the city-lit cafe

The great Aharon Appelfeld wins Independent Foreign Fiction Prize - and congrats Alma Books too!

By Jeremy Taylor, The Independent

An octogenarian Holocaust survivor has won The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for a novel loosely based on his experiences during the Second World War in which he escaped from a labour camp.

Aharon Appelfeld, an 80-year-old Israeli novelist, was awarded the coveted £5,000 prize at a ceremony last night for his latest book, Blooms of Darkness.

The novel is told from the perspective of an 11-year-old boy called Hugo who is taken in by Mariana, a prostitute, to keep him safe as the Second World War rages around them in the ghetto and Jewish people are forcefully sent to concentration camps. Both become reliant on each other as the war continues until the area is eventually liberated by the Russian army.

Appelfeld was born into a Jewish family in what was once a part of Romania. His mother was killed after Romanian troops invaded the area and he was deported to a labour camp at Transnistria when he was seven years old. He managed to escape, and was picked up by the Red Army in 1944, eventually making his way to Italy and finally reaching Palestine in 1946, aged 14. He has written more than 40 novels.

Speaking on the eve of receiving the prize, he said: "I wanted to explore the darkest places of human behaviour and to show that even there, generosity and love can survive; that humanity and love can overcome cruelty and brutality."

The translator of the English edition, Jeffrey M Green, was also honoured at the awards. He said: "Clearly, if Blooms of Darkness had not been excellent, even an excellent translation would not have won this prize, but a bad translation would certainly have destroyed the excellence of the original."

A Sense of Place: #Southend in Literature with Rachel Lichtenstein

Meeting a Russian master, hearing a Turkish one - what the London Book Fair is really about?

I have a confession to make: I love the London Book fair. This immediately marks me out as not working for one of the big publishers, and I feel really sorry for those girls on the reception desks at Penguin, Random House etc whose legs are no doubt aching by the end of the day (let alone three days … in high-heels) and who are probably bored to tears with standing in the same place, paying a small fortune for a cup of coffee, and answering (probably) the same questions over and over from those visiting their stand.

And I really feel sorry for all those agents – both the famous and the struggling - trapped in the Rights Centre which, within a very short time becomes a sweaty, anxious place full of people under pressure to buy, sell, persuade, apologise and so on … not to mention the offence voiced by some ‘eminent’ personages when they have to queue up and have their visit legitimised before being allowed through to the holy of holies where, so we are led to believe, the real business of the Fair is done.

I reckon that, working my socks off for a small publisher is much more fun.

OK, so we can’t afford a stand of our own, but that’s why we’re members of IPG (the Independent Publishers Guild) who provide us with shelf space, bookable tables for meetings, and really wonderful treatment by their delightful, ever-helpful staff. Thank you IPG.

Not having to constantly man a stand means we’re always on the move and so constantly running into people we know – the dedicated small publishers, editors, translators, promoters, and writers who make up that part of the publishing landscape where the most interesting things are going on.

Smaller operations like the excellent Comma Press, And Other Stories and Pereine Press are doing brilliant work in making translated literature more available in English, giving us the chance to read so much wonderful work that we’d otherwise be deprived of. And I came across Glas for the first time, a Russian publisher making some wonderful, contemporary work available to us in English: the conversation I had with their representative was inspiring – as was the brief time I spent talking to multi-prize-winning writer Alexander Kabakov who happened to be sitting on the sofa at the ‘Read Russia’ stand when I visited (‘Read Russia’ is a big, new translation initiative).

If you space your trade-type meetings (with reps etc) skilfully, you have time to scoot between the many wonderful events. Because I’m editorial rather than marketing, I feel free to miss out all the stuff on tweeting and other social media and promotion and can spend some of the Fair swanning around, listening to writers being interviewed and indulgent things like that (but, at the end of the day, isn’t that what publishing’s about?). This year I especially enjoyed Maggie Gee interviewing Turkish writer Hakan Gunday,

Rosie Goldsmith interviewing Chinese writer Bi Feiyu, and James Rann, of Academia Rossica, reading from recent translations from Russian in connection with AR’s Young translator’s prize.

