http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/02/25/boowen.xml
Also an interesting profile of Martin Scorsese where Silence is again mentioned as an imminent movie
http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/film/features/article2308738.ece
Wednesday, 28 February 2007
Tuesday, 27 February 2007
The reason that we've been so insanely busy over the past few days
PRESS RELEASE
Peter Owen Translated Fiction, 2007–2008
In recent years, Peter Owen have published such important contemporary novels in translation as Arto Päasilinna’s The Year of the Hare, recently filmed in Canada, and Angels on the Head of a Pin by Yuri Druznhikov, who was nominated for the Nobel Prize in 2001. Already planned for publication in 2007 is a novel in Catalan, La Magnitud de la Tragedia by Quim Monzo, who worked on the highly successful arthouse movie, Jamon Jamon.
In 2007/2008, Peter Owen is setting up a brand new programme of translated fiction and with the help of funding bodies such as Euclid, Insitut Ramon Llul and others, hopes to produce its most ambitious series of translated fiction in years. Here are the highlights.
Two Days in July (To dage i juli) by Stig Dalager (Denmark)
A literary thriller about the 1944 plot to kill Hitler by one of Denmark’s foremost authors of novels, poems and short stories. This book and its subject is already generating considerable interest among film agents.
The Glass Eye (Lasisilmä) by Johanna Sinisalo (Finland)
Johanna Sinisalo is a rising star of the international literary scene. Her previous work of literary fantasy Not Before Sundown, was critically acclaimed, and this ingenious thriller is a chilling and timely exposé of the dark side of TV culture.
The Seven Churches (Sedmikostelí) by Milos Urban (Czech Republic)
Milos Urban made a huge impact on Czech literature with his second novel Sedmikostelí (The Seven Churches). A unique mixture of Gothic horror and crime noir, it has achieved cult status and is already a best-seller in Spain and Latin America.
Of Dolls and Angels (Des Poupeés et des Anges) by Nora Hamdi (France)
Nora Hamdi is an exciting young French writer of Algerian descent. Her first novel, Des Poupées et des Anges, received spectacularly good reviews and won the Yves Navarre literary award. Of Dolls and Angels deals with the problems of a young girl of Algerian descent growing up as a second-generation immigrant in the Parisian suburbs at a time of social unrest.
For further information on this programme contact Kit Maude or Michael O’Connell
at Peter Owen Publishers, or visit our website www.peterowen.com
Peter Owen Translated Fiction, 2007–2008
In recent years, Peter Owen have published such important contemporary novels in translation as Arto Päasilinna’s The Year of the Hare, recently filmed in Canada, and Angels on the Head of a Pin by Yuri Druznhikov, who was nominated for the Nobel Prize in 2001. Already planned for publication in 2007 is a novel in Catalan, La Magnitud de la Tragedia by Quim Monzo, who worked on the highly successful arthouse movie, Jamon Jamon.
In 2007/2008, Peter Owen is setting up a brand new programme of translated fiction and with the help of funding bodies such as Euclid, Insitut Ramon Llul and others, hopes to produce its most ambitious series of translated fiction in years. Here are the highlights.
Two Days in July (To dage i juli) by Stig Dalager (Denmark)
A literary thriller about the 1944 plot to kill Hitler by one of Denmark’s foremost authors of novels, poems and short stories. This book and its subject is already generating considerable interest among film agents.
The Glass Eye (Lasisilmä) by Johanna Sinisalo (Finland)
Johanna Sinisalo is a rising star of the international literary scene. Her previous work of literary fantasy Not Before Sundown, was critically acclaimed, and this ingenious thriller is a chilling and timely exposé of the dark side of TV culture.
The Seven Churches (Sedmikostelí) by Milos Urban (Czech Republic)
Milos Urban made a huge impact on Czech literature with his second novel Sedmikostelí (The Seven Churches). A unique mixture of Gothic horror and crime noir, it has achieved cult status and is already a best-seller in Spain and Latin America.
Of Dolls and Angels (Des Poupeés et des Anges) by Nora Hamdi (France)
Nora Hamdi is an exciting young French writer of Algerian descent. Her first novel, Des Poupées et des Anges, received spectacularly good reviews and won the Yves Navarre literary award. Of Dolls and Angels deals with the problems of a young girl of Algerian descent growing up as a second-generation immigrant in the Parisian suburbs at a time of social unrest.
For further information on this programme contact Kit Maude or Michael O’Connell
at Peter Owen Publishers, or visit our website www.peterowen.com
Monday, 26 February 2007
Part of a letter that I find myself writing too frequently
'Hi John,
Sorry not to have been in touch, very busy goings on here. I saw the pagan review too and let those interested know. I don't think that it's right to say that we've sunk without a trace - Sycorax is still selling, not fast but new orders are popping up from all sorts of different places and it hasn't been officially released yet in the States I don't think. The sudden drop off in reviews was a surprise, after such a good start in the Big Issue and Independent I thought it'd go on and on. Christmas was a problem too with all the space being taken up by the blockbusters, best ofs, reviews of the year etc. Weirdly another book that we sent out at the same time as Sycorax only got reviewed in the second week of December after most of the 'best of' features had gone. I honestly don't know what goes on at these newspapers/magazines, I fear that a book's fate lies increasingly in the hands of the work experience kids who sift the mail at these places. Of course having said that my own few writerly contacts who indicated that they'd give it a read haven't said anything yet either, maybe something will come of that in time. Part of the problem might have been that people misunderstood the nature of book - thought it to be less 'literary' fantasy writing rather than the sophisticated novel it is.
