Next Page Foundation

Issue 70 - July 2010

Ina Doublekova — 2010-07-27T11:23:52Z

New books published

Ugresic, Dubravka, No Body's Home, transl. into Arabic by Medhat Taha, (Al-Mahrosa Publishing House, Cairo 2010), supported by the South-South Translation Program of Next Page

No Body's Home is a collection of essays, divided into four sections. The first part consists of very short feuilleton-like pieces. The other sections offer longer essays, mainly reflecting on home and abroad, traveling, Europe and Europeanness, literary geopolitics, and consequences of globalization on national and other identities. It remains to be seen what would the Arab readers' reception of this emblematic for post-1989 Europe author be.

Al Aswany, Alaa, The Yacoubian Building, transl. into Bulgarian by Nadejda Rozova (“Prozoretz” Publishing House, Sofia 2010), supported by the Encounters Program of Next Page

After numerous translations throughout the world, this best selling Arabic novel for 2002 and 2003 has been translated for the first time into Bulgarian. Written in the vein of roman à clef, The Yacoubian Building is set in 1990 at the time of the first Gulf War, and is a thorough scanning of modern Egyptian society since the Revolution of 1952. It talks about poverty, immigration, corruption of the political system, and the dangers of the extremist Islam, but also introduces the tabooed topic of homosexuality.

Issue 69 - June 2010

Ina Doublekova — 2010-06-29T09:39:28Z

“My Grandma and the Wild Swans” presented with two workshops at the Goatmilk Memories Festival 2010

Gorna Bela Rechka is a tiny, remote, village, hidden in the Balkan mountain of Northwest Bulgaria. Since 2004, however, it has become an attractive destination for a growing international crowd, which visits it in May. You may wonder what might be the reason? The annual Goatmilk Memories Festival, at which people come to enjoy the beautiful nature and to indulge to the home-made goat milk of the few elderly inhabitants left in Bela Rechka. More importantly, they gather to discuss and explore together, through the many venues and workshops, the overlaps between personal stories and collective memories.

Tossen Ramar children's book “My Grandma and the Wild Swans” was presented during this year's Goatmilk Memories Festival. What is more, the story inspired a three days theatre workshop with primary-school students, predominantly with a Roma background, which took place beforehand at “Vassil Levski” school in the near town of Vurshetz. Tossen read the book to the children and afterwards they had to choose their favorite words from it and to develop their own narratives. The account of one of the leading teachers of the workshop says it all: “it all begun with one class from the school, but gradually the whole school joined it and at the very end even children from the neighborhood, who do not attend this school, came to participate!”

To visualize the enthusiasm of the workshop, the author of “My Grandma and the Wild Swans” involved in a game the audience, gathered at the presentation of the book in Bela Rechka. Split in smaller groups, they tried to imagine how a Roma child first feels when entering a mainstream school, what are the common stereotypes he or she faces, and what can be done to change them. This time, however, the game triggered a very serious discussion. Furthermore, it proved that sharing personal stories and dreams in an honest manner, as the one used in children's book, allows better understanding of each other which helps to work better as a society.

Tossen Ramars' book “My Grandma and the Wild Swans” was developed and published within the Our Stories project of Next Page foundation.

Young Comics Artists “Migrated” to Haarlem for a Workshop

“When it was time to come back home everybody felt happily sad in that particular way, which shows that something wonderful had happened.” This is how Aleksandra Chaushova describes her experience as a participant in the “Migrating Comics. Perspective of the European Traveler” workshop, which took place in the beginning of June in the Dutch comics' capital - Haarlem. She is one of the four Bulgarian comics artists, selected by Next Page, as a partner of the organizers from “PlatformSpartak”.

20 young artists from Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands who wrote and draw together stories about travel, meeting of differences and the joy of diversity in all kind of journeys: in the future, in the belly of a cook, in a bus full of babushkas.... During the first four days (and nights), spent in the historical fortress Penningsveer, the participants had a workshop on making a travel diary and “comics jam” sessions. In the evenings, the adventure continued with cooking together nationalmeals.

For the next three days, the artists moved to Haarlem, where they participated in the famous Haarlem comix festival “Haarlem Stripdagen”, this year with a special focus on Eastern Europe - Komiks from the other half. The agenda included animated movies from the East, presentations, a lot of drawing and excitement. As a final result, all travel stories, drawn during the workshop, will be published in a book.

New books published

Khoury, Elias, Little Mountain, translated into Albanian by Hysen Sinani and Sulejman Tomçini (Zenit Editions, Tirana 2010), supported by the Encounters Program of Next Page

Little Mountain (1977) is the second novel by the worldwide known Lebanese writer, intellectual, and defender of the Palestinian cause Elias Khoury. It is set during the Lebanese Civil War in the Christian neighborhood of Beirut – Ashrafiyya – a little mountain inside the capital city. Through a postmodern piling up of five different narrating voices the author depicts the war chaos, the blast of anger, and the flash of hope. Through a fragmented chronicle of the war events, Khoury gives a shape of his progressive vision of Lebanon, and advocates for secular and democratic values.

Issue 68 - May 2010

Ina Doublekova — 2010-05-27T09:44:33Z

New books published

Tossen Ramar, My Granny and the Wild Swans (Moyata baba i divite lebedi), Next Page and Stigmati Publishers, Sofia 2010, in Romani and in Bulgarian language, supported by Our Stories project of Next Page

My Granny and the Wild Swans is beautifully written and vibrantly illustrated by the Romani author Tossen Ramar. It tells the story of a little Roma boy, who, encouraged by his grandmother, discovers the fascinating world of books in the city library. The tale sounds like a contemporary parable about how one can become the subject of his own integration without falling into the trap of stereotypes.

The book is written and published in the framework of Our Stories project that encourages new contemporary writing for Roma children.

Storyborders (Razliki v kartinki), Next Page and Roborid Publishers, Sofia 2010, supported by comiXculture I project of Next Page

Yes, it is finally out! The first Bulgarian collection of comic stories for grownups entitled Storyborders and published as a result of several artistic workshops in 2009/2010. It all started with an attempt to see how the abstract topic of differences can be put into stories in which words and pictures coexist peacefully. It took more than a year of work by six Bulgarian illustrators and a 8-years Romani boy, two demanding editors, one fantastic graphic designer and plenty of synchronization energy to get to this wonderful edition. The book is a charming combination of graphic styles and a variety of approaches to the topic, including several eccentric ones which undoubtedly will be of use for anybody who prefers to think before acting.

Storyborders promotion event on the 29th April in Sofia gathered a large crowd of young visual artists, open-minded readers and a lot of media attention. Pencils and paper were on disposal so the event gradually turned into a collective drawing for professional artists and amateurs alike. A rebirth of the Bulgarian comics scene?!

For more information on the collection and to receive a copy, please contact Ina Doublekova at comix@npage.org

Moving On with comiXculture II: the Sofia workshop!

What can seven comics artists from places as distant as Beirut and Prague possibly do in the city of Sofia (aside from having a good time)?! They can discuss professional challenges, interact with the local art scene and explore the multiple faces of the city. But above all, they can get inspiration for a series of comics works exploring differences, otherness and diversity in the globalizing world of today. And this is what comixculture II project is all about.

This initiative of Next Page was launched quite inspiringly last year with a workshop for comics artists from Eastern Europe in Beirut, Lebanon. To keep the balance, it was only natural that at the end of April, the second workshop took place in Sofia, Bulgaria. This time participants were four artists from Lebanon: Lena Merhej and Omar Khouri, (who together publish the comics magazine Samandal), Ghadi Ghosn and David Habchy. The workshop also hosted Masa Borkovka and Vojtech Masek from the Czech NGO Asta sme, currently preparing a graphic novel with real-life stories of Czech Roma. Last but not least, there was Aleksandar Zograf from Serbia, acting also as a mentor of the project.

Sofia workshop program had it all: public presentations, group discussions, meetings with Sofia artists, drawing and experiencing the city out off the beaten track. The group was facilitated in exploring the pulses of the city's various neighborhoods, including one of the poorest Roma settlements where language barriers were easily overcome by sharing music and illustrated books with its youngest inhabitants.

Further, there was also a special exhibition of the seven artists of comixculture II and an exciting evening of presentations of their work at a newly open gallery for urban art. That was a unique chance for the young Bulgarian audience to listen to established and upcoming comics artists from so many diverse backgrounds. One of the audiences' comments posted online the day after says it all: “Had a blast! Thank you all”.

First results are already here – we have few comics works motivated by the Sofia experience. These, together with the stories drawn after the Beirut workshop will get published in a single volume in English language. Further, the artists will use the inspiration gained to continue their work on comics on diversity, which will be translated into Bulgarian, Serbian, Czech, Romanian, Slovenian, Hungarian, Arabic, and presented to the wider audiences in popular magazines.

More news on comiXculture II will be coming very soon! For more information, please contact Ina Doublekova at comix@npage.org.

