Well that was the week that was the first ever French Book Week.
Bonanza. Brilliant. Hurrahs.
Check out the @LiterallySwiss pages, look up the hashtag #FrenchBookWeek and see for yourself why we were thrilled by how it took shape and by the attention it drew. French Book Week paid homage to all aspects of what we do and love: the authors, the translators, the publishers, the reviewers, the research, the seminar, the works. The alchemy.With mentions by The Bookseller, and across oceans, it hit many marks. It celebrated the known and unknown, and the you-really-must-get-to-know-now.
For example Aneesa Abbas Higgins (translator of numerous works from French, most recently Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin) recommended the most recent novel of award-winning Swiss novelist, Roland Buti (pictured above, © Sébastien Agnetti).“Grand National is a beguiling work that lingers in the mind and invites us to wonder just how much we too may be missing as we stumble through our lives.”The full review can be seen here. Consider your appetite whetted, let us know if you’d like to see more.
Buti appears as a recommended author for this August’s online Edinburgh Book Festival (see here).
Which segues nicely into this week
The BCLT Summer School takes place as you read, with the 2020 Swiss-French translation workshop, funded by Pro Helvetia. Ten translators are spending the week working together on award-winning Swiss writer Pascale Kramer’s novel Une Famille, together with translator and workshop leader Adriana Hunter and Pascale herself.Adriana, prize-winning translator from French to English says:
“It will be inspiring for the whole group to have [Pascale’s] insights into her emotionally intelligent and finely crafted writing.”She talks on the brilliance of translation, of her huge admiration for Une Famille, Asterix 2 as well as giving valuable advice here. I recommend you taking 15 minutes to watch and listen.
And finally:
Another unseen-over-here book that has also crossed onto our radar is Représailles by Florian Eglin (pictured above, © Magali Dougados) published in Switzerland by La Baconnière. The paperback edition is to be published in 2021 by Pocket. The book was shortlisted for the Prix du polar Romand 2020 that every year awards the best Swiss French crime novel.Look at the full info here and have a read of the first ten pages. This blogger has the right idea: «Avec Représailles, Florian Eglin fait son entrée dans le monde du thriller. Ultra-violent, baroque, habile. Le talent de l’auteur est de faire basculer son faux polar dans une autre dimension, plus complexe, métaphysique et universelle, grâce à son goût du risque et des extrêmes ainsi qu’à son intelligence et à sa richesse narrative.» Bring it on.
That’s us for now. GO WELL, READ WELL, INSPIRE WELL and see you soon.