El anticuario: deals in Poland, Russia and Czech Republic

AST (Russia),  Świat Książki (Poland) and Jota Publishers (Czech Republic) are the new publishers to be added to the list of those who will publish 'El anticuario' (The Antiques Delaer), by Julián Sánchez.

El anticuario (RocaEditorial) is a novel about a secret, a murder, a search, a love and an adventure all over the streets of a mysterious Barcelona. A story of intrigue, suspense and search of the truth, set in nowadays and 15th C. Barcelona. (Plot summary here)

The publishers who had already acquired rights are:  LimesVerlag/Random House (Germany), Querido (The Netherlands), Livanis (Greece) and Einaudi/Stile Libero (Italy).

The August Prize goes to The Destitutes of Lodz!

Last November 23rd we were delighted know that Steve Sem-Sandberg’s much-praised novel De fattiga i Lodz (The Destitutes of Lodz), published in Sweden by Albert Bonniers, won the August Prize, awarded by the Swedish Booksellers Association. 

The jury's motivation was as follows:

"With this collective novel, Steve Sem-Sandberg attends to a specific chapter in the annals of World War II: the Jewish ghetto in the Polish city of Lodz (west of Warsaw), its origin, organisation and heartbreaking conditions under Nazi supervision. It is a story that is told after all the tears have dried, depicted in an almost dry and unsentimental style, a balancing act between fact and fiction that with a basis in the (authentic) Ghetto Chronicles 1941-44, portrays a series of individual destinies with strong integrity, also when they waver or fail".

Despite there being many well-written novels in the category, The Destitutes of Lodz was accorded 17 out of 21 first placements by this years electorates, a landslide victory pure and simple.

SalmaiaLit handles Spanish, Portuguese (Portugal & Brazil) and Catalan Languages rights. All other rights are handled from Sweden by Joakim Hansson at Nordin Agency. Up to now, the following publishers have already acquired rights:

Brazil (Companhia das Letras), Canada (Anansi), Catalonia (La Campana), Czech Republic (Paseka), Denmark (Gyldendal), Finland (Like) France (Robert Laffont), Germany (Klett-Cotta), Greece (Patakis), Israel (Kinneret), Italy (Marsilio Editore), The Netherlands (Ambo Anthos), Norway (Aschehoug), Poland (Wydawnictwo Literackie), Russia (Corpus), Spain (Literatura Mondadori), UK (Faber & Faber), USA (Farrar, Strauss & Giroux).

Here you have a few quotes from the press about this novel:

"This is the best book I’ve read so far […] it’s definitely worth five out of five and a little more".
Yukiko Duke, SvT God morgon Sverige

"This is real literature. A great work of fiction. Steve Sem-Sandberg steps forward as a worthy and completed successor to, shall we say, a PO Enquist – with whom he shares not only the ability to make poetry out of prose but also a fascination for treachery’s and betrayal’s lowest sediment". Per Svensson, Dagens Nyheter

"Perhaps the very first holocaust account that dares to step away from the black and white perspective. In the hands of Sweden’s foremost European storyteller, the truth is not always what it seems". Daniel Sjölin, Babel

"Steve Sem-Sandberg’s latest novel “The Destitutes of Łódź” – massive in size but polished to a light conciseness in every last detail – is also a majestic portrayal where documented facts create the foundation for fictions insight into historical fate". Mikael van Ries, Svenska Dagbladet. 

Dido, Queen of Carthage. By Isabel Barceló

EsEdiciones has just released Dido, reina de Cartago (Dido, Queen of Carthage), by Isabel Barceló. This is a historical novel of adventures based on the character of Dido, the Phoenician Queen who was the founder of Carthage. Dido has always been a very well known historical character and we can find her in works by Virgil, Marlowe or Henry Purcell.

You can read the first chapter in Spanish by clicking (here)

Dido, Reina de Cartago (Dido, Queen of Carthage)
by Isabel Barceló, EsEdiciones (2009)
283 pp.