Issue 67 - April 2010

Ina Doublekova — 2010-04-30T13:28:05Z

New Books Published

Naguib Mahfouz, Dreams, transl. into Slovakian by Marek Brieška (Drewo a srd, Bratislava 2010), supported by Encounters Project

This is a collection of 104 dreams, dreamt and retold by Mahfouz, who appears in the dual position of “dreamer” and “author”. Some of the pieces are short surrealistic descriptions without any interpreting touch. Others sound more like elaborate night thoughts. There are also novella-like dreams, which consist of phantasm scenarios, colored by some autobiographical allusions. As a whole, the book sounds as a dream-diary, wavering between concrete and abstract, vividly realistic and visionary.

Gamal Al-Ghitani, Pyramid Texts, transl. into Slovakian by Marek Brieška (Baum, Slovakia 2010) supported by Encounters Project

The collection Pyramid texts is literally built as a pyramid. It consists of 14 pieces, each of which is shorter than the previous – the last one is just three words long and it says: “Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.” The whole concept is grounded in the mysterious form of the pyramid, made of internal paths. Gamal Al-Ghitani's internal paths lead from pure narratives to mystical impressions, from threading through the visible to grasping the “unknowable”. A book of slow climbing and reading.

Issue 66 - March 2010

Ina Doublekova — 2010-03-29T12:27:13Z

New Books Published

Engin Geçtan, The Smell of Fried Bonito, transl. into Arabic by Murad Mahmoud Awad (Dar Kreidieh for Printing, Publishing & Distributing, Beirut, Lebanon 2010), supported by South-South Translation Project

The Smell of Fried Bonito is the fourth novel of the Turkish psychotherapist and writer Engin Geçtan. It is a rediscovery of Istanbul's charms, beauty, and magic, narrated in the form of a phantasmatic journey through ages and cultures. Struggling with the sense of worldlessness and alienation, Engin Geçtan's protagonist represents “the desire to live more than one life” in order to achieve self-knowledge. Besides the vivid descriptions of people and places, the novel meditates on concepts like “self” and “the other”, “native” and “foreign”, etc.

Apokalipsa Review: Arabic issue – Philosophy – Politics – Emancipation, March 2010, no. 139, transl. into Slovenian by Mohsan and Margit Alhady (Slovenia 2010), supported by Encounters Project

The new issue of the Slovenian cultural monthly Apokalipsa reveals the horizons of Islamic philosophy, critical theory, and political science. The volume covers a broad scope of topics and schools – from the emblematic treatise of Averroes where he defends the use of the Aristotelian philosophy within the Islamic thought, to contemporary reflections on theology, human rights, East-West intercultural dialogue, and Islamic feminism.

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Apokalipsa Review, a cultural monthly from Slovenia, is issuing a call for the 6th HAIKU COMICS volume Contributions (and questions) are welcomed at REVIJA APOKALIPSA, UI. Lili Novy 25, 1000 Ljubljana, marked Haiku comics, until 1 June 2010 or via e-mail (in tif or jpg format, 600dpi BW or 300dpi GRAYSCALE) to the following address: bajabak@gmail.com. For the full text of the announcement, please click here.

Issue 65 - February 2010

Ina Doublekova — 2010-03-01T10:43:43Z

New Books Published

Naguib Mahfouz, Arabians Nights And Days, transl. into Albanian by Hysen Sinani and Sulejman Tomçini (Zenit Editions, Tirana 2010), supported by Encounters Project

This collection of seventeen interrelated tales by the Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz uses as its main hypotext A Thousand and One Nights. The author refashions in a modern perspective some classic Arabian stories, characters and motifs, such as genies, flying carpets, Aladdin, Ali Baba, etc. Along with traditional topics – obsessive love, reincarnations, betrayal – Mahfouz concentrates on human hypocrisy, anxiety, and lost integrity. Though preserving the poetic and magical subtlety of the original, Mahfouz's writing is at the same time deeply ironic; his realism – both psychological and historical.

To fully preserve those layers of Mahfouz's writing is a crucial task, and not an easy one, for the translators. The brilliant Albanian translation is a result of collaboration between Hysen Sinani and Sulejman Tomçini – both among the most renowned contemporary Albanian linguists and translators. The rich vocabulary and the cultivated style of the translation manage to both keep the fairy-tale elements and to depart from them following the author's intention. No doubt that it is only through translations of such a high quality as this one that a more sustainable interest in contemporary Arabic prose can arouse.

Podvizhnite Balkani (Fluid Balkans: collection of studies, NEXUS Project, 2000-2003), ed. by Al. Kiossev, translated into Bulgarian by Prosveta, Sofia 2010. Supported by New Southeast European History Books Project

The collection presents translations of the results of the international research project on How to Think about the Balkans: Culture, Region, Identities (2000-2003). It explores the various attitudes, constructions, and deconstructions of the Balkan space, surveys the unstable concepts of centre and periphery, follows the changing trajectories of migrant flows, and “dives” deep into the melting-pot of the multicultural Balkan cities. The collection gathers texts by contemporary scholars from Bulgaria, Hungary, Turkey, Greece, Romania, Serbia, and Croatia. For more information about the participants in NEXUS and their projects visit their web page.

