tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8635286264217609432012-02-11T08:37:09.378-08:00Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.comBlogger331100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-19115602738673492602012-02-10T10:54:00.000-08:002012-02-10T10:54:26.482-08:00

My translation of Machado de Assis' classic novella "O Alienista" will be coming out in May from Calypso Editions, a small artist-run cooperative press which I'm a member of, under the title The Psychiatrist. (Cue applause.) Yesterday, I found out that Melville House is reprinting William L. Grossman's 1963 translation under the new title The Alienist, and it's coming out in August. (There's

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-55692156649166273082012-02-07T10:46:00.001-08:002012-02-07T10:46:39.780-08:00

I've been meaning to reactivate this blog for a couple months now, but as usual I've been sitting around waiting for the perfect comprehensive re-launch post to spontaneously type itself into the browser window. No more. A number of factors prompt my return. Two prompt me to re-establish my "home" on the web, and will prompt further clean-up and refocusing in the months to come: I'm getting

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-69754374367735892872010-05-25T15:08:00.000-07:002010-05-25T15:08:31.960-07:00

This blog is pretty much dormant these days, but if you're interested in the kinds of things I discussed here you will probably be interested in the upcoming Future of Reading conference at RIT. I'll be there, so please say hi! For other news and updates, I recommend the blogs listed under "Essential Reading," to the right.

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-43069555277921691882010-03-17T12:45:00.000-07:002010-03-17T12:45:08.503-07:00

E-book typography sucks, which is the main reason I don't read them. Joe Clark explains why, and offers some solutions: Why would publishers scan hardcopies? Aren’t all books produced on computers these days? Yes, but do publishers own those files, or do various freelance designers? Can anybody even find the files? What if they were saved in an old version of Quark Xpress or Ventura Publisher?

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-65425914874621298502010-03-01T20:57:00.001-08:002010-03-01T20:57:26.342-08:00

The first thing I learned to love about a book was its colophon. As the son of a librarian mother and a father as committed to the life of books as only a largely self-educated son of a Kentucky coal miner (the model of Lincoln was hazily present, though my father is anything but tall) could be, I grew up surrounded by books, ranked most impressively on the shelves built into the wall of the den.

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-87379483937291897582010-02-18T11:00:00.000-08:002010-02-18T11:00:05.148-08:00

Borrowing some inspiration from Richard Nash's Cursor project and Hol Art Books, the bizarre Bite-Size Edits wiki, and two of my favorite bookstores (Left Bank Books in Seattle and Boxcar Books in Bloomington, both run by anarchist collectives), after ALTA last fall I started thinking about applying the collective idea to publishing translations. It's really just the next step combining the

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-62392291722296453692010-02-07T10:54:00.000-08:002010-02-07T10:54:43.341-08:00

I'm reading Margaret Drabble's The Pattern in the Carpet: A Personal History with Jigsaws (for the subject matter—I've never tried one of her novels) and her brief description of the Game of the Goose is fascinating. As some quick googling will confirm, it's the original race-themed board game, an ancestor of Chutes and Ladders (a.k.a. Snakes and Ladders), invented (at least apocryphally) by

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-34713346422490179412010-02-06T13:21:00.000-08:002010-02-06T16:19:28.700-08:00

Jonah Lehrer, author of Proust Was a Neuroscientist, wrote a blog post yesterday titled "Borges was a neuroscientist." It may sound equally unlikely, but Lehrer makes a case (himself building on another writer's appreciation) for the connection between Borges' fiction and recent neuroscience work on the formation of abstract concepts. Even a concept as comfortable as personal identity contains an

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-41806360715466470872010-02-03T10:14:00.000-08:002010-02-03T10:14:51.038-08:00

Publishing Perspectives this morning covers a German case which resulted in the establishment of legal minimum pay levels for literary translators. The article and comments discuss the many ways publishers are finding around the rules as well as the vagueness of some of the terms used, but let's just take some rough guesses to get an idea. €15/page for a short 200-page novel = €3000, $4200 at

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-17070294825306611812010-02-02T08:12:00.000-08:002010-02-02T08:12:05.753-08:00

In a fuzzy half-awake flurry of link-clicking, somehow I ended up at India Amos' blog; I don't remember how I got there, but whoever did it, thank you. India seems to cover a whole swath of topics I didn't realize I was missing in my daily feed. She's a book technologist—or at least that's what I'll call her, since she designs books (the paper kind) and is now studying ways to bring her knowledge

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-61176054047486461042010-01-30T12:49:00.000-08:002010-01-31T15:20:37.834-08:00

A friend, on her blog, compared Amazon's decision to Safeway or Kroger deciding not to carry Hershey products. No, it's more like Safeway or Kroger not carrying any meat, or any dairy products, or any fruit and veg—or maybe all Kraft products, since we're talking about giant conglomerates. And neither Safeway nor Kroger nor the two of them together gets at the dominance of Amazon in the

