Dear Peirene Reader,
While the current Covid-19 situation is less than ideal and perhaps more than a little scary, with the world retreating into their homes wherever possible, one thing that’s been cheering us up is seeing all the creative ways people are finding to spend their time while in self-isolation. From writing projects to livestreaming music performances to inventive homeschooling techniques, it’s been heartwarming to see.
It got us thinking about what we could do to keep our readers’ spirits up while they’re stuck at home and spread the love for translated literature while working together with our fellow indie presses...
And so, a plan was hatched!
In collaboration with Charco Press, Comma Press, Istros Books, Nordisk Books and Tilted Axis Press, we are thrilled to announce the Translated Fiction Online Book Club! Hosted by Peirene Press, we will be holding weekly meetings via Zoom, a video conferencing platform. Each week, a different press will take over to discuss one of their books.
Meetings will be every Thursday at 8pm GMT. To participate, you will need to have Zoom downloaded on your device - installation takes around one minute and is very easy! You can get Zoom here.
You should then subscribe to our mailing list so we can send you more information on the featured books and, most importantly, the link to the Zoom meetings. Sign up here!
Peirene will be leading the first meeting next Thursday (March 26th) with The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke, translated from the German by Jamie Bulloch, as the featured book. At just over 100 pages, it’s a fast but intense read - a tense family drama set just before the fall of the Berlin Wall. You can order your copy from the Peirene website and use the discount code “bookclub” for 30% off!
The rest of the schedule is as follows:
Week 2 (April 2nd): Tilted Axis Press present Where The Wild Ladies Are by Matsuda Aoko, translated from the Japanese by Polly Barton
Week 3 (April 9th): Charco Press present Fate by Jorge Consiglio, translated from the Spanish by Carolina Orloff and Fionn Petch (session led by translator Carolina Orloff)
Week 4 (April 16th): Nordisk Books present Restless by Kenneth Moe, translated from the Norwegian by Alison McCullough (session led by translator)
Week 5 (April 23rd): Comma Press present Thirteen Months of Sunrise by Rania Mamoun, translated from the Arabic by Elisabeth Jaquette (session led by translator)
Week 6 (April 30th): Istros Books present Singer in the Night by Olja Savičević, translated from the Croatian by Celia Hawkesworth
We’re really excited to be able to do this with our wonderful readers and hope you’ll be eager to participate - it’s a great way to share our love for translated literature, distract ourselves from current events, and remind each other that isolation doesn’t necessarily need to be lonely!
We also encourage you all to consider your local independent bookshops when purchasing your books - so many amazing bookshops are still running a delivery service despite having closed their doors!
Hope to see you all soon via Zoom! Stay healthy and happy,
All the best,
Maddie
Publishing Assistant
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