Rotterdam Poetry International

The 41st Rotterdam Poetry International Festival takes place from June 11-18. This year's event is devoted to the theme of prose and its relation to poetry. Nordic poets taking part include Jon Fosse, Hasso Krull and Ursula Andkjær Olsen, and there's a special festival blog which may be worth checking out from time to time.

Blogdahl

I recently noticed that Lars Bukdahl's blog has moved to a new home on Blogger. Bukdahl is presently in Shanghai, China, where he is taking part in the Literary Festival together with colleagues Sjón, Riitta Jalonen and Åsne Seierstad.

ELM - autumn issue

The autumn 2009 issue of ELM (Estonian Literary Magazine) is now available online. Its contents include a good many poetry-related items, to celebrate the birth in 1609 of Reiner Brockmann, who among other things wrote the first poem in the Estonian language. In an introductory essay, Marju Lepajõe presents the life and work of Brockmann, and also lists some of the anniversary events, which include an international conference. There are English versions of poems by Timo Maran, and an account of Moonstruck - the first international Full Moon Poetry Festival, which was held at Luhtre Farm and Haimre Village Hall in Raplamaa county under a full moon from the 12th till the 16th of September, with guests including Sujata Bhatt, Viggo Madsen, Mathura, Lauri Sommer, Kauksi Ülle, Andres Ehin, Ly Seppel and Ban'ya Natsuishi. Shetland poet Lise Sinclair writes of

the memory of walking in the Estonian forest; the particular trees and people met; hearing the songs and the stories; the cranes from beneath the surface of the lake; music and dancing; the night dogs; haiku voices of Estonian and Japanese; and the absolute warmth of friendship, sauna, dark bread... all are now as immediate as the moon appears on Shetland and Estonia at the same time and we are joined by those silver threads, woven through the sky of a whole winter.

Íslandsferð - 3

Chad Post has written up his account of the Reykjavik Literary Festival for the online magazine Publishing Perspectives, where he says that A Year After the Meltdown, Iceland is Hot:

The events were very well attended, which shouldn’t be that surprising, considering there’s been increased sales of Icelandic fiction in the domestic market. Most publishers figured that in a time of great economic upheaval, self-help and nonfiction would dominate the best-seller lists, but instead, it seems that most Icelandic readers are looking for an escape. According to Úa Matthíasdóttir of Forlagið — Iceland’s largest trade publisher — there was a surge in sales for fiction last Christmas that went against conventional wisdom.

At Three Percent, Chad also has a post about new and established Icelandic authors.

Íslandsferð - 2

Chad Post is back from Iceland (slow link, but it does work).

Íslandsferð

Chad Post is en route to Iceland, and may already be there.

E-books and translation

Over at Three Percent, Chad Post is publishing in four parts the presentation on e-books and literary translation he will deliver at next week's Icelandic Literary Festival in Reykjavik. The first part can be read here, and the subsequent installments are appearing on a day-to-day basis.

Upcoming events

Just a reminder that the Reykajvík Literary Festival runs from September 6-12, and the Gothenburg Book Fair from September 24-27.