Grandma used to say to Felix that the sun always shines after the rain and that after every uphill climb there’s a downhill stroll. Felix is a deeply unhappy boy, who drags around a large suitcase wherever he goes. Unbeknownst to him, the negative situations and emotions he experiences in life are hidden in the … Continue reading #WorldKidLitWednesday: Felix After the Rain
Articles
Crime Fiction Title Pick: The Farm by Max Annas (Germany)
Eight Hours, Minute by Minute Somewhere in South Africa, a farm comes under heavy attack. No shooters in sight. Only one thing is certain: The attackers are savagely resolute. A diverse group of people barricade themselves inside the farmhouse: women, men, and children; bosses and workers; blacks and whites; a police officer; random visitors. Who … Continue reading Crime Fiction Title Pick: The Farm by Max Annas (Germany)
Crime Fiction Excerpt: Black Souls by Gioacchino Criaco (Italy)
Three normal students. Or so we seemed.At school, as with everything in life, Luigi was a tagalong; I got by, sticking somewhere in the middle; and Luciano was the classic brainiac, with no topic he hadn’t explored or book he hadn’t read.Three good boys, and not because we pretended to be; we had always been … Continue reading Crime Fiction Excerpt: Black Souls by Gioacchino Criaco (Italy)
#WorldKidLitWednesday: The Wolf in Underpants
“High above the forest lives the wolf. An icy cry. Crazy eyes. We know to move our butts when the wolf comes down to eat.” What a start for a children’s book! And this one is excellent, a sly, societal commentary cleverly disguised as a book for children. In this hybrid picture book/graphic novel for … Continue reading #WorldKidLitWednesday: The Wolf in Underpants
Crime Publisher Spotlight – Soho Crime
For more than twenty years, Soho Crime has been publishing atmospheric crime fiction set all over the world. Some of Soho’s most popular stories will whisk you away to France, China, England, Laos, Northern Ireland, Thailand, Australia, Japan, Germany, South Africa, Italy, Denmark, India, Cuba, and Palestine, to name but a few. Soho Crime’s list run the … Continue reading Crime Publisher Spotlight – Soho Crime
Crime Excerpt: First There Was Silence by Leonie Haubrich (Germany)
If only she would be quiet! Her pullover was already quite damp from the excitement and the screaming, and her face was so dark red that it looked almost violet. His own shirt was wet and sticky at the shoulder from her saliva. He knew his way around children, with infants too. He actually knew … Continue reading Crime Excerpt: First There Was Silence by Leonie Haubrich (Germany)
Crime Fiction Pick: Heretics by Leonardo Padura (Cuba)
In 1939, the Saint Louis sails from Hamburg into Havana’s port with hundreds of Jewish refugees seeking asylum from the Nazi regime. From the docks, nine-year-old Daniel Kaminsky watches as the passengers, including his parents, become embroiled in a fiasco of Cuban corruption. But the Kaminskys have a treasure that they hope will save them: a Rembrandt … Continue reading Crime Fiction Pick: Heretics by Leonardo Padura (Cuba)
To Be Translated: BelHell by Edyr Augusto Proença (Brazil)
Sure. Walking down Presidente Vargas Avenue, the city’s main shopping street, taking a left into Ô de Almeida and then a right onto the First of May, as the author does in the first chapter of BelHell does not seem a very attractive opening, now does it? Damn, you don’t know anything about this city, … Continue reading To Be Translated: BelHell by Edyr Augusto Proença (Brazil)
To Be Translated Recommendation: “L’affaire Léon Sadorski” by Romain Slocombe (France)
Romain Slocombe is very at home in Occupied France. Often pictured in a Bogartian fedora, trademark scarf round his neck, he could well be slipping down Avenue Kléber, keeping a wary eye out for the German High Command at the Majestic Hotel, blackmarket supplies tucked discreetly into his overcoat. His knowledge of the period is … Continue reading To Be Translated Recommendation: “L’affaire Léon Sadorski” by Romain Slocombe (France)
#WorldKidLitWednesday: Picture Books for Infants and Preschoolers
A couple of weeks ago, a request popped up in my Twitter feed from none other than Ann Morgan, who read her way around the world: https://twitter.com/A_B_Morgan/status/1277171693463756800 It prompted a flurry of responses from #worldkidlit enthusiasts and inspired me to think about picture books in translation for the very young. While I believe that many … Continue reading #WorldKidLitWednesday: Picture Books for Infants and Preschoolers
