent TV adaptation in 2020, which was aired on Norwegian television. The staying power of Nikolova’s written word is impressive; equally notable is that she created this character at 27, as a young mother of two.
Her choice to honor her talent, becoming a writer alongside her domestic and maternal life, is a testament to her dedication and free spirit. Despite living and writing within a patriarchal society, she rejected the then-popular notions of “masculine” and “feminine” writing and refused to be limited by cultural expectations. After writing multiple iconic works of children’s literature, she turned to novelistic writing, for which she received a long list of prestigious awards. Kolbe affirms Nikolova’s artistic excellence, stating that, when it came to writing, “she knew all its secrets, not just intuitively, but in an experiential, masterful way. Anyone who has been lucky enough to talk to her about her work knows what I mean.”
*****
Read more on the Asymptote blog: