French Graphic Novels in translation, Part I: First Second Books

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Historically, Francophone graphic novels (GNs) have been translated into English in the U.S. more often than other types of books, on average. Famous twentieth-century examples that most English-speaking readers will be familiar with are Asterix and Tintin, as well as the turn-of-the-twenty-first-century breakaway hit, Persepolis. As those three titles hint, GNs can cover a wide … Continue reading French Graphic Novels in translation, Part I: First Second Books

Recent French Graphic Novels for Teens & Middle Schoolers

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March is the month of French translated literature on the GLLI blog, and I wanted to highlight French graphic novels, because they are now an integral part of the French literature world. When I was in Bologna for the International Children’s Book Festival, I was on a mission: to find French translated graphic novels so … Continue reading Recent French Graphic Novels for Teens & Middle Schoolers

Under Cover of Dust

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  For an idle literary translator, what’s a good place to search for foreign fiction? Anthologies and bestseller lists, web wish-lists of books that ought to be translated? Old bookshops where floor-to-ceiling shelves are laden with literature from decades or centuries ago? All good suggestions. But there’s another source which can prove fruitful. If your … Continue reading Under Cover of Dust

Book Review: A Meal in Winter by Hubert Mingarelli

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A Meal in Winter by French author Hubert Mingarelli is a subtle book that quietly but methodically stalks the reader’s sympathies. It does so through a beautiful, spare prose style that begins with the first line: “They had rung the iron gong outside, and it was still echoing, at first for real in the courtyard, and then, for a longer … Continue reading Book Review: A Meal in Winter by Hubert Mingarelli

The Bangkok Book Awards

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Global literature for children exists—but how to find it and connect it with readers? A group of librarians at international schools in Bangkok have developed a new student-choice book award program that 1) helps librarians exchange info about books by authors from around the world, and 2) acquaints students with their finds. Here librarian Kim … Continue reading The Bangkok Book Awards

Excerpt: La Superba by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer

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Someone who looks like a banker walks into the BNL bank on Piazza Matteoti. Someone who looks like a crook—with a broken nose, low forehead, and big, protruding ears—comes out of the police station next door, while eight carabinieri stand smoking on the pavement and laughing and acting out on a friend how they’d arrest … Continue reading Excerpt: La Superba by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer

Review: The Cat Who Came In Off The Roof by Annie M.G. Schmidt

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In search of a cozy, quirky book to curl up with on a winter evening or to read out loud with a young child? The Cat Who Came in off the Roof, translated from the beloved Dutch children's classic, Minoes, may be just the ticket. Shy newspaper reporter Tibble is in trouble with his editor … Continue reading Review: The Cat Who Came In Off The Roof by Annie M.G. Schmidt

Interview with Annemarie van Haeringen, author of COCO AND THE LITTLE BLACK DRESS

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By Heather Lennon Meet Annemarie van Haeringen as we chat with her about her new book, Coco and the Little Black Dress. NorthSouth Books: What inspired you to create a picture book about Coco Chanel? Annemarie: Actually, I was asked by my Dutch publisher Leopold, and the Dutch Gemeente Museum Den Haag to make a … Continue reading Interview with Annemarie van Haeringen, author of COCO AND THE LITTLE BLACK DRESS

The Hunger in Plain View by Ester Naomi Perquin

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Winter Let this winter pass into another winter. No more stately brooding. No bluebird’s eggs. No driven mating or well-built nests. I want the frost to blast the ground forever with every seed or shoot that it conceals. Leave streets as gray as winter has them. The muddy slush of butchered days, two blue mittens … Continue reading The Hunger in Plain View by Ester Naomi Perquin

Book Review: A Hundred Hours of Night

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During the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, the Dutch author Anna Woltz and I switched places. She was hunkered down in New York City while I followed the news from the safety (and sunny weather) of Lisbon, Portugal. But she turned her frightening experience into a page-turning novel, translated by Laura Watkinson and published by the … Continue reading Book Review: A Hundred Hours of Night