Another month, another great set of books and events for PEN supporters to enjoy! We’re proud to be promoting not one but three books this coming October, including Chinese writer Chen Xiwo’s controversial and provocative new title The Book of Sins (translated by Nicky Harman), Albanian writer Fatos Lubonja’s The False Apocalypse, set amidst corruption and anarchy in post-communist Albania (translated by John Hodgson), and Lebanese writer Dominque Eddé’s Kamal Jann, a novel about the fate and fortunes of a Syrian family (translated by Ros Schwartz).
Here’s more on each of these PEN award-winning titles, including information about the respective UK author tours:
The Book of Sins, published by Make-Do Publishing
An edgy exploration of sexual and political deviance that should appeal to British fans of fiction by the likes of Irvine Welsh and early Ian McEwan. The book was banned and the author caused an international sensation after he sued the Chinese government to force them to explain the ban…
Chen Xiwo at Blackwells, Oxford on Wednesday 8 October at 7pm
Chen Xiwo in conversation with Nicky Harman and Publisher Harvey Thomlinson at Leeds University on Thursday 9 October at 4.30pm
Chen Xiwo at Word Power Books, Edinburgh on Saturday 11 October at 12pm
You can also Read about how translators promote ‘their’ work from Chen Xiwo’s translator Nicky Harman on World Bookshelf.
The False Apocalypse, published by Istros Books
This unique and disturbing work concerns the events of 1997, a tragic year in the history of post-communist Albania. After the world’s most isolated country emerged from Stalinist dictatorship and opened to capitalism, many people fell prey to fraudsters who invited them to invest in so-called ‘pyramid schemes’. At the start of 1997, these pyramids crumbled one after another causing wide-spread demonstrations and protests…
Fatos Lubonja in conversation with translator John Hodgson at LSE, London on Wednesday 15 October at 6pm
Internal Exiles – Fatos Lubonja (Albania), Peter Kristufek (Slovakia) and Francesca Rhydderch (Wales) in conversation with Rebecca Gould at the Free Word Centre, London on Thursday 16 October at 6.30pm
A PEN Cymru Reception with Fatos Lubonja at the Cameo Club, Cardiff at 7pm on Friday 17 October. This will be followed by a discussion on International Fiction with Peter Krištúfek, Francesca Rhydderch and Fatos Lubonja at 8pm
Fatos Lubonja and Peter Krištúfek in conversation at Rombalds Hotel, Ilkley as part of the Ilkley Literature Festival on Sunday 19 October at 3pm
Kamal Jann, published by Seagull Books
In a world rife with deceit, the fortunes of the divided Jann family echo the conflicts tearing apart the Middle East, Syria in particular. Set in Damascus, New York, Beirut, Tel Aviv and Paris, Dominique Eddé’s gripping novel contains elements of a Greek tragedy – fratricide, strong women, alliances and misalliances of all hues, damaged lives and impossible loves. This is a decaying world undermined by decades of abuse and corruption, against which the Arab peoples rose in the spring of 2011…
Dominique Eddé and Elif Shafak in conversation with Maureen Freely, translator and President of English PEN at Waterstones Piccadilly, London on Wednesday 15 October at 7pm
Dominique Eddé in conversation with translator Ros Schwartz at Birmingham Library on Thursday 16 October at 6pm
Dominique Eddé in conversation with Dr Jane Hiddleston. This is an Oxford Student PEN event in Seminar room 3, St Anne’s College, Oxford on Friday 17 October at 4pm