The Arabic Literature (In English) blog has an interesting post up today that lists several recent Egyptian novels with an SFnal theme (only one of which is currently available in translation) and also reports from the opening of an art exhibition that mixes Egyptian and SF styles.
And that reminds me that the SF&F Translation Awards have added some new prizes to their fund-raising draw, including signed books from George R.R. Martin. Details here.
As I mention on the Coode Street podcast over the weekend, the SF&F Translation Awards are currently running a fundraiser with an associated prize draw. There are some very cool prizes on offer there, and what’s more there are currently more than twice as many prizes as donors, so the odds are pretty darn good right now. Obviously more donors will doubtless turn up in the coming weeks, but a number of people have kindly offered more than one prize, so there are several in reserve that can be added if the odds start to look poor. Why not give it a shot, and help promote translated fiction at the same time.
I’m always on the look out for good women SF writers, and given my interests in translations that applies all over the globe. I’m therefore pleased to get news from Spain about the Albertus Magnus Science Fiction Prize. This is awarded by the Faculty of Science and Technology at UPV / EHU, which describes itself as the University of the Basque Country. The first prize was won by “Kindergarten”, written by Sara Sacristán, a young writer from Madrid with a degree in geology who is now doing a PhD in Literary Theory and Comparative Literature. The report doesn’t seem to say what the prize is worth, but second prize was €1,500 so hopefully she got a nice sum.
With a bit of help from Google Translate, this is what the winning story was about:
In “Kindergarten” there is never enough for everyone, and a color code divides the children into strong and weak, those who live and those who die. The more privileged, who have imposed themselves on their classmates by force or cunning, sense that there must be something beyond the white walls of the garden, so they try to survive at all costs, pending the day when the doors open. Only the protagonist realizes that the path to freedom is something he will have to build himself, and at whatever cost. The story aims to reflect on the limits of ambition and friendship, and the anxieties of society that derive from creating increasingly competitive individuals at the expense of humanity.
Here’s hoping we get to see that in English sometime. Many thanks to my friend @odo on Twitter for the link.
There’s some interesting news on the international front today. A press release on the World SF Blog announces that it is merging with Val Grimm’s review magazine, The Portal. While this might be seen as a reduction in the number of venues covering the world SF scene, I know only too well how much work such ventures take to keep going. If this allows both sites to expand their readership and reduce the workload on individuals then it will be a very good thing. (And hopefully it will provide Lavie Tidhar with more time to work on his burgeoning writing career as well.) I look forward to seeing what the combined site produces, especially if this means more translated fiction.
I have a couple of things to note about my new Egyptian pals today.
Firstly there was a fabulous interview with Ahmed Mourad in The Guardian over the weekend. It details part of his life story that he touched on during the panel in Bristol, but which I wasn’t confident writing about if I couldn’t check facts with him. I found him to be a lovely young man, and when you have read the interview I’m sure you’ll agree that he is a brave one too. I’m looking forward to reading Vertigo.
I have, however, read Utopia, the science fiction novella by Ahmed Khaled Towfik. My interview with him is still in progress — I need to check on the spelling of some Egyptian names — but you can now read my review of the book.
The indefatigable Ann and Jeff VanderMeer have launched a new online magazine, Weird Fiction Review. It appears from the first issue that it will contain non-fiction, fiction, art, even a webcomic. This month’s fiction is a Belgian story newly translated by the excellent Edward Gauvin.
This is, of course, all tied up with the mindbogglingly huge anthology, The Weird, that Ann and Jeff have just produced. 750,000 words of fiction from all over the world, including some stunning new translations. At the speed I’m reading these days it would take me several months to get through it.
If you’d like to learn more about the book, and about Ann’s departure from Weird Tales, there is a fascinating podcast interview with the VanderMeers on Tony C. Smith’s Sofanauts show.
My friend Zoran Živković has a special feature devoted to him in the new issue of World Literature Today. There’s a post about it over at the Translation Awards website with links to all of the features, but I’d particularly like to highlight the interview that Zoran gives. It is a fairly wide-ranging discussion, touching on issues such as literary snobbishness and the value of small presses. Right at the end, we discover that Zoran has written a new novel. This was a big surprise to me. When last we met he told me that he had nothing left to write about, and I somehow managed to miss the publication announcement back in March. But, as it turns out, the Serbian government has its uses. I shall be emailing him to find out what is happening regarding the English language edition, which it appears is currently only available in a boxed set with the Serbian, German, Slovakian and Hungarian editions.