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-65670614587920346922010-01-29T10:58:00.000-08:002010-01-29T10:58:53.313-08:00

For most readers, what defined Salinger as an author was his voice, the way he used language—so it might be surprising that he had huge fame in other languages, too. In Italy, there's an entire school of creative writing called "Scuola Holden" (literally a school, with classes and everything) which takes its inspiration from Salinger; the school is supported by some of the biggest names in

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-79123476535119999272010-01-28T09:05:00.000-08:002010-01-28T09:05:36.141-08:00

José Saramago has announced on his blog something beyond "a mere symbolic gesture" to help Haiti: a new edition of his novel A Jangada de Pedra (The Stone Raft), for which all proceeds—€15 per copy—will go to the Red Cross. Saramago, his publisher, the printers, the distributors: everybody along the way donated their efforts and materials. (The "stone raft" of the title is the Iberian peninsula,

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-71044618170122643012010-01-25T09:45:00.000-08:002010-01-25T09:45:42.129-08:00

On Publishing Perspectives this morning, there's a great piece by Kassia Kroszer about getting the "fundamentals" of e-books right. What she means by "fundamentals" is essentially the design and function of an e-book as a way of providing access to its content: its technology, in a word. For all the fretting and daydreaming about the changes afoot in publishing these days, clear thinking about

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-32219467669586715062010-01-20T17:47:00.000-08:002010-01-20T17:47:54.308-08:00

First the Book Design Review closed up shop... ...then Cognitive Daily called it quits... ...meanwhile the bookstore closings continue, with the latest victims including Duthie Books in Vancouver... ...now the University of Iowa wants to eliminate the Department of Cinema and Comparative Literature. (That's a link to a Facebook group protesting the proposed elimination, but I can't find

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-19491877463824817432010-01-12T19:59:00.000-08:002010-01-12T20:06:31.696-08:00

As I noted when I began this blog, Local Character is intended to complement, not replace, the fantastic work others are already doing elsewhere on the web. I've added links to five such sites in the sidebar. (As long as I had the hood up, I picked a new template too. Before too long, I'll probably migrate to a different platform entirely, one that's more powerful and customizable—recommendations

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-9106613329175634482010-01-07T17:18:00.000-08:002010-01-09T13:44:56.237-08:00

I'm finally back from my post-MLA travels and visits in NYC and environs. I'm a bit jet-lagged, but I've got LCD Soundsystem playing on Spotify and I've just had an espresso, so I think I can do this! "The Tasks of Translation in the Global Context" was the "Presidential Theme" at this year's meeting of the Modern Language Association in Philadelphia. The MLA is the main American scholarly

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-49090041879308739692009-12-27T09:25:00.001-08:002010-01-07T14:48:25.074-08:00

I'm on my way to Philadelphia for the 125th annual meeting of the Modern Language Association. Odd, for someone who's decided against academia as a career path? The theme this year is Translation, and it's a big enough meeting that I can find something to interest even me. There are sessions on "The Disciplinary Challenges of Translation Studies," "Uses of Literature," and "The New Latin American

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-22726541964780242612009-12-23T12:32:00.000-08:002009-12-23T12:35:06.893-08:00

The flood of literary news and opinions doesn't let up, even in the face of holidays, a new year, a new decade, my impending birthday. I would like to think that I have some unique perspective to contribute, even just at the level of curating a collection of links, but the amount of time it takes me to follow and filter the flow doesn't leave enough time for the good writing that should be the

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-81414346272298867322009-12-17T13:41:00.000-08:002009-12-17T13:43:38.612-08:00

OK, so my new content schema and posting schedule aren't working out as awesomely as I'd hoped. Oh, I'm collecting stuff, sure, but with a blog, "behind the scenes" pretty much doesn't count by definition. And we all know where good intentions lead, even if the paving stones are literary doorstops. What derailed me yesterday wasn't a doorstop but a slim, quick book: I read Shirley Jackson's

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-5365388387176596902009-12-15T20:25:00.000-08:002009-12-15T20:44:52.259-08:00

Are agents necessary? The lead article on Publishing Perspectives never quite asks that question: it just describes how, over the last few decades, American-style literary agents have come to be accepted (grudgingly, it seems, and still a minority taste) by French publishers. The article introduces the possible benefits to authors—better information about contracts and sales, particularly foreign

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-64379570288316905632009-12-15T11:18:00.000-08:002009-12-15T11:19:43.562-08:00

In an attempt to tame the incoming flood of RSS feed updates, I'm going to start posting and linking according to a schedule, with a designated focus for each day. The categories are still evolving, but at the moment Tuesday is designated as the day for news and links about 1) translation and language; and 2) French literature and publishing. So this is the translation and language post...

