German Book Prize

The shortlist for the German Book Prize has been announced and the list includes Julia Franck who has a story appearing in the upcoming issue of Absinthe (to be published in October).

You can read about the other finalists and read excerpts from their novels at the excellent web site signandsight.com.

UPDATE: Franck was named the winner of the German Book Prize. You can read more about it here.

I Pity the Fool

My friend, filmmaker Brent Coughenour, is headed out west with his current film project titled I Pity the Fool. And no, it's not a documentary about Mr. T. The film, shot in Super 8, captures beautiful scenes of decay in Detroit and weaves through it a narrative of sorts, involving the discovery of some mysterious letters and photos in an abandoned trailer park, and a possible murder. If you live on the west coast I encourage you to take the opportunity to see it but if you're looking for a typical Hollywood film this is not it. Watch closely and you might even spot this writer.

The film will be screened tonight, Tuesday, August 7, at 8pm at the Northwest Film Forum (1515 12th Ave.), along with Jack Cronin's Invisible City as part of Vanishing Ruins: Visions of Detroit.

Future screenings include:

Friday, August 10th, at 8pm at the Ink People Center for the Arts, 411 12th Street in Eureka, CA.

Friday, August 17th, at 8pm at Artists' Television Access (ATA), 992 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94110, (415) 824-3890.

Sunday, August 19th, at 8pm at Echo Park Film Center, 1226 N. Alvarado St., LA, CA (213) 484-8846. echoparkfilmcenter@hotmail.com.

Monday, August 20th, at 6pm at Unurban Coffee House, 3301 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA.

Also check out two interesting interviews with Brent at the SIFFBlog and at Hot Splice.

Ingmar Bergman 1918-2007

Awoke to the CBC providing the sad news of Ingmar Bergman's death at age 89. I was introduced to Bergman's films as a grad student at Michigan and was immediately drawn to his work, no doubt in large part by the way his films depicted his struggle with faith and his emotionally powerful portrayals of relationships between men and women and families. In his films close-ups of the human face were often used to convey the subtlest of emotions, and were photographed beautifully by his long-time collaborator Sven Nykvist in films such as Persona, Cries and Whispers, and Fanny and Alexander. I was fortunate to see Bergman's final film, Saraband, at its North American premiere in Montreal at the Festival des Films du Monde in 2004. It was clear the master filmmakers' skill had not diminished with age.

In addition to his work as a film director, Ingmar Bergman had an even longer career as a theatre director but his work in theatre did not appear to receive the recognition it deserved. A number of his theatrical productions were staged at the Brooklyn Academy of Art and I had the opportunity to attend four: Peer Gynt, The Ghost Sonata, Ghosts, and Mary Stuart (and after the performance I met Bergman's friend and frequent collaborator, Erland Josephson). With a minimalist approach to stage and set design the viewer became an active participant in visualizing the drama onstage.

Ingmar Bergman made over fifty films and published several novels. Those who know me well will not be surprised that I've seen just about every film and read almost everything by and about Bergman that has appeared in English (I even once had a sweet cat named Ingmar).

At 89, I'm sure Bergman was tired, but I had selfishly hoped for a few more films.

As the Eastern Christians say, may your memory be eternal, Ingmar Bergman.

Absinthe partners with Dzanc Books

Absinthe is pleased to partner with Dzanc Books to publish translated fiction from Europe. Below is the press release issued by Dzanc:


DZANC BOOKS TO PUBLISH TRANSLATED FICTION FROM EUROPE

To Whom It May Concern:

Dzanc Books is joining forces with the editors of Absinthe: New European Writing (www.absinthenew.com) to bring great works of European fiction to North America for the first time.

Dzanc is committed to finding the absolute best literary fiction to publish. We believe acquiring and publishing works from around the world is important on two fronts – a) there is some incredible work being done in Europe that has not been made available to those who only read English, and b) reading fiction from different world view points is essential to having a better understanding of the world we live in, and our own place in it.

Dwayne Hayes and Jessica Bomarito, editors of Absinthe, have been publishing wonderful translated material in their journal for close to five years now, and have built up a fantastic array of talented translators they communicate with regularly and Dzanc will, in partnership, help Absinthe further their own mission by getting this work into book form and distributed to stores nationwide. Our intent is to find an excellent work of fiction for publication in 2008, and then continue this joint arrangement annually. Other authors and translators may also contact us directly as well by sending manuscript submissions through our website at www.dzancbooks.org and writing us with attached materials at info@dzancbooks.org.

Please feel free to share this information and if you know people who are interested in contemporary European literature, or writers and/or translators of European fiction looking for a North American publisher, we would be thrilled to hear from them. We look forward to reading the submissions and hope to share more news of our efforts soon.

Best wishes,

Dan Wickett
Executive Editor and Publisher

Steve Gillis
Founder and Publisher


Dzanc Books is a 501(c)3 non-profit literary publisher based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. If you would like to learn more about books and programs, or make a donation, please visit our website at www.dzancbooks.org.

