Deborah Levy; Bulgarian fiction; Jamie Byng's literary pick
Deborah Levy revisits her early work; Kapka Kassabova and Miroslav Penkov discuss Bulgarian literature; and the literary pick of publisher Jamie Byng.
Deborah Levy's last novel Swimming ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ was shortlisted for the Man Booker, the National Book Award and the Wingate Prize in 2012. However that success came after a 15 year long hiatus. With the republication of Deborah's early works, she talks to Mariella Frostrup about those difficult years when her novels went out of print, her relationship to that early work and how it shaped her later books and the impact of motherhood and the Man Booker on her writing.
Bulgaria has been one of the countries in the news in the past few weeks, with politicians and the media endlessly speculating on the number of people who may, or may not, be arriving here, as EU visa restrictions were lifted at the beginning of the month. At Open Book we decided to explore this Black Sea country through that most illuminating of sources - its literature.
Writer Miroslav Penkov, Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of North Texas and the 2012 winner of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ International Short Story Award and author Kapka Kassabova discuss the Bulgarian literary scene
Now don't you love it when you get a recommendation from someone who really knows their stuff - whether it's a must see film, a new restaurant, or an up and coming artist. In a new series, Insider Reading - some of the most influential, and generous folk in the publishing world give us a hot tip on their must read book, and it's not one they've published. First up is Jamie Byng, the publisher of Canongate books and the man behind World Book Night.
Producer: Andrea Kidd.
Last on
Clip
-
'It felt glum that early work going out of print'
Duration: 01:06
BOOKLIST
Deborah Levy's Books:
Ìý
Swimming ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ - Publisher: Faber and Faber
The Unloved - Publisher: Penguin
Beautiful Mutants and Swallowing Geography - Publisher: Penguin
Essay – Things I Don’t Want To KnowÌý- Publisher: Penguin
Ìý
Bulgarian Literature discussion
Ìý
East of the West by Miroslav Penkov: A Country in StoriesÌý- Publisher: Picador (US)
Street Without a Name by Kapka Kassabova - Publisher: Portobello
Twelve Minutes of Love by Kapka Kassabova - Publisher: Portobello
Nine Rabbits by Virginia Zakarieva - Publisher: Istros Books
Circus Bulgaria by Deyan EnevÌýTranslated by Kapka Kassabova - Publisher: Portobello
The Smile of the Dog by Dimana Trankova
She is Here; The Nobel Laureate by Elena Alexieva
The Curse of the Frog by Emil Andreev
Under the Yoke by Ivan Vazov
Short stories by Yordan Yovkov and Elin Pelin
Wild Tales by Nikolay Haytov - Publisher in the UK: Peter Owen Books
18% Gray by Zahary Karabashliev - Publisher: Ciela 2009 Ìý
The Physics of Sorrow by Georgi Gospodinov - Published in the US by Open Letter
Prayers for the Stolen by Jennifer Clement - Publisher: Hogarth Press
Ìý
Ìý
Read the Opening Chapter of The Unloved by Deborah Levy
Chapter 1: The Unloved by Deborah Levy
Ìý
Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Presenter | Mariella Frostrup |
Interviewed Guest | Deborah Levy |
Interviewed Guest | Miroslav Penkov |
Interviewed Guest | Kapka Kassabova |
Interviewed Guest | Jamie Byng |
Producer | Andrea Kidd |
Broadcast
- Thu 30 Jan 2014 15:30³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 4
This Week's Book List
Read along with us - a list of books discussed in each programme