This week’s literary round-up include groundbreaking publications of Romanian literature, what to look forward to in the upcoming annual Guadalajara International Book Fair, and the passing of a Greek lyrical poet. Read on to find out more.
MARGENTO, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Spain and Romania
It’s the age of rediscoveries and revisitings in contemporary Romanian literature, both at home and abroad. In his singular indefatigable and all-inclusive manner, past Asymptote contributor Felix Nicolau has launched the first volume of the monumental anthology Grandes escritores rumanos (Great Romanian Writers), previously presented on our blog. The event took place on November 15 in Madrid at the Romanian Cultural Institute, where Nicolau presented the collection together with co-editor Alba Diz Villanueva.
While introducing Romanian classics to Spanish-speaking audiences—and thus marking a huge milestone in Romanian literature in translation, the impressive release has received accolades regarding its unique approach and framework amidst the entire Spanish-speaking literary world, specifically regarding its multifaceted richness fusing translation, literary commentary, didactic utility, and cross-cultural interpollination.
Felix Nicolau has also been involved in what is perhaps this year’s most sensational rediscovery in Romanian literature: De dor de sufletul lui Andersen (On Missing Andersen’s Spirit), a collection of fairy tales by Nichita Stănescu, published by Rentrop & Straton. Nicolau authored the preface to the text, and recently contributed an astute review of the same book to the literary magazine Astra. Famously known for his neo-modernist poetry of intriguing sophisticated imagery and memorable, abstractly paradoxical formulations that both stylistically revolutionized Romanian letters in the 1970s and implicitly opposed Communist social realism, Nichita Stănescu has been rediscovered in a staggeringly surprising capacity. These one-of-a-kind fairy tales verge on potentially best-selling children’s literature without relinquishing the radically imaginative innovativeness and the hypnotizing oracular diction of his poetry, with Nicolau placing them at the crossroads of Perrault, Saint-Exupéry, and Terry Pratchett. Additionally, argues Nicolau, there is so much more to these tales, as they are informed by avant-garde poetics and retain a cultural relevance within the digital age.
Serendipitously, an early twentieth-century poet—rediscovered as a forerunner to the new-modernism of the 70s—has also been in the limelight. Ion Pena was killed in action during World War II after being active as an innovative poet, acerbic epigramist, and visionary fiction writer. Now, his work has been brought to the attention of the Romanian literary world by his great-grandson, Marin Scarlat, with foremost writers, literary historians, and critics such as Gheorghe Grigurcu, Cornel Ungureanu, and Daniela Șontică recently acknowledging the potentially remarkable relevance of the “writer-hero.”
René Esaú Sánchez, Editor-at-Large, reporting for Mexico
To say that things have been complicated between Mexico and Spain would be an understatement. From the Conquest, which culminated in 1521, to the Independence in 1821, this relationship was marked by dynamics of subjugation and domination—though not without nuance, of course. However, the twentieth century witnessed one of the strongest moments of brotherhood between the two nations when, following the Spanish Civil War, tens of thousands of Spaniards found a new home in Mexican towns and cities.
Eighty-five years later, as a way of commemorating and reaffirming the warmth of the Spanish language, Spain returns as the guest of honor at the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL), which begins on November 30 in Jalisco, Mexico. Around one hundred and fifty Spanish authors—including Irene Vallejo, Marta Sanz, María Dueñas, and Antonio Monegal—will participate in forums, book presentations, and conferences, where exile, memory, and transformation will take center stage.
While it might seem that the FIL celebrates Spanish as a hegemonic language, the organizers understand that Mexican Spanish cannot be fully appreciated without recognizing the plurality of indigenous languages in the country. To highlight this diversity, Federico García Lorca’s poem “Grito hacia Roma” (Cry to Rome) has been translated into thirty indigenous languages, and will be presented during the fair. The poem is a powerful reflection on love, the importance of overcoming adversity, poor public policies, hatred, and disease.
Finally, it is worth noting that the FIL has become one of the most important book fairs in Latin America. Last year, the entire European Union was the guest of honor, resulting in a colorful and diverse event in Mexico. The bar was certainly raised in 2023, but did I mention that Abdulrazak Gurnah, the 2021 Nobel Prize winner for Literature, will also be participating this year? Well, now you know.
Christina Chatzitheodorou, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Greece
On November 12, the Greek poet Mihalis Gkanas passed away. Gkanas’s unique perspective and profound understanding of Greek heritage led to his lasting impression in the poetic realm, with many of his poems being turned into songs by renowned composers and brought to life by various performers throughout the years. For instance, Gerasimos Andreatos sings from a Gkanas poem “Xroma den allazoune ta Matia” (Eyes never change colour): “In the same places we will meet again, we’ll put our hands on our shoulders, to remember old songs, names and looks and streets. . .” Lavredis Mahairitsas also gave new voice to the poem “Mikros Titanikos” (Little Titanic): “This is not love that we are living, it’s panic, I can tell you, a little Titanic, and it’ll be a miracle if we’re saved. It’s not love what we’re living. . .”
The collection Stixi (Lyrics) by Melani Editions, published in 2008, includes several of Gkanas’s lyrical works, written over a period of almost twenty years (1983-2001). He was not, however, solely a poet whose poems were paired with music; rather, he represents the collective memory of the 1940s and 50s in Civil War-torn Greece.
In other news, on November 11 and November 18, the books of the National Library of Greece “left” the shelves for a while, to tell their stories outdoors, in Stavros Niarchos Park. In a series of organized walks aimed to bring storytelling to the public, each event has a theme and a narrative cycle, with specific stations along the course. At each station, the participants hear a story from either Greek or world literature. The next two walks will take place on November 25 and December 2.
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