Issue 64 - January 2010

Ina Doublekova — 2010-02-01T08:20:34Z

New Books Published

Sandra Kalniete, With Dance Shoes in the Siberian Snows, transl. into Arabic by Amira Abo Elnoor, supported by South-South Translation Project

With Dance Shoes in the Siberian Snows is a family history, and a testimony to more than fifty years of occupation of Latvia. It tells the story of human survival during both the Nazi and Soviet repressive regimes. The author – Sandra Kalniete – is a renowned politician and diplomat, ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, and the first Latvian Commissioner at the EU. Her poignant story, which reads like a novel, is the most translated Latvian book in the recent history.

Voices from the Faultline. A Balkan Anthology, A. Johnson, and Zakalin Nezic, Eds., Translation into Arabc supported by South-South Translation Project

The anthology resembles a puzzle - seventy-one “pieces” by twenty-four contemporary Balkan writers, poets, and playwrights. Though being a bit eclectic, it is praised for the passion and zest of the works included. The English translation has been carefully reviewed by Robert Murray Davis from Oklahoma University, who points out a few promising names as Alek Popov, Dragoljub Ackovic, Lidija Dimkovska, Nikolina Kulidjan, Venko Andonovski, and Vladimir Levchev. As for the rest of the writing, he claims it “is sincere without being vibrant”, which is possibly due to the overdone modernist and postmodernist influences.

comiXculture II

Ina Doublekova — 2010-01-07T11:20:44Z

comiXculture II project will address the lack of public visibility of the culturally and ethnically different groups and the lack of representation of their unique experiences by including these experiences in works of a popular genre – the comix. This way the works created through the project will reflect and communicate the diversified and multicultural character of our contemporary societies to young audiences of the majority populations. The works will avoid simple propaganda messages but would rather be aiming at challenging the inertia of rejecting the otherness, the different, and the unknown.

Outcomes:

formulate a network of artists from Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Lebanon, engaged in socially-relevant comixes;

series of comix stories, contributing to the social dialogue on diversity, racism and xenophobia, published in journals with mass circulation in the local languages of the participating countries;

Activities:

first meeting of the participants in Beirut, Lebanon;

second meeting of the participants in Sofia, Bulgaria;

publication of a comix-collection in English, including short comix by both the East European participants on their experiences in Beirut and the Lebanese artists on their impressions of Sofia;

ongoing production of works by all participants;

ongoing publications in high-quality mass journals;

The project is made possible thanks to the financial support of Open Society Institute-Budapest

Issue 63 - December 2009

Ina Doublekova — 2009-12-30T21:47:49Z

Wishing you a very happy New Year!

BEIRUT: WHERE COMIXCULTURE II GOT STARTED

The official languages of Lebanon are two: Arabic and French. The country also has two main religions: about 60 % of people are Muslims and the remaining 40 % are Christians. Its capital – Beirut – is often described as one of the most diverse cities in the Middle East. It is inhabited by both Muslims (primary Sunni and Shiaite, but also Druze and Alawites) and Christians (Maronites, Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholics, Armenian Orthodox, Armenian Catholics, Roman Catholics, Syriacs, Copts, Methodists, Protestants). They all used to live together well, in heterogeneous neighborhoods, before the Civil war.

Doesn't that sound like the right place to have a workshop on diversity issues with renowned East European comics' artists, whose work demonstrates their interest in contemporary social problems, but yet they do not have any first-hand experiences with the Arab world?

It did to us, though! After several months of preselection, the first meeting of the participants in comiXculture II initiative of Next Page took place in Beirut in mid December. Eight East European comics' artists and five Lebanese illustrators met to explore together the multiple faces of post-war city, to discuss issues of diversity and to share professional knowledge.

An evening of presentations and discussions in Beirut

We had a great and a very diverse group: Aleksandar Zograf, Toma Pan and Vladimir Palibrk (all from Serbia), Irena Jukic-Pranjic (Croatia) and Helena Klakocar (Croatia/the Netherlands), Jakob Klemencic (Slovenia), Matei Branea (Romania) and Ivan Bogadnov (Bulgaria). The Lebanese comics scene was presented by Lena Merjer and Omar Khoury, who together publish the Samandal magazine for comics, Ghassan Halawani, Zeina Abirached and Ghadi Ghosh. All of them, in addition of doing comics are involved in other artistic activities such as animations and movies, writing and teaching.