Wedding Bells

A long silence since the last post because the Absinthe editors were married at the end of May. We expect to post more frequently in the coming months as we look forward to the publication of Absinthe #8 in the fall.

Absinthe Reading at Oakland University

On April 16th our two interns (Crystal and Christina) organized a reading at Oakland University to celebrate the release of Absinthe, issue 7. They read selections from the new issue and students Mary Dunn and Liz Perales read from their own translations. In addition, Professor Fran Meuser talked about her experience working on a translation and Doris Runey read a selection from an interesting translation of a novel adapted as a film script(!).

It was a very good event thanks to all our participants, Annie Gilson, and the work of Crystal and Christina.

Arthur Phillips reading at Shaman Drum

Five years ago I had the opportunity to attend the Denver Publishing Institute--a month long graduate-level course in all aspects of publishing. It was during this time that I conceptualized Absinthe and while in Denver received advice from a number of the faculty and visiting lecturers. Also in Denver, at the Tattered Cover bookstore, I met the writer Arthur Phillips who was in town promoting his debut novel Prague. Arthur had spent some time living in Paris and so I discussed with him my plans for Absinthe and he recommended I contact David Applefield, the editor of FRANK. Since that time Arthur has continued to be a valued advisor to the journal.

Last night he was in Ann Arbor at Shaman Drum bookshop to read from his new novel Angelica. It was the first night of his book tour and if he stops by a city near you I highly recommend making it out for the reading and purchasing a novel or two or three.

Copernicus Lecture

On Friday evening I attended the annual Copernicus Lecture at the University of Michigan. This series is organized to promote a deeper understanding of Poland, its people, and its culture and they've brought in a number of important Polish writers, artists, and intellectuals over the years, including Adam Zagajewski in 2005.

This year the speaker was Krzysztof Czyżewski, a social activist, poet, essayist, and publisher. He founded The Borderlands Foundation and since 1993 has been the editor-in-chief of Krasnogruda, a publication devoted to Central and Eastern European cultures, art, and literature.

He spoke on the subject of borderlands, its relation to the work of the great poet Czeslaw Milosz, and the need for a new movement of bridge-building and dialogue among peoples.

It is my hope that Absinthe, in a very small way, can contribute to bridge-building between Europe and the U.S.

Why publish a journal of European writing in translation?

The comments below are from an editorial appearing in the upcoming issue of Absinthe:

I am frequently asked, with differing levels of sincere interest, why it is I have chosen to publish and edit a literary journal of European writing in translation. It is usually assumed that I must speak many languages (in a few European languages I have the vocabulary of a small child), or work as a translator (perhaps in the future, when my vocabulary moves into adolescence), or originate from a European country (yes, but many generations ago). I am often dissatisfied with my response.

The true and simple answer is that Absinthe originates from a quite selfish interest. Proust wrote that "every reader, as he reads, is actually the reader of himself. The writer's work is only a kind of optical instrument he provides the reader so he can discern what he might never have seen in himself without this book."

For me Dostoevsky’s novels are important “optical instruments.” When I first read Father Zossima’s claim that we are, each of us, responsible for everyone it was a clear rebuke to my Cain-like spirit that denies responsibility for anyone else. So I am grateful I can pick up a book by Dostoevsky, a novel written in Russian, and read it in my own language. I am grateful that a translator has made these words available to me, allowing this writer who lived in a place I've never been, who writes in a language I speak very little of, and who wrote a century before I was born, to entertain and challenge me. And to help me understand a little more about what it means to be human.

Reading Dostoevsky (and other great Russian writers) along with viewing films by Ingmar Bergman, Andrei Tarkovsky, and Krzysztof Kieslowski led me to seek out literature and films from other countries and languages and eventually led to the founding of Absinthe: New European Writing in 2002.

In the pages of Absinthe 7 we present writers from Sweden, France, Poland, Russia, Spain, Italy, and elsewhere. These poets, novelists, and short story writers—from Anna-Nina Kovelenko’s recollections of life in the Soviet Union, and Julia Oxtoa’s dark tale of a slaughterhouse, to the “Aerolites” of Carlos Edmund de Ory, and Claudio Magris’ comments about the art of translation--reveal something to us about this world and how we might go about living in it, if we have eyes to see (or read, in this case).

For me the opportunity to discern what I might never have seen in myself is one of the great pleasures of editing this journal. I hope it’s one you can share by reading its pages.

Some comments about our trip to AWP now that I've had a few weeks to recover. I attended several sessions related to translation, including one dedicated to the question of whether it's necessary to be a poet to be an effective translator of poetry (consensus: a good translator of poetry must have a "poetic sensibility." I'll leave that for others to debate.)

However, most of my time was spent at the Absinthe table meeting people and talking to subscribers, potential subscribers, editorial advisors, contributors, and potential contributors. This is always the best part of the conference for me--making friends and seeing old ones.

I'm already looking forward to the conference next year in NYC.