And we were lucky enough to be invited to the handover ceremony at the end of the Fair when the departing ‘Market Focus’ for 2012 (China) officially handed over the baton to next year’s guest, Turkey. At the end of the speeches the writer Hakan Gunday read an inspiring piece which reminded us of what this great jamboree and trading scrum was really all about – listening to each other’s stories and so breaking down barriers to understanding. It’s the kind of thing you need from time to time to remind you, in the thick of it all, why you’re really doing what you’re doing. The girls on the ‘big’ stands never got to hear that.

The Alliance of Independent Authors and Social Reading: the two best events at the London Book Fair?

As ever the London Book Fair, which ended yesterday, was a great opportunity to meet old friends and partners and, hopefully, make some new ones. But, for me, there were two events that were shot full of new ideas, totally deliverable, and without any hype or bluster (and not once was the dreaded ‘solutions’ mentioned).

The first was Aine McCarthy’s Alliance of Independent Authors meeting. This global organisation is focused on writers (or translators) already published in any format and who are now looking to self-publication.

The focus in the session I popped into was on e-book publication with some of the industry’s biggest hitters, writing – and production-wise, present. I think it was the spirit of collaboration and the level of detail that bowled me over. It was just so hugely informative and was totally about impartial advice about what worked and how to do it. As one of the panellists looked out at the fair (we were in an upstairs room) and referred to ‘them’ we knew what he meant. It was just brilliant to see writers ‘getting it’ and doing it for themselves and not in the ‘top down’ way either that the industry might prefer. It’s early days but way ahead, etc, acutely zeitgeist and if you’re a writer – or publisher or agent for that matter -  you need to check the Alliance out pronto.

The other event I found invaluable (but could only pop in for briefly) was the Reading Agency run Social Reading discussion. Understandably libraries had a much lower profile at this year’s Fair, in fact they were hardly there. But of course, despite cuts, libraries aren’t going to disappear and it was a shame not to see more publishers in the room. They missed a treasure trove of useful information and potential partners who are totally delivering on the reading front, walking the talk and proving a real inspiration to the rest of us.

 Unfortunately I could only stay for Orkney librarian Stewert Bain talking about how social media has made reader development a reality in his territory (we loved the Agatha Christie project!) and Lynn Hatwell, whose blog the Dovegrey Reader has done amazing things for readers and writers. How dare an academic go all sniffy because she and her community had decided to read Ulysses ( and are now hard at work on Middlemarch). There are an awful lot of jealous gatekeepers out there!

Cutting-edge stuff but with a human angle from both events, both of which will help to give reading a future and big praise to their inspiring panels and audiences.

All the ICA's talks and discussions from 1982-93 on-line. Quelle treasure trove!

 

 

Quelle treasure trove from London's ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts) and the British Library!

The latter have made available free and on-line all the talks and discussions held at the ICA between 1982 and 1993.

Just listen at http://sounds.bl.uk/Arts-literature-and-performance/ICA-talks

From Margaret Atwood, Jacques Derrida and Derek Jarman to Angela Carter, Julian Barnes and David Grossman there are literally hundreds of amazing discussions with our leading writers, artists, filmmakers and philosophers.

These were the glory days of the ICA - a pure exercise in nostalgia for those of us who around then but also some wonderful discoveries for those who weren't or who just couldn't catch everything at the time.

Culture flourished in the eighties and these recordings show how.

Thank you British Library for making them public again

From Malla Nunn to Rian Malan: the best books on Johannesburg

 

Read this entry to the Culture Critic/ city-pick competition asking readers to name their favourite city of literature  and win a special city-pick gift selection http://www.culturecritic.co.uk/competitions/select-the-next-city-pick-travel-title-win-a-city-pick-gift-selection/

