Book v. Journal

The Tuesday March 11, 2008 entry on Silliman’s blog focuses, in part, on the question of curatorial intent and in coming towards a definition of book v. journal. Barbara Jane Reyes continues and expands on the discussion at her blog.

The Zoland Poetry series fits into the discussion, as Ron’s take is that the Zoland series and its ancestors, such as the New Directions annuals, are more journal than book – focusing on “what’s new” rather than being a thematically constituted anthology of previously published work. At the core of Ron’s criteria for naming something a journal is “does it appear predictably, does it have a clear editing principle, does it feature work that has appeared before …”

These are certainly integral parts to the discussion, and any number of Zoland contributors to the first two (going on third) book have been unable to break themselves of referring to each annual as an “issue” rather than “book.” Confusion is more than sex.

So what is it – Zoland?

In answering Ron’s three questions 1) It does appear predictably, in time for AWP each year; 2) clear editing principle (yes, see below); 3) All the work is previously unpublished and focuses on contemporary work, which, by chronological default, is concerned with the “now.”

On a purely practical, marketing level, the project was envisioned as a series of annual anthologies (with ISBNs not ISSNs), so that Zoland N.1 could remain on the shelf for several years, next to Zoland N.5 and beyond. If a journal, its shelf life would be, perhaps, 6 months, and then it’d be coverless and back to dust.

Tied to this move towards book rather than journal is the fact that the Zoland annuals are meant to be read as a continuation of the Zoland Books line, which brought into print poets such as Kevin Young, Ange Mlinko, Bill Berkson, Lisa Jarnot, William Corbett, Michael O’Brien, Patricia Smith, and on. A continuation in the real sense of rather than 3-4 volumes of poetry by individual authors each year, there is instead one Zoland annual that includes a wide swath of individuals previously published by Zoland, individuals who were on the radar (or would be now), and an individual here and there that fits into the larger whole of each annual.

As Roland Pease was the driving force behind Zoland Books and is currently the primary editor for the Zoland Poetry annuals, it is only natural that the “curation” of the Zoland series would have obvious similarities to Zoland’s previous incarnation.

Add in the generous selection of translations in each annual and the ongoing series of book reviews that appear at www.zolandpoetry.com you get what we hope will continue to be an ever evolving and vital part of the world literary community. And if we get bored/ing, we’ll do something else with the words.

Cantabrigia

Back in Cambridge for a couple days of convening over the post-AWP blast of submissions.

Officially there are still two weeks remaining for ZP3 submissions--though we're nearing 100%-plus capacity, so submit now (especially any new choice translations). We'll then take most of April off to get contracts and Word files together and be back with a new set of online reviews the first of May.

We will begin reading submissions again, in earnest, later in the summer, though we will respond, as timely as possible, to any work over/through the transom the next couple months.

And go ahead and spend the money on the Collected Whalen. You'll thank yourself, or the individual you've convinced to drop that much through the coin slot.

Recuperated

AWP is gone and past and am finally caught back up with the rest of life. It was a delight to see everyone Zoland-related and otherwise in NYC. More than a dozen authors from each of books 1 and 2 stopped by to say hello, and festivities were topped off with a group reading at the Bowery Poetry Club, along with readers from New Directions, Zephyr Press, and Ugly Duckling. Audio from the reading will be posted on the Zoland website in early March.

Copies of Zoland Poetry No. 2 should be appearing on store shelves over the next couple weeks.

Besides the post-AWP haze, this blog's relative silence of late has been at the hands of my own boredom in terms of what there is to say about the shrinking amount of poetry in English translation--on store shelves and in publishers' catalogues.

The simple equation is [sparse funding + slim margins = little interest in publishing poetry in translation]. Focusing on fiction at least affords a press the chance of "discovering" the next Bolano, Svevo, or Pessoa. Not so with poetry.

So this is a reality, with a more important reality being the people that continue to translate and publish despite the margins. There is still vital and fascinating translation work being made available by a handful of small and independent presses simply because the work allows editors to shut their eyes to finances and hear only/mostly the words (financial murmuring never fades completely).

Outfits like Tinfish, Action Books, Ugly Duckling Presse, Achiote, the journal Circumference, Nightboat, Archipelago and a scant few others are now responsible for keeping contemporary poetry interesting. Those are not bad hands to be in.

like asia

As retold to me whilst preparing for AWP -- "ow, ow, they're making my head hurt ... Romney just said 'countries like asia are taking our jobs'." So that's the problem -- I had my geography all wrong.

See everyone in NYC -- Gramercy/Rhinelander -- table 79. Go translating Asia!

in December

1. Within the next week final cover and text files for Zoland Poetry No. 2 will be off to the printer, final books will find contributors in mid- to late-January, and copies will be on sale at AWP in NYC.

2. Submissions for annual No. 3 are pouring in, so add yours soon, if you're so inclined, to the Zoland fluvial plain.

3. Höfd[insert here "eth" for "d"]ingi white soft cheese is a nicely priced alternative in the holiday maelstrom. And it's a nice push for a sustainable Iceland.

4. This fall Princeton University unveiled a new certificate program in translation.

the Republic

In his essay "The American Universe" within his revised and newly published collection The Embattled Lyric, Nathaniel Tarn writes:

"Translation is i) a duty within the Republic of Letters; ii) a way of allowing various voices to speak; iii) a means of letting air into the beds of our own letters. Editorial activity is an extension of translation, not only from languages but from disciplines."

Words worthy of beatification; at least some passing time and its consideration.

Translation in Percents

The issue is this -- the current state of literature in translation, especially poetry, is dire; however, doling out money for literary translations to a small number of presses that are largely uninterested in translation but, instead, interested in funding, solves nothing. In a best case scenario, the money provided by the granting organization is sometimes just enough to cover advances, printing, and a modest amount of advertising for a book in translation. There is not usually enough funding to bring the author stateside.

Having one extra title per season does afford the publisher a couple extra minutes during sales conference, a few hundred books get scattered to top independent and university accounts, and then the author gets quickly buried in the presses' backlist, which is otherwise, largely, constructed of regional (based on the presses' provenance) midlist authors. What a resounding success.

What is required is this -- a business model and plan slightly less dull and vacuous. One that considers, first, the author and the press, rather than using "literary translation" as a banner under which to siphon extra funds to the usual suspects.

I'm working on it.