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Deborah Levy Agree- Length Book Recommendations from Our Ing to Guest-Edit, Writer and Editor West Network of European Literature Fans INTRODUCTION BY ROSIE GOLDSMITH AND WEST CAMEL Can bison read books? Well they can For our first Riveter, we have a star if they are Polish bison! And especially line-up of Polish and European literature when they’ve been brought to life by star experts writing for us: polyglot and trans- illustrator and Children’s Laureate Chris lator Julia Sherwood reviews one of this Riddell. These huge, rare and magnifi- spring’s stand-out translations, Wioletta cent beasts – the Żubr or Bison bonasus Greg’s Swallowing Mecury; Daniel Hahn, gracing our cover – roam the ancient writer, translator and current Chair of the Białowieża Forest and are one of Poland’s Society of Authors, reviews Clementine proudest national symbols. Loves Red, Krystyna Boglar’s delightful Poland’s literature is also hugely im- children’s book; and poet Sasha Dugdale pressive and too rarely read in English. So reviews Jacek Dehnel’s latest poetry we have dedicated our first edition of The collection. We have literary appetizers Riveter to Polish writing and writing about from writers Julia Fiedorczuk and Artur Poland in English, roaming far and wide Domosławski, reviews of crime-writing to forage for some of the most interest- from Aga Lesiewicz and of the short ing reads and reviews, authors and trans- stories of Agnieszka Dale (both Aga and lators, innovations and events, to make Agnieszka are Polish writers working in our contribution to London Book Fair English), as well as some non-fiction and 2017’s Polish Market Focus. With prize- a sprinkling of #RivetingReads – tweet- winning author Deborah Levy agree- length book recommendations from our ing to guest-edit, writer and editor West network of European literature fans. Camel editing, broadcaster and director Our special advisor on our selection of the European Literature Network Ro- of titles is the oracle of all things literary sie Goldsmith as Riveter-in-Chief and and Polish, the translator Antonia Lloyd- with support from London Book Fair, the Jones. In addition, Harriet Williams of the Polish Cultural Institute and the British British Council provides a line-up of the Council, we are confident our Polish bison Polish writers appearing at London Book can now run wild and free. Fair, and Magda Raczyńska from the Pol- Polish literature is in rude health. In a ish Cultural Institute gives us the low- bid to reflect this vitality in our magazine, down on the what, when, who, where and we’ve decided to feature the best new and how of Polish writing in the UK. And this recent Polish literature; to tantalise you magazine would not be possible without with reviews of upcoming Polish writing; our very own Anna Blasiak – translator, and to proselytise about the future by of- Polish literature expert, and perfect Pole fering you a taster menu of work in Polish – who has created the volume you hold in yet to be published in English. your hands. 1 Our team has come together with one broaden the quality and quantity of re- goal: to bring to light the best of Polish lit- views. Not only were the review pages erature in English, and to reflect on how in traditional media shrinking but they reading across borders nourishes us all. were, we felt, becoming too formulaic and To demonstrate this we are giving pride impersonal, and the cast of critics – espe- of place in our magazine to the short story cially of foreign books – was too narrow. Black Vodka, from the eponymous collec- But our dream was always also to create a tion by our guest editor Deborah Levy. print magazine. But that’s not all. We are extending ‘Riveting’ is both our ambition and Ro- our celebration of the LBF Poland Market sie’s nickname: ‘Rosie the Riveter’ was an Focus beyond this print magazine. This American cultural icon in World War II. month, on our website, eurolitnetwork. She was a factory riveter, an early femi- com, we’ll be publishing even more re- nist, representing female workers across views, views, previews and recommenda- the USA, and then adopted as a figure of tions of Polish literature. And finally, at Women’s Power across the world. She the end of March, an expanded version of was also fictional – so, it’s a great story. The Riveter magazine will be available as a The Polish Riveter is our first print download on the site – a free gift, from the magazine, our baby bison taking a few Żubr to you. modest steps but with the ambition to The European Literature Network grow big and strong and roam free across was created to help promote, and raise the whole of European literature. Pick it the profile of European writing in English. up – for free – be caught by its gimlet eye The website was created to support the and be riveted by the best of Polish litera- Network. Our monthly #RivetingReviews ture. were then launched online in 2015 to CONTENTS The London Book Fair Poland Market Focus Riveting Previews Visiting Polish