Hello
Answer: I would pick Johannesburg. There is a lot of great writing
from South Africa, that isn't that well known. This will be fresh
reading for many people, though some of it is over 10 years old, I
think South African books are particularly interesting as they explore
the new country South Africa has become in the last 15 plus years and
the tensions that continue to exist, some of it is also very new.
Some examples of great writing from and about Johannesburg and the
surrounding areas: -
- Malla Nunn - series of literary detective fiction. Try A Beautiful
Place To Die and Let the Dead Lie.
-Tim Ecott - Stealing Water, A Memoir of growing up in Johannesburg
- The West Rand Jive Cats Boxing Club, by Laura Liebenberg
- Bitter Fruit by Achmat Dangor
-http://bookslive.co.za/-  a good blog for introducing me to new South
African fiction beyond Johannesburg as well
- Rian Malan, seminal work My Traitor's Heart, about his love/hate
relationship with South Africa. Born in Johannesburg.
-Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
- Agaat by Marlene Van Niekerk - fantastic sprawling novel about the
power relationship between a dying woman and her maid
- Come Sunday by Isla Morley
-Portrait with Keys: The City of Johannesburg Unlocked by Ivan Vladislavic

I have chosen Johannesburg because it is not a city without
difficulties, it therefore forms an interesting narrative of its own.
However, I also chose Johannesburg because it is exciting, changing
city in a country with a bright future.

Why sitting on a crowded train beats #Twittertrending any day

 

Forget Twitter trending. Or focus groups with people handing out croissants to unexcited participants. The best way to find out what is going to be hot and what’s not is to travel on a train and to be incredibly nosey.

On my London morning commutes travelling from Essex I can’t resist just looking (er, discreetly) and listening. On a single morning commute recently, for example, I spot two I Don’t Know How She Does Its. And this despite sniffy critics reviewing the film claiming it’s out of date, there’s a new zeitgeist, etc. Obviously common reader disagrees and the following week Alison Pearson is back in the top ten.

Then there’s the new Harlan Coben, bright and shiny and thick and about to be read for the first time. I watch with fascination as the virgin pages are opened and a timid traveller is now on a knife edge adventure of a lifetime. How thrilling! Never underestimate the power of a WHS promotion.

Someone who may have come late to Stig Larsen is also deeply immersed – the only book in translation I have unfortunately ever seen being read in twenty years’ commuting. I wonder if the Larsen bandwagon effect now means that even if you’re not a crime reader you’ll want to try him, just to see if he’s as good as they claim?

A Cathy Kelly trade paperback doesn’t pass unnoticed although there does seem to be less chick-lit than there once was. Not forgetting a rather lovely battered old hardcover copy of Nancy Mitford’s Madame de Pompadour being read by an equally lovely young woman, beautifully composed in a grey Grace Kelly silk blouse and matching handbag. Maybe a bit of a quirky read this one and a rather special commuter not often seen in these parts.

A middle-aged man reads a ‘true-life’ war book – a not uncommon sighting. But I’ve never caught anyone reading SF or horror or a Mills and Boon for that matter on this commute. Whether this is out of embarrassment or because these genres lend themselves to more personal, intimate spaces I don’t know. I do hope to see one eventually though, to put a stop to my specious theorising.

There are surprisingly few Kindles and e-readers, despite what sales figures tell us, but more i-Pads and i-Pods, which may also mean audio- and e-books of course. And inevitably a number of us are asleep, reading newspapers (lots of Metros) or just doing nothing.

We commuters prefer to be quiet on the 8.07 to Liverpool Street and there isn’t much conversation, certainly not book talk. In fact the only book conversations I’ve ever heard are between my publishing partner and myself, but then we are a bit earnest and weird. Though I do hear an interesting conversation about choosing between Inbetweeners and Cowboys & Aliens on the day both films are released: surely confirmation that both will do well.

 Non-scientific? Probably. Fascinating? Definitely. An out of the office or bookshop experience to be recommended? You bet. Take the salutary test in a train compartment of your choice and you’ll be surprised what you learn. It’s always excitingly if depressingly accurate.

Though I did once see someone with an Oxygen city-picks bookmark, honest, and got abnormally excited. Hope springs eternal …

Do you live in one of the UK's most well-read towns or cities? Check here ...

05.09.11 | Benedicte Page, The Bookseller

People in Huntingdon and Cambridge buy the most books of any town or city in the UK, according to a ranking compiled by Amazon using  data from its print and Kindle sales since the start of the year.

Towns in Kent, Wiltshire and West Sussex are also reading hotspots according to the list, which was put together on a per capita basis using places with 20,000-plus residents.