Besides many discussions of professional topics such as on drawing styles and techniques, the five days of the workshop naturally turned out to be an intensive process of getting to know each other out of the box. For the artists coming from different countries in Eastern Europe, neighboring one another, but still separated by many ideologies and historical narratives, it was exciting to compare and contrast the development of their art in each country and to look at the socio-political forces which affected it.

Moreover, they had the chance of exploring Beirut off the beaten touristic tracks with the good guidance of the local participants. They took their guests to the best falafel shop in the city and invited them to celebrate the Lebanon's favorite cheese – labneh; showed them around the newly rebuilt downtown but also let them see the former Palestinian refugee camp, which now has become rather a ghettoized district of Beirut. What is worth mentioning is that one of the main themes which were popping up many times was the issues of war, which the people from ex-Yugoslavia and the Lebanese artists find out to have very much in common. However, they were talking mainly about the personal experiences of growing up and living in a war situation.

The short-term result of this meeting will be the appearance of eight exciting comics on Beirut as seen by the European participants. Thus, another workshop is planned to happen in spring time in Sofia, after which the Lebanese artists will share their impressions from the city in drawing. Those short strips will be then published in one book. Further, every month in 2010 we will have several comics works, expressing a view point on issues of diversity in English. Those works will be translated and regularly published in high-quality magazines in Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, and Lebanon.

The first meeting of comiXculture team was part of the “Comics Encounters” festival, organized by La Maison du Livre in Academie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts (ALBA) as part of the official program of Beirut World Book Capital 2009.

For more information on comixculture II, please contact Ina Doublekova at comix@npage.org

NEW BOOKS PUBLISHED

Josef Wiesehofer, Ancient Persia, transl. into Arabic by Muhammad Jadeed and Ziad Muna (Cadmus Press, Damascus, Syria 2009), supported by the South-South Translation Project of Next Page Foundation

This comprehensive survey of the Persian Empire under the Achaemenids, the Parthians, and the Sasanians is praised as "an outstanding contribution toward and appreciation of ancient Persia." Based on primary written, archeological, and numismatic sources, it covers a huge time span – from the beginnings of the Achaemenid Empire to the Arab conquest. The study questions the reliability and accuracy of the Greek and Roman historical evidence and accounts, disputes the interpretations of the Western scholars of 19th and 20th century, thus offers a fresh Near Eastern perspective on the pre-Islamic Iranian social, cultural, and political history.

Issue 62 - November 2009

Ina Doublekova — 2009-11-30T10:57:48Z

Page Back

Diversity in book consumption in Europe: do we know where we are?

No, we do not know everything. But we know much more now than we knew last year and the year before.

After having analyzed the dynamics of translations over the last 20 years in the Diversity Report 2008, the team of Content and Consulting has now taken another approach by comparing bestsellers list across Europe and looking into the market careers of European fiction authors in the Diversity Report 2009. The result is a report that is multilayered, highly informative and full of surprises. One of them is that reading preferences - even in the bestsellers segment! - seem to be much more diverse across Europe than one would assume. The report even goes that far to suggest that there is much more readers' curiosity and openness to new names than publishers and agents seem to imagine.

The report was presented at a meeting during Buch Messe Wien in November where a small group of experts had a lively discussion, gave critical feedback and suggestions for the future. One can still comment on the report here.

Thanks to Erste Stiftung's support the large gap in data and analyzes of translations and books in Europe seems less scary now. Next step would be to have a larger group of policy makers and stakeholders joining in the debate.

A comics weekend in Sofia

Comics events are rare in the city of Sofia. International comics events are even rarer.

In mid October the Red House for Culture and Debate in Sofia dedicated a whole weekend to mark the last phase of the international European Comics Studio project launched by Hi8us – Birmingham in 2008. The Red House hosted an exhibition of the works of the 11 Bulgarian participants and a separate exhibition of the Bulgarian Nakama club for manga and anime. There was half a day of workshops with trainers of Hi8us, presentations of various artists and a closing discussion on the future of comics in Bulgaria. Next Page had a presentation of its comiXculture program and Yana Genova moderated the closing debate. However, in the absence of publishers and periodicals (other than for kids) Bulgarian comics art lives mostly a digital online life. This is true for publishing of comics but also for discussing it. The online debate on the future of Bulgarian comics that took place in one of the most popular online communities www.comics-bistro.net was much livelier and heated than the “real” one in the Red House.

For a usefull further reading on Bulgarian comics see here http://lambiek.net/comics/bulgarian.htm