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-37428339976475039832009-12-14T10:40:00.000-08:002009-12-19T10:08:16.074-08:00

Until this morning, I had never heard of literary scouts. Not agents, not editors, not readers: scouts. I read the entire article promising a look "Inside the Secret World of Literary Scouts" and now I know what they do. But I still don't know what they're good for. As far as I can tell, this is an entire profession devoted to schmoozing, hype, and matching the value of a "deal" to the value of

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-74067544732361279632009-12-11T13:40:00.000-08:002009-12-19T10:07:45.710-08:00

After I finished up my last big post with a link to outside.in, I figured it was time for me to actually go sign up for their service and experience it myself. What it's supposed to do is "geotag" content so that you can find news and events based on where they take place, not who's involved or what job they hold. Sounds like just the thing for discovering what kinds of writers, translators, and

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-14525884351549903692009-12-10T09:00:00.000-08:002009-12-19T10:07:17.834-08:00

In celebration of my win in a metal type I.D. contest, I'm bringing some real character to today's link-fest. Local letters (subway division): By now it's well understood that the type in the London tube isn't Gill Sans but an original design by Edward Johnston. But in New York, especially thanks to the hit movie, plenty of people think that the subway signage is in Helvetica. Well, sure—now. (

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-5908003220499732842009-12-09T21:55:00.000-08:002009-12-10T15:07:52.054-08:00

In the past few days, when I've taken a break from tending to this new home of mine on the web and attending to the RSS feeds which keep it going, I've stepped out into my actual town, Port Townsend, Washington. Without doing anything particularly physically involving—I shopped for food, went for a run, watched a movie, ate a meal with a friend—I nonetheless felt I had re-grounded myself in this

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-17417234604679073192009-12-08T12:00:00.000-08:002009-12-08T13:18:06.237-08:00

Publishing Perspectives has noticed that Brazil—with a population of nearly 200 million—represents the 8th largest book market on the planet and, despite the “global” recession, its publishing industry is doing fine. On that page, YouTube interviews (in English) really fill out the story—and continually expose the interviewer's surprise that the Brazilian market can thrive independently of the US

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-3972704614056805982009-12-07T09:55:00.000-08:002009-12-19T10:06:48.411-08:00

My reasoning in launching this blog last week was simply that there was no time like the present, no excuse for delay. But it does take time to figure out new patterns of reading and writing to deal with all the news and ideas I want to track and share here. In the meantime, if you're here because of an interest in world literature then you should certainly know about two things that happened

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-43163166017619881752009-12-04T11:40:00.000-08:002009-12-05T20:43:31.542-08:00

My first post here included a list of books I hoped to review. Those books are now stacked on a corner of my work table where I can see them out of the corner of my eye as I type. Or rather, I can see their covers. We’ve all been told Never judge a book by its cover—but we do it anyway: in bookstores, in libraries, even online. How often, when you choose a book, do you already know it inside and

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-10508101674725418592009-12-03T10:34:00.000-08:002009-12-19T10:06:07.577-08:00

In 1957, a few years after her teenage debut with Bonjour Tristesse, French novelist Françoise Sagan crashed her car, got hooked on painkillers, and went to detox. There she kept a journal, published in 1964 as Toxique, with appropriately raw illustrations by the painter Bernard Buffet. Recently Sagan's son, Denis Westhoff, still saddled by tax debt on his mother's estate and looking for new

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-78763348232109992052009-12-02T11:00:00.000-08:002009-12-19T10:05:39.459-08:00

I suspect most people reading this blog follow many of the same news sources I do, so I'll keep my links limited. And, yes, I'll start building up a blogroll and all those other goodies ... all in good time. Translator Idra Novey, guest-blogging for BOA Editions (who published her translation of Paulo Henriques Britto's The Clean Shirt of It) disagrees with Mario Vargas Llosa's contention that

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-6114740771822052532009-12-01T08:42:00.000-08:002009-12-19T10:05:08.007-08:00

I'm wrapping up a post on book covers; in the meantime, here's some news from around the web: Joan Schenkar's new biography The Talented Miss Highsmith presents Patricia Highsmith as an author "as American as rattlesnake venom": Leonard Cassuto at the Barnes & Noble Review. A time travel story—from nineteenth-century Brazil: Machado de Assis' "A Visit from Alcibiades" at Words Without Borders

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-863528626421760943.post-72557124797040491372009-11-27T18:58:00.000-08:002009-11-28T10:42:53.751-08:00

With this post, I am pleased to launch Local Character. The site takes its name from a lucky coincidence of interests: Contemporary world fiction (narratives of characters local to different places) Typeface design and typography (the design and use of printed characters) Voice (whether spoken or printed, the presentation of character through style in language) Community (the local ties that

Matt Rowehttps://profiles.google.com/102451109905627678980noreply@blogger.com1