Don't get pessimistic, remember that Sycorax it is a great book and that as we speak people are buying, reading and recommending it to others. It does take a little time for word to spread.'
http://www.peterowen.com/pages/fiction/Sycorax.htm
Sorry not to have been in touch, very busy goings on here. I saw the pagan review too and let those interested know. I don't think that it's right to say that we've sunk without a trace - Sycorax is still selling, not fast but new orders are popping up from all sorts of different places and it hasn't been officially released yet in the States I don't think. The sudden drop off in reviews was a surprise, after such a good start in the Big Issue and Independent I thought it'd go on and on. Christmas was a problem too with all the space being taken up by the blockbusters, best ofs, reviews of the year etc. Weirdly another book that we sent out at the same time as Sycorax only got reviewed in the second week of December after most of the 'best of' features had gone. I honestly don't know what goes on at these newspapers/magazines, I fear that a book's fate lies increasingly in the hands of the work experience kids who sift the mail at these places. Of course having said that my own few writerly contacts who indicated that they'd give it a read haven't said anything yet either, maybe something will come of that in time. Part of the problem might have been that people misunderstood the nature of book - thought it to be less 'literary' fantasy writing rather than the sophisticated novel it is.
Don't get pessimistic, remember that Sycorax it is a great book and that as we speak people are buying, reading and recommending it to others. It does take a little time for word to spread.'
http://www.peterowen.com/pages/fiction/Sycorax.htm
Peter's 80th
So did everyone see the piece? Peter at his best. He's still very upset about the caviar, talks about it as though it were yesterday. It's not yet been posted on the internet, that seems to happen on the Wednesday at the Telegraph.
Friday, 23 February 2007
Daunt launch report
Right, Blogger no.1 here, apparently. Better than being no.2 I suppose . . .
Well, I'd have to start by saying how great the people at Daunt books were. Organized, helpful, enthusiastic, very knowledgable and patient. The latter because sneakily I made the start time an hour later than I was supposed to - I just don't think that any civilized indoor party should begin when there's a chance of daylight. (Speaking of civilized the wine people were just as good, whisping in like pixies, leaving the wine and whisping out and to date there has been no mention of a bill.) This was also to allow Miranda to turn up at five thirty, do a little monologue into the camera (To be posted on the internet soon), sign some books etc. Of course she thought it was six thirty and there was an hour of my sitting around making smalltalk to an increasingly worried Daunt manager as we tucked into the booze having one of those conversations about how sure we were that people would turn up but we did get the date and the address right didn't we . . ?
Of course she did eventally turn up, shortly preceded by a long lost nephew which made for a fun and appropriate beginning given there's a lot of family comings and goings in the novel. After seven people did indeed start filing in and there was mingling and laughter and eminent folk like Christopher Priest, Bidisha and Duncan Fallowell who teased us mercilessly about what he had written in an interview with Peter (Owen to be printed tomorrow). For me it was rather a strange evening, consistently punctuated by phrases like 'I thought you'd be older, and fatter and balder' and 'how can you possibly have done it? You're so young!'. It transpired that the population of the shop was split between the half who thought that all those in publishing, at least those who are male, are old, fat and bald, and the half who simply thought that I was Peter Owen himself. Again, a not inappropriate mistake given the book in question and one that caused much merriment amongst the P.O.P. staff. At the end of the evening Blogger no1 was heard declaring as he wandered off into the West London night: 'I've been commisioning books since long before I was born!'.
Should you like to know what Peter Owen really looks like then you'll have to buy a copy of tomorrow's Telegraph.
Well, I'd have to start by saying how great the people at Daunt books were. Organized, helpful, enthusiastic, very knowledgable and patient. The latter because sneakily I made the start time an hour later than I was supposed to - I just don't think that any civilized indoor party should begin when there's a chance of daylight. (Speaking of civilized the wine people were just as good, whisping in like pixies, leaving the wine and whisping out and to date there has been no mention of a bill.) This was also to allow Miranda to turn up at five thirty, do a little monologue into the camera (To be posted on the internet soon), sign some books etc. Of course she thought it was six thirty and there was an hour of my sitting around making smalltalk to an increasingly worried Daunt manager as we tucked into the booze having one of those conversations about how sure we were that people would turn up but we did get the date and the address right didn't we . . ?
