Issue 38 - July 2007

East-Тranslates-East committee member is recipient of the Transatlantic Prize

Congratulations to Albrecht Lempp, Expert Committee member of the East Translates East program of Next Page foundation, who is the winner of this year’s edition of the Transatlantic Prize. The prize is awarded by the Book Institute to outstanding ambassadors of Polish literature abroad. Albrecht Lempp is a translator of Polish literature (Pilch, Lem, Głowacki, Nurowska, Bolecka) and the most prominent promotor of Polish literature in Germany. He was responsible for Poland becoming the Guest of Honor at the 52nd Frankfurt Book Fair in 2000. In 2000-2003 he was director of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in Krakow and since 2003 he has been a managing director of the Foundation for German Polish Cooperation in Warsaw. We would like to thank Mr. Lempp for his exceptional support of Central and Eastern European literature.

New books published

Ferdinand Seibt, Die Bergündung Europas, translation into Bulgarian by Silvia Vulkova, Natalia Koleva, and Rosen Milanov; ed. by Stilian Yotov (AGATA-A, Sofia 2007), supported by the German Language Translations project, funded by GTZ (Association for Economic Cooperation) of the Federal Republic of Germany and Next Page foundation

The brilliant study of the famous German historian Ferdinand Seibt traces the history of Europe in its last thousand years. In his view, Europe is neither just an abstract concept, enclosed in the seminar rooms of the modern academia, nor a bureaucratic construction, designed to facilitate nowadays politicians. As a captivating story-teller, Seibt builds up a narrative about the becoming of Europe and European identity. His construction is not based on one history, but on many interrelated stories: the role of the Church and the dynasties, the routes of the pilgrims and merchants, the ruptures and the breakthroughs, caused by wars and revolutions, as well as the material culture of cities and households, roads and clothes, weapons and fashion. This emphasis on everyday life is a good starting point for anyone, who envisions Europe not as a historical “fossil”, but as “alive” and united.

Joya Blondel Saad, The Image of Arabs in Modern Persian Literature, published by Cadmus Publishers, in Syria and translated into Arabic by Sakhr haj Hussain

This is a thorough and profound study, discussing the problem of defining Iranian-ness through the literary texts of Iranian writers. What is revealed behind the veil of literature is a complex overview, depicting not only the historic relations between Arabs and Iranians, but also the roots of nationalism in a multiethnic state. The book deals with the literary material as with embroidery, where each stitch has some deep political meaning, provided with careful and astute analysis.

“What Arabs Read” – report now available in Arabic

The Arabic version of the report titled “What Arabs Read” is available for download from www.npage.org in the “resources” section. The report details the results of field research conducted in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan and Saudi Arabia and covers multiple aspects of reading including habits, preferences, price sensitivity, purchase behavior, languages and segments.