The full roster of the most well-read towns and cities, in descending order, reads: Huntingdon, Cambridge, Sevenoaks, Rochester, Salisbury, Chichester, Canterbury, Truro, Bury St Edmunds and Doncaster, the only town from the north of England to feature on the list.

Cambridge, at number two on the most well-read list, and number one for non-fiction, comprehensively trounced rival university city Oxford, which only reached number 18. The other places making up the well-read top 20, in descending order from 11th to 20th place, are: Winchester, Godalming, Spalding, Warwick, Newton Abbot (Devon), Durham, Witney, Oxford, Tonbridge and York.

Darren Hardy, books manager at Amazon.co.uk, said: "It seems that Huntingdon is the booklovers' capital of the UK. With the advent of e-reading and a wealth of great titles being released, books have never been more popular across the whole of the country."

Winners of the Context Travel / Oxygen Books competition announced this week!

 

Context Travel will be offering forty lucky winners one of their 2-hour walks in a range of fabulous European and American cities!

 Context is a network of over 250 scholars and experts, who create and lead walking seminars in cultural capitals in Europe and, now, the United States as an alternative to mass tours.  

Context connects intellectually curious travelers (and locals) with Ph.D. level experts for in-depth learning experiences.  It offers seminars-- with a maximum of 6 participants-- in topics such as architectural history, urban planning, art history, cuisine, and immigration, just to name a few

www.contexttravel.com

 

city-picks Bookshop of the Month: The Bookcase, Lowdham and its owner Jane Streeter

 

The first in a new monthly series featuring some of our favourite bookshops and their owners, at home and abroad. We start with The Bookcase, Lowdham, Nottinghamshire, run by the intrepid and amazingly innovative Jane Streeter who is also currently president of the Booksellers' Association.

What made you want to be a bookseller?

 I think it's something like a vocation although that sounds a bit worthy! My love of reading meant that I studied English Lit at Uni and then just always wanted to be immersed in books. It took several months to find a job after graduating but eventually I was employed by Hamicks Legal Bookshop on Chancery Lane and never looked back.

You’ve got a wonderful bookshop but has your business had to change at all over the last two decades and, if so, how?

 It's been a complete adventure. We've always tried to listen to what our customers want and to adapt to that. We sell non-book products to try to attract a wide range of customers to the shop, and we've really increased our focus in local books in the last 3-4 years, developing a new website www.nottinghambooks.co.uk. Our events programme has increased over the years and we run annual book and film festivals. We sponsor the Brilliant Book Award through local Secondary schools and I am a trustee of the new East Midlands Book Award. Basically we say "yes" to everything and then work out how to do it!

How can we convince customers that there’s more to getting a book cheaply or as a three for two?

I think the only way is through really engaging with the local community, forging strong links with reading groups, schools and literature networks, and providing a cultural hub where customers know that they are part of something special. Price is then less of an issue because you have increased the value of what you are offering on a deeper level. We use a strapline " More than just a bookshop" and I hope that's how our customers see us.

What do you feel about the current uncertainty over Waterstones? Could this be an opportunity for the independent sector?

 I think recent developments are fascinating and I'm really looking forward to seeing what James Daunt does as the new MD. We need Waterstones to be excellent for the general health of the book trade in this country.

 How important has your local book festival been to you and your team?

 Absolutely vital. It has raised the profile of the shop beyond anything I ever imagined. We print 10,000 copies of the summer programme and have extended our reach outside the county. There is so much support for the festival and the shop thrives as a result.

Do tell us about your amazing customer trips to favourite European cities. I know that recently you went to Paris and met Life in the Merde author Stephen Clarke

It's been a great development for us. We have links with local travel agents and have now arranged literary events in Scandinavia, Egypt and Paris! We plan to do more and also to look at liaising with other independent booksellers  to arrange events around the UK. There is a write up of the recent Paris trip on our website - www.thebookcase.co.uk - along with some photos. Great fun!

What can publishers do to make sure you sell their books!

Build good links through their sales teams and offer exclusive editions of special books, perhaps signed, numbered etc. Offer materials for great window displays, downloadable activity sheets etc for children, and authors for events. Publishers are very engaged now with the independent sector which is great to see.

www.thebookcase.co.uk 

www.nottinghambooks.co.uk