Season’s Greetings as 2024 draws to a close: our thoughts look back at some highlights and look forwards at what’s to come. Thank you dear Subscriber, Reader, Surfer, Customer and fellow Promoter for your support and enthusiasm for all things books & translation!
BookBlast® Translation Book Club at Hatchards, Piccadilly
We’ve had a remarkable first year exploring the world through the voices of leading novelists in translation who provide a great antidote to the daily dose of Disaster News in the Media. We featured Annie Ernaux (France), Ismail Kadare (Albania), Andrei Kurkov (Ukraine), Naguib Mahfouz (Egypt), Dubravka Ugresic (Yugoslav-Croatian) & others.
Join us in the New Year at our first meeting on Monday 13 January, to discuss Record of a Night Too Brief by Hiromi Kawakami (Japan)
Literary Estates
The publication of Une femme, deux hommes: Lesley Blanch, Théodore Kommissarzhevsky et Romain Gary launched in Paris in May celebrates a genuinely bohemian literary triangle. A successful, independent woman and an avid traveler, Lesley Blanch was also totally devoted to the two men in her life, playwright Théodore Kommissarzhevsky and later, novelist Romain Gary.
Invited by the Institut français de Bulgarie to participate in their Hommage à Romain Gary, Lesley Blanch, his wife of 18 years, was featured in a variety of talks including a National TV interview about her life with Romain Gary and their 18-year marriage.
BookBlast® ePublishing
Reissue of Honeymoon in Hell by Gael Elton Mayo
This rediscovered WWII novel recounts a 17 year old woman’s escape from Nazi-occupied France with her Russian-Polish husband, and includes an account of giving birth amid the chaos of the bombardment of Bordeaux in June 1940.
“[Gael’s] dash from Nazi-occupied France with her newborn baby at the beginning of the war – she was 17 – makes one of the great escape stories of our day” – The Independent
Fr-En Translation
After losing her parents, 11-year-old Pollyanna moves in with her strict aunt in the South of France. Her philosophy of finding joy in every situation, becomes her guiding light and an inspiration for those around her. A translation from the French of a contemporary rewrite of the story for young adults is in progress.
BookBlast is now a Community Interest Company (C.I.C.)
This constructive change will boost our original mission to champion international literature and emerging voices by as many means possible, with a special focus on independent publishers and translated fiction, across the UK, US, Australia and beyond. Stay tuned for updates!
Wishing you a joyful holiday season, with warm regards,
Georgia, Ekaterina & Team BookBlast®