Of course she did eventally turn up, shortly preceded by a long lost nephew which made for a fun and appropriate beginning given there's a lot of family comings and goings in the novel. After seven people did indeed start filing in and there was mingling and laughter and eminent folk like Christopher Priest, Bidisha and Duncan Fallowell who teased us mercilessly about what he had written in an interview with Peter (Owen to be printed tomorrow). For me it was rather a strange evening, consistently punctuated by phrases like 'I thought you'd be older, and fatter and balder' and 'how can you possibly have done it? You're so young!'. It transpired that the population of the shop was split between the half who thought that all those in publishing, at least those who are male, are old, fat and bald, and the half who simply thought that I was Peter Owen himself. Again, a not inappropriate mistake given the book in question and one that caused much merriment amongst the P.O.P. staff. At the end of the evening Blogger no1 was heard declaring as he wandered off into the West London night: 'I've been commisioning books since long before I was born!'.
Should you like to know what Peter Owen really looks like then you'll have to buy a copy of tomorrow's Telegraph.
Bless 'Em All launch report
Before Miranda Miller's launch, we did, of course, have a launch last week (15/02/2007) for Allen Saddler's Bless 'Em All and before we give you the lowdown on how Miranda's went, we should do the same for Allen. In sharp contrast to the metropolitan setting for the Mephistopheles launch, yours truly, blogger no 2 ( no 1 is 'me' pictured with Miranda Miller below) found himself tearing down the M4 and M5 last Thursday afternoon/evening.
Allen Saddler left his native London over thirty years ago to move to Devon and, from there, built up his writing career still further, while, no doubt, Bless 'Em All was germinating. For a long while, he was the regional theatre critic for The Independent and was often driving in the opposite direction along the M5 from me, reviewing in places like the Bristol Old Vic. It's sometimes forgotten that a literary life can be lived outside the big cities and, in truth, there were just as many people gathered at a country pub/hotel (The Maltsters Arms in Tuckenhay) as there were in Daunt's last night. Instead of turning left out of the tube, though. you simply turned left out of Totnes, hurtled down the hill till you gently rolled over a stone bridge and heard the river babbling by the Maltsters, right up against the bank.
Allen had gathered an interesting crew of Devon folk with a keenness to hear about his book on Wartime London. He gave a talk on the alleys and byways of the English publishing scene at that time: a phalanx of publishers tucked away in the corner of the City that was, literally, blitzed in one night in 1940. This is the central event in Bless 'Em All. Allen then broke convention by reading from his work-in-progress, intended as a follow-up to Bless - The Long and The Short. Again, Allen illuminates the lives of people who have rarely been written about who were living and dying through the war. This time it's soldiers waiting to go to the front and may never get there. From what we heard, it is as raw and powerful as Bless 'Em All, and with another convincing cast of characters. But we suggest you check Bless Em All out first...
It was a fine evening at the Maltsters and our thanks to Allen for masterminding it. So far, in the past year, Peter Owen has had events in both London and Paris, but Tuckenhay in Devon was a match for either of them. Just so you know, the next one coming is Ken Russell at Waterstone's in Gower St (full details will appear on the News page soon) but next up is a report on the Loving Mephistopheles launch....
Allen Saddler left his native London over thirty years ago to move to Devon and, from there, built up his writing career still further, while, no doubt, Bless 'Em All was germinating. For a long while, he was the regional theatre critic for The Independent and was often driving in the opposite direction along the M5 from me, reviewing in places like the Bristol Old Vic. It's sometimes forgotten that a literary life can be lived outside the big cities and, in truth, there were just as many people gathered at a country pub/hotel (The Maltsters Arms in Tuckenhay) as there were in Daunt's last night. Instead of turning left out of the tube, though. you simply turned left out of Totnes, hurtled down the hill till you gently rolled over a stone bridge and heard the river babbling by the Maltsters, right up against the bank.
Allen had gathered an interesting crew of Devon folk with a keenness to hear about his book on Wartime London. He gave a talk on the alleys and byways of the English publishing scene at that time: a phalanx of publishers tucked away in the corner of the City that was, literally, blitzed in one night in 1940. This is the central event in Bless 'Em All. Allen then broke convention by reading from his work-in-progress, intended as a follow-up to Bless - The Long and The Short. Again, Allen illuminates the lives of people who have rarely been written about who were living and dying through the war. This time it's soldiers waiting to go to the front and may never get there. From what we heard, it is as raw and powerful as Bless 'Em All, and with another convincing cast of characters. But we suggest you check Bless Em All out first...
It was a fine evening at the Maltsters and our thanks to Allen for masterminding it. So far, in the past year, Peter Owen has had events in both London and Paris, but Tuckenhay in Devon was a match for either of them. Just so you know, the next one coming is Ken Russell at Waterstone's in Gower St (full details will appear on the News page soon) but next up is a report on the Loving Mephistopheles launch....
Launch!
Last night was, as I may have already mentioned, the night for the launch of Loving Mephistopheles by Miranda Miller. And it went off rather well. Although pictures don't mean a thousand words (1000 words = circa 2 pages but you can fit >1 picture on 1 page. The latter may of course cost more depending on whether it is in a plate section or embedded with the text.) Well . . .
The Books
The Display
Miranda Miller
People in the wonderful bookshop
The majority of our editorial and production departments
Miranda and me.
More people
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