Reading the World 2008

(Today is a day in which I list things . . . ) Hopefully most of you are aware of Reading the World, a unique collaborations between publishers and independent booksellers to promote literature in translations throughout the month of June.

This program came out of a series of discussions at BookExpo America five (?!) years ago, and has grown every year since thanks to its simplicity and elegance. Throughout the month of June, approx. 250 bookstores across the country display RTW titles complete with posters and brochures featuring the artwork of Czech artist Peter Sis. In the past, various bloggers, reviewers, radio hosts, and the like wrote and talked about many of these books, and the program in general, helping to create a certain buzz around RTW, which helped get these titles into the hands of readers.

I’ll be posting periodic updates over the next few months, especially once the artwork for 2008 is finalized, the new website is online, the Bookforum/RTW BEA party details are set, etc., but since we just finalized this list, I wanted to share it with everyone. This year the RTW list consists of 25 titles—20 from the 10 “core” publishers who have been part of the program from the start and 5 selected by a panel of independent booksellers.

So here they are in alpha order of publisher:

ARCHIPELAGO BOOKS

Yalo, Elias Khoury, translated from the Arabic by Peter Theroux (Lebanon)

A Mind at Peace, Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar, translated from the Turkish by Erdag Goknar (Turkey)

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS

The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai, Wang Anyi, translated from the Chinese by Michael Berry and Susan Chan Egan (China)

COPPER CANYON PRESS

So What: New and Selected Poems, 1971-2005, Taha Muhammad Ali, translated from the Arabic by Gabriel Levin and Peter Cole (Lebanon)

DALKEY ARCHIVE PRESS

I’d Like, Amanda Michalopoulou, translated from the Greek by Karen Emmerich (Greece)

Knowledge of Hell, Antonio Lobo Antunes, translated from the Portuguese by Clifford Landers (Portugal)

ECCO

Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes, translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman (Spain)

Celestial Harmonies, Peter Esterhazy, translated from the Hungarian by Judith Sollosv (Hungary)

EUROPA EDITIONS

The Days of Abandonment, Elena Ferrante, translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein (Italy)

FARRAR, STRAUS, AND GIROUX

The Girl on the Fridge, Etgar Keret, translated from the Hebrew by Miriam Shlesinger and Sondra Silverston (Israel)

Beijing Coma, Ma Jian, translated from the Chinese by Flora Drew (China)

GRAYWOLF

New European Poets, edited by Wayne Miller and Kevin Prufer, translated from various by various (Europe)

GROVE

Serve the People!, Yan Yan, translated from the Chinese by Julia Lovell (China)

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT

Peeling the Onion, Gunter Grass, translated from the German by Michael Henry Heim (Germany)

Woods and Chalices, Tomas Salamun, translated from the Slovenian by Brian Henry (Slovenia)

KNOPF

Mind’s Eye, Hakan Nesser, translated from the Swedish by Laurie Thompson (Sweden)

Fire in the Blood, Irene Nemirovsky, translated from the French by Sandra Smith (France)

NEW DIRECTIONS

Nazi Literature in the Americas, Roberto Bolano, translated from the Spanish by Chris Andrews (Chile)

The Assistant, Robert Walser, translated from the German by Susan Bernofsky (Switzerland)

NEW YORK REVIEW BOOKS

The Unforgiving Years, Victor Serge, translated from the French by Richard Greeman (France)

The Post-Office Girl, Stefan Zweig, translated from the German by Joel Rotenberg (Austria)

OTHER PRESS

The King of Corsica, Michael Kleeberg, translated from the German by David Dollenmayer (Germany)

Life Laid Bare: The Survivors in Rwanda Speak, Jean Hatzfeld, translated from the French by Linda Coverdale (France)

PICADOR

Out Stealing Horses, Per Petterson, translated from the Norwegian by Anne Born (Norway)

The Diving Pool, Yoko Ogowa, translated from the Japanese by Stephen Snyder (Japan)