We also hope that other authors like Gregor von Rezzori are rediscovered. Meanwhile, some older works by the likes of Heinrich Böll reveal themselves as surprisingly contemporary when read today. Some of the authors we have presented such as Emine Sevgi Özdamar, Saša Stanišić, Alina Bronsky or Yoko Tawada first learned the German language as adolescents or adults - and yet are an integral part of the German literary landscape. This has changed somewhat in recent years, but equality remains a distant dream. Female writers continue to find it much harder than their male counterparts to find a publisher (read the related essay by translator Katy Derbyshire), let alone get translated into English. Regretfully, this is largely owing to a distinct disinterest in the industry. We had discussions about why just under a third of the authors on the list are women. Wasn't anyone already doing this work?īut there were also moments of euphoria when we came across a literary (re)discovery and enjoyed exchanges with great people who are passionate about literature - and especially, about German-language books. We came to believe that such a list did not yet exist. We got tips from translators and became a member of online libraries that lend ebooks. We wrote to writers we were sure were translated, and were surprised when this was not the case. The Goethe Institute also provided lists. We browsed publishers' schedules, wrote to publishers, sifted through online platforms. These novels and stories traverse both "heavy" and "light" literature, and ultimately give the reader new insights into Germany, Austria, Switzerland - and even Europe. Some books are new others are being rediscovered. It's a presentation of good books written by writers you may already know - or should definitely get to know. This is not a best-of list and there is no ranking. This led us to another question: Which books written in German are translated into English at all?Īnd then came an idea: How about compiling a list of these translations? Even if these figures are now a little dated, a visit to an American bookstore confirms that there is a need to catch up. Just 3.5 percent of books in the English and American markets are translations. Our project started out with one key question: Why are German-speaking authors so little known in the US, Great Britain or Australia?
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