Banthology, New Books, Awards, and Other Exciting News - January 2018

We are proud to announce March publication of Banthology: Stories From Banned Nations, co-published in partnership with Manchester UK-based Comma Press!

This is the type of book Deep Vellum was founded to publish.
Literature offers a means to bring cultures into conversation, to share stories, build connections, grow empathy. The stories in Banthology reflect the shared experience of the human condition that unites us all, and no hateful political ban will ever be stronger than the bonds of our shared humanity.

Become a five- or ten-book subscriber or donate by February 1 and we’ll include your name in the back of the book!

The collection was created in response to Trump’s hateful original order, and remains especially urgent in the wake of recent events resulting in the reinstatement of the ban, and as the world awaits the Supreme Court’s final ruling on its legality.

Banthology brings together specially commissioned stories by writers from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, and Libya in a powerful and poignant reflection on the effects of restricting any type of movement. The stories are told through a range of approaches, from satire to allegory, bearing witness to the emotional and personal impact of existing and potential bans.

“What this anthology confirms is that bans never work. Every story in these pages is a testament to the impossibility of confining the imagination and the human spirit into a narrow space. What you will read are reminders of what it means to exist in this moment in history. At turns hilarious and tragic, ironic and heartbreaking, Banthology should be read everywhere, at anytime. And in particular, right now.”
– Maaza Mengiste, author of Beneath the Lion’s Gaze

Jeffrey Zuckerman Nominated for the Inaugural First Translation Prize!

A big congratulations to Jeffrey Zuckerman and all the other nominees shortlisted for the inaugural TA First Translation Prize!!The prize was founded in 2017 by Daniel Hahn with his winnings from the International Dublin Literary Award, awarded for his translation of José Eduardo Agualusa’s A General Theory of Oblivion (Archipelago, 2017). Aimed at recognizing new talent in literary translation, the award also recognizes editors who take a chance on debut translators.

Jeffrey was nominated for his translation of the CLMP Firecracker Award-winningEve Out of Her Ruins, by Mauritian writer Ananda Devi.

The judges had this to say about the book:

“Jeffrey Zuckerman’s translation is a beautiful thing, undeniably powerful but also sensitive and precise. For me it really is the particular texture of its voices that make this book, that give it its impact – distressing, damaging, hopeless, violent, but, yes, so incredibly beautiful. As with so many of the books on the shortlist, it was hard to believe this is a debut piece of work!”

Don’t miss Carmen Boullosa in conversation with Philip Lopate at McNally Jackson Books!

New York friends! Carmen Boullosa will be at McNally Jackson on Wednesday January 31 to talk about her new book, Heavens on Earth, in conversation with Philip Lopate, author of A Mother’s Tale (Ohio State University Press, 2017)

The event starts at 7:30pm!

Upcoming Releases

Alisa Ganieva’s much anticipated second novel, the tumultuous love story of two young city-dwellers who meet when they return home to their families in small-town Dagestan.
Told in alternating points of view, Bride and Groom explores Dagestan’s internal conflicts with Islamic radicalization in the aftermath of its Soviet past, tradition in the face of modernity, and the blurred lines between superstition and reality.

Publication Date: April 3, 2018 | $15.95 US
Pre-Order Your Copy!

Geography of Rebels presents the English debut of three linked novellas from influential Portuguese writer Maria Gabriela Llansol. With echoes of Clarice Lispector, Llansol’s novellas evoke her vision of writing as life, conjuring historical figures and weaving together history, poetry, and philosophy in a transcendent journey through one of Portugal’s greatest creative minds.

Publication Date: May 22, 2018 | $15.95 US
Pre-Order Your Copy!

The Imagined Land

by Eduardo Berti, translated from the Spanish by Charlotte Coombe
Publication Date: April 17, 2018 | $14.95 US

Evoking Calvino & Yan Lianke, Oulipo member Berti paints a classic tragic love story with sumptuous detail in pre-revolutionary China.
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Revenge of the Translator
by Brice Matthieussent, translated from the French by Emma Ramadan
Publication Date: May 8, 2018 | $15.95 US

A brilliant, rule-defying exploration of literature, the act of writing and translating, and the often complicated relationship between authors and their translators.
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Öræfi: The Wasteland
by Ófeigur Sigurðsson, translated from the Icelandic by Lytton Smith
Publication Date: June 5, 2018 | $16.95 US

An ambitious, epic novel showcasing the brutal elements of human and mother nature alike in Iceland’s most desolate region.