The presentation of this year’s Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, in the elegant surroundings of the Royal Institute of British Architects in London, proved as popular as ever and was packed with authors, publishers, journalists, agents and other literary professionals. The award is one of the few to recognise that fiction in translation has to be a successful coalition between author and translator; each gets £5,000 and a magnum of champagne.
The 2010 winner, Brodeck’s Report by the French novelist Philippe Claudel, translated by John Cullen, was described by Boyd Tonkin, chair of the judging panel, as “a beautiful, sinister and haunting fable of persecution, resistance and survival set in the aftermath of a genocidal war in a vividly etched rural landscape that has all the spine-tingling intensity of a waking dream”. Claudel is published by MacLeHose Press, an imprint of Quercus, the enterprising independent which also publishes the work of Stieg Larsson and Marek Krajewski in Britain.
In fact, five out of the six shortlisted titles were published by independent presses, suggesting that it is the smaller, independent publishers – often working on a shoestring – that are keeping international fiction alive in this country. New publishers seem to spring up all the time but struggle to get the publicity and coverage enjoyed by larger publishing houses; so foreign fiction in translation became a little thinner on the ground in 2009.
But why is contemporary international fiction so important? Perhaps because, like travel, it expands our minds and expands our hearts. In the words of the late, great travel writer Ryszard Kapuscinski: “These other worlds, these other cultures, are mirrors in which we can see ourselves, thanks to which we understand ourselves better – for we cannot define our own identity until having confronted that of others, as comparison.”
Arabia Books was also on the Foreign Fiction Prize’s shortlist with Rafik Schami’s acclaimed book The Dark Side of Love, translated by Anthea Bell. Robin Yassin-Kassab, writing in The Guardian, suggested that it “may turn out to be the first Great Syrian Novel”. Arabia aims to publish the best contemporary fiction from the Arabic world but, even with the current interest in the region, they will need all the support they can get to realise their ambition of publishing ten titles a year.
Saqi Books has been at the forefront of publishing books from and about the Middle East for almost 30 years and has certainly fed most of my reading on the subject. But fiction often gives a far more detailed portrait of a country or region than non-fiction and Saqi seems to have taken this on board when it diversified and founded Telegram. One title to watch out for from its literary fiction imprint is Three Sisters by Bi Feiyu, one of the most respected authors and screenwriters working in China today, translated by Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-chun Lin.
As a Westerner, how do you begin to know what it was really like to live under Saddam Hussein? Last year, I discovered Aflame Books by way of Thirsty River by Rodaan Al Galidi, translated by Luzette Strauss, which I reviewed for Tribune. Aflame has been publishing poetry and fiction in English translation since 2005. Thirsty River blends great storytelling with the political – it follows the fortunes of the Bird family from Boran in southern Iraq and provides a refreshingly original take on life under a dictatorship.
I love the ability of foreign fiction to transport you to another world entirely. Dalkey Archive Press has trailblazed the way with various global translation initiatives. Its Best European Fiction 2010, featuring short stories and extracts from longer works, is a hugely enjoyable and intriguing introduction to some of Europe’s hottest young writers. I am also looking forward to being introduced to the complexities and contradictions of Mozambique by reading The Word Tree by Teolinda Gersão, translated by Margaret Jull Costa and published by Dedalus Press. For fans of crime fiction, Arcadia Books is one of the best in the field for bringing us these works in translation. French novelist Dominique Manotti is a personal favourite of mine in Arcadia’s Euro Crime series.
Just last week, I met Meike Ziervogel, a German writer and journalist living in London, who has recently set up Peirene Press, and is dedicated to publishing contemporary European fiction. What makes Peirene Press unique is that it will only publish books under 200 pages – such as the Catalan classic with the enigmatic title Stone in a Landslide by Maria Barbal, translated by Laura McGlouglin and Paul Mitchell.
Ultimately, I think it is up to all of us, the readers and fans of international fiction, to try and ensure that these courageous small presses, dedicated to expanding our hearts and minds by publishing foreign fiction in translation, stay in business. Visit their websites, buy their books and recommend the titles you like to your friends.
