New European Fiction

May 1, 2010 | Le Poisson Rouge | NYC

With Naja Marie Aidt, Aleksandar Hemon, valter hugo mãe, Colum McCann, and Jean-Philippe Toussaint

Co-sponsored by Le Poisson Rouge, Dalkey Archive, Granta, and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy

LISTEN | Download the mp3

CLIPS: Colum McCann and Aleksandar Hemon | Readings and Panel Discussion |
Naja Marie Aidt | valter hugo mãe | Jean-Philippe Toussaint

To celebrate the launch of the highly acclaimed new anthology series Best European Fiction, editor Aleksandar Hemon leads two back-to-back programs of reading and discussion.

Continuing their recent conversation in the pages of The Believer, Best European Fiction series editor Aleksandar Hemon will speak with Colum McCann, who will be writing the preface for next year’s anthology, about the current state of fiction in Europe and their own sense as Europeans about what European fiction now has to offer American and world readers. Three contributors to the inaugural volume, from Belgium, Portugal, and Denmark, will read from their work and discuss with Hemon exciting things happening right now in the literature of their countries.

 PHOTO GALLERY
• View the photo gallery on Flickr

PEN BLOGS

• Anderbo.com: Why read translated works? Maybe because English is also a second language for me, Saturday’s event on the importance of translation struck a particularly resonant chord. [more]

• Kathleen Hill: This event in part was a celebration of Best European Fiction 2010, the newly launched anthology. [more]

• Zachary Lazar: A provocative, funny, and frequently inspiring discussion and reading took place at Le Poisson Rouge last Saturday in celebration of Dalkey Archives’ anthology Best European Fiction 2010. [more]

• Martin Riker: Bear in mind that I’m writing about an event I helped organize for a book I published, and I’m not claiming to be objective about either. [more]

• Chad Post: Granta editor and former NBCC president John Freeman opened up this event talking about how Best European Fiction 2010 served as a sort of print version of the PEN World Voices Festival. [more]

• Catherine Texier: Another dark space for a reading and a literary discussion: Le Poisson Rouge, packed, and with little red candles flickering on the low tables. [more]