Queen Dido and a group of loyal followers had to scape from their homeland (the Phoenician city of Tyre) to avoid a Civil War as Dido’s brother wouldn’t allow her to share power with him. This was the beginning of an epopee which would led them to wander accross the Meditterranean Sea in search of a new land to establish themselves, the future and legendary city of Carthage...

In this novel Isabel Barceló tells the story of Dido, who was, according to ancient Greek and Roman sources, the founder and first Queen of Carthage (in modern-day Tunisia). She is best known from the account given by the Roman poet Virgil in his Aeneid, and for her love affair with Trojan prince Aeneas.

Dido’s eventful journey offers us a story which unfolds adventures, love, passion and treason. Told from the Phoenician point of view, this is a chant to collective memory and a story about feelings and human conflicts, about the admiration and love that this outstanding woman aroused amongst her people. 

But this is not only a historical novel of adventures: Dido, Queen of Carthage, also offers a re-reading of classic sources, which have always depicted the Queen as a fragile woman madly in love with Aeneas. Here, Isabel Barceló, focuses on the political side of the Queen: a ruler who was able to protect her people and who wittingly took the best decisions to ensure their survival and their future.

Isabel Barceló was born in Alicante and lives in Valencia. She holds degrees in Philosophy and Literature and has published many articles and short stories. Since 2006 she is also the writer of the literary blog ‘Mujeres de Roma’ (Roman Women) which receives more than 100.000 visits every year and where she writes literary pieces that she discusses with her readers and followers.

Gorge Zarkadakis - New author at SalmaiaLit

We are happy to post information about 'The Island Survival Guide' a novel by George Zarkadakis, a new author (who writes both in Greek and English) that has just joined SalmaiaLit.

'The Island Survival Guide' is already published in Spanish (Ediciones B) and Greek (Kedros), and we hope more foreign languages will follow soon. With remarkable talent and energy, George Zarkadakis creates in this novel a bizarre world brimming with suspense, as well as a fascinating journey into the mysterious nature of identity and consciousness. 

In Spain the author has been compared to a Murakami, Auster or Vonnegut. The Spanish newspaper 'El País' has said: "Philosophical speculation plenty with mystery and abundant literary references are revealed in the narrative world created by Zarkadakis in “The Island Survival Guide” (Ediciones B), a thriller which allows the author to establish a complete drama which unfolds with agility and freshness". - El País 

Below please find more information about the novel's plot and the author.

***

A stunning novel of ideas -and a murder mystery - in the spirit of Haruki Murakami, Paul Auster, or the recent ‘The Remainder’ by Tom McCarthy.

Imagine that you couldn't see your reflection in a mirror or your image in a photograph. Such is the last day of life for Alexander Eleftheriou, a Greek journalist suffering from a rare neurological disease that renders him invisible to himself. Alex must decide whether to have surgery that would correct the problem but wipe out his identity, or waive the surgery to keep his sense of self…but surely die within days. 

Ironically, Alexander's brain disorder is not his biggest problem as he becomes the victim of an assassination attempt. As he sinks into a coma, Alex embarks on a surreal odyssey in his last moments of life, while his newspaper colleagues struggle to solve the mystery behind his imminent death. Alexander's fantastical journey reveals his greater role in the universe as he travels to an infinite bookstore, uncovers dark secrets about his parents' past during the German occupation of Athens in World War II, and reunites with his long lost love, Mina. 

With remarkable talent and energy, George Zarkadakis creates a bizarre world brimming with suspense, as well as a fascinating journey into the mysterious nature of identity and consciousness.

George Zarkadakis (Athens, 1964) is the publisher of Avgo Books, the science imprint of Oceanida Publications. He is the author of four other novels, which have been published in Greece, Italy and Spain. His second novel End of the East was runner up for the prestigious Greek State Literary Prize. George holds a Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence and was formerly the Editor-in-Chief of Focus magazine, the largest popular science magazine in Greece. He has written for television, published short stories, poetry, science books, and several of his plays have been staged in Athens. This is his first novel in English.