In January 2010, Dalkey Archive Press will launch the first in an annual series of volumes to promote European literature.
Edited by acclaimed Bosnian novelist Aleksandar Hemon and with a preface by Zadie Smith, Best European Fiction 2010 will give English-language readers throughout the world a window onto what is happening right now in contemporary European fiction.
'At the heart of the project,' writes Hemon in his introduction to the inaugural volume, 'is a profound, non-negotiable need for communication with the world, wherever it may be. The same need is at the heart of the project of literature.'
Best European Fiction comes at a time when English-language readers are growing increasingly aware of how few writers manage to cross over their national borders. 'We’ve been publishing world literature for over 20 years,' said John O’Brien, publisher of Dalkey Archive Press, 'and those books have always found more readers than the media seems to believe, but there’s only so much you can do. A country like Albania, for instance, might have one book translated into English in ten years, and that one book is supposed to stand in for all of Albanian literature, which of course it can’t.'
O’Brien said that by publishing the anthology annually and including a wide range of countries – from Spain and France, to Croatia, Iceland, Lithuania and Bulgaria – he hopes to give readers more immediate access to contemporary currents across European literature.
The inaugural anthology will include stories from 35 countries and regions, and will bring together writers already familiar to English-language readers – such as Alasdair Gray, Viktor Pelevin, George Konrad and Julian Rios – with many who have never been published in English before. 'The sole criteria for selection was excellence,' said Dalkey Archive’s Associate Director Martin Riker. 'We were out there looking for the very best fiction we could find and what we found surpassed our expectations. In fact, we’ve already signed on a number of novels by the authors we discovered through this project.'
The project has received major support from Arts Council England, with additional support from cultural agencies in Portugal, Spain, France, Finland, Norway, Hungary, Slovakia, Wales, Belgium, The Netherlands, Liechtenstein, Latvia, Switzerland, Estonia, Romania, Iceland, Macedonia, and Lithuania.
Kate Griffin, international literature officer for Arts Council England, emphasised the international relevance of the project. 'Arts Council England is keen to encourage more translation of international writing into English,' said Griffin. 'We have particular enthusiasm for the fact that Best European Fiction will make languages and literatures not often translated into English available to readers in the UK, and are also pleased to be working in partnership with so many other cultural institutions across Europe to support the publication and promotion of this exciting project.'
A UK launch event for Best European Fiction 2010 will be held the Southbank Centre in January 2010 – visit the Southbank Centre website nearer the time for more details.
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