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The Crime in the Data

A couple weeks ago, writer Kári Tulinius asked me for some information on how prevalent crime novels are in what gets translated. As with most statistics related to literature in translation (and/or the book industry in general), the correct answer was, "uh . . . no idea. Maybe a lot? Sure seems like it . . . So, yeah." I ...

“Snatching Bodies” by Rodrigo Fresán [New Fiction]

To celebrate the release of The Bottom of the Sky (which happens to be Open Letter's 100th title!), we wanted to share this "bonus track" to the novel. He initially wrote this story as a sort of explanation for one paragraph in The Bottom of the Sky, and then had it anthologized in collection of “dysfunctional family” ...

May Is a Month of Grading

The Best Translated Book Award Finalists were announced earlier this week, and following up on my earlier post looking at the representation of various languages on the BTBA longlists, I thought I'd take a second to highlight the publishing houses (#NameThePublisher) that have historically done the best on the BTBA ...

What if Writers Were Treated Like Soccer Players?

Told you I'd be back soon to catch up on these weekly posts! Next week I'll put together a recap linking to all of the posts in the series so far, and including a line or two about what they cover. And then, in addition to writing about one (or two) new books, next week I'll also post a May overview with some more data, a ...

Poetry Presses and Radical Idea #1

Thanks to a different writing deadline, the revamping of this website (still a bit of a work in progress), and trips to Chicago, Houston, and New York (with another NY trip later this week), I've fallen slightly behind with my weekly missives, so expect a bunch of these to drop over the next week or so. First up, I want to ...

Day of Giving at the University of Rochester

Today is the official “Day of Giving” at the University of Rochester—a 24-hour push to support any school, program, or area across the University and its Medical Center. It’s directed at the entire Rochester community including alumni, parents, patients, friends, faculty, staff, and students. ...

Tickets to Open Letter’s Ten-Year Celebration in NYC Are Going Fast!

On Thursday, May 10th, at 7pm, Open Letter will be hosting its first celebration in New York City in ten years. Some of you might remember our initial launch party at the German Consulate in New York way, way back in 2008. Well, ten years and one hundred books later, we’re coming back! A week from Thursday ...