Writers......................................................3 of Polish books soon to be published in English........20 Editorial by Deborah Levy...............................................7 Riveting Views Views and tasters of Polish books Black Vodka (extract) by Deborah Levy......................8 yet to be translated.........................................................26 Riveting Reviews Riveting Reads Tweet-length recommendations of current Polish books in English................................10 of some favourite Polish Reads....................................42 2 THE LONDON BOOK FAIR POLAND MARKET FOCUS VISITING POLISH WRITERS The British Council is delighted to be supporting this very special issue of The Riveter. The writers visiting London for this year’s London Book Fair Poland Market Focus will inspire and challenge you in new ways, both in person over the week and through their diverse publishing out- put in the months and years to come. It’s a really exciting time for LBF’s focus to fall on Poland’s literature, and this magazine provides you with an excellent starting point. (Harriet Williams for the British Council) Artur Domosławski (born 1967), is a Jacek Dehnel (born 1980) is a poet, journalist and reporter. His primary area novelist and translator. In 2005 he was one of interest is Latin America, specifically of the youngest winners of the Kościelski the alter-globalisation movement and Prize for promising new writers. North-South relations. Controversially, He has published five volumes of he became famous for his monumen- poetry and 10 of prose. His first novel, tal biography, Ryszard Kapuściński: A Life Lala (forthcoming, Oneworld, 2017), tells (Verso, 2012), in which he claimed that the story of his grandmother’s life. His Kapuściński’s writing method involved second, Saturn (Dedalus, 2012), is based departing from the on the life of Francisco Goya and depicts precise facts. his painful relationship with his son. His In Latin American third, Mother Makryna, tells the true story Fever Domosławski of a 19th-century fraudster who claimed discusses the com- to be an oppressed Catholic nun. His plex socio-political most recent novel, Krivoklat, is the mono- situation in sev- logue of a lunatic Jacek Dehnel © Krzysztof Dubiel / Instytut Książki eral Latin Ameri- compelled to de- Artur Domosławski © Krzysztof Dubiel / Instytut Książki can countries, disproving myths about stroy great works the continent. In Death in the Amazon he of art. His first exposes the criminal activities of the tim- collection of poetry ber, mining, charcoal and meat industries in English transla- in Brazil, Peru and Ecuador, including the tion, Aperture, will persecution of local ecologists and indig- appear this year enous peoples (see our Riveting Views (Zephyr Press). section). His new book, The Excluded, a With Piotr Tarczyński he has co- summation of 20 years of travelling in authored two crime novels set in turn-of- the southern hemisphere, draws a broad the-century Krakow. Their crime-solving portrait of those “whom nobody will speak heroine is a bored professor’s wife and up for”, ranging from Brazilian street chil- first-class busybody. dren to Egyptian women fighting for their rights. 3 Jacek Dukaj (born 1974) is Poland’s top She is sometimes called the Pablo science-fiction writer, regarded as the Picasso of Polish illustration, and with heir to Stanisław Lem. In 2009 he won good cause. Her work is characterised the European Literary Award, proving by creative verve and originality, as well that his work transcends this narrowly as interesting references to a wide va- defined genre. riety of genres, including cubism, abstract He is known for art, street art and constructivism, all of the complexity of which she puts to innovative use, making his books, and is them her own. Ignerska’s bold, colourful capable of packing illustrations often give the simplest texts more ideas into a new and unexpected significance.Fryderyk single short story Chopin and His Music and Alphabet are two Jacek Dukaj © Krzysztof Dubiel / Instytut Książki than many other fine examples of her superb, mesmerising writers think up in a lifetime. Themes in artwork. martaignerska.art.pl. his work include technological singular- ity, nanotechnology and virtual reality. Dariusz Karłowicz (born 1964) is a phi- He invents entire alternative worlds, losopher, essayist, and journalist. His with every detail in place, including in- work belongs to the traditional Polish vented languages. His favourite writers school of the philosophy of civilisation, in include Greg Egan, to whose work Du- which cultural phenomena are described kaj’s books bear some resemblance. His as particular forms of the universal human Dariusz Karłowicz © Krzysztof Dubiel / Instytut Książki short stories have been translated into condition. eight languages, including English. Author of the His recent novel The Old Axolotl Political Theology is available as an e-book in English annual, a seminal (Allegro, 2015).
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