Six-way-auction for French rights for Sasha Filipenko's The Ex-Son, Dutch rights sold

Meridiaan was quick to snap up Dutch rights for The Ex-Son in April, while the French six-way-auction has been keeping us on edge for a few days – and continues to do so. So far, The Ex-Son is going to be published in five languages.

Rights sold:
Dutch (Meridiaan)
French (to be announced)
Japanese (Shueisha)
Russian original (Vremya)

And of course, press reactions to our German editions remain overwhelming:

»Filipenko’s novel is emblematic of the wound which, even six years on from its first appearance, continues to bleed heavily.«
Bernadette Conrad / Aargauer Zeitung, Aarau

»A brilliant novel that undermines the facts with humour.«
Peer Teuwsen / NZZ am Sonntag, Zürich

»In this novel, too, the young author impresses with his considerable imaginative talents and stylistic force. A must read!«
Lilo Solcher / Augsburger Allgemeine, Augsburg

»Filipenko’s metaphor is impressive: it’s as though it wasn’t Franzisk in a deep sleep, but the world around him.«
Jutta Sommerbauer / Die Presse am Sonntag, Vienna 

French rights for Kalmann by Joachim B. Schmidt sold to Gallimard Noir

We have just sold French rights for Joachim B. Schmidt’s Kalmann to Gallimard’s noir series in an auction. This takes the language count up to seven.
 
Here is the list of foreign rights sold:
Arabic (Al-Arabi)
English (Bitter Lemon Press)
French (Gallimard)
Icelandic (Forlagið)
Slovak (Literárna Bašta)
Spanish (Gatopardo)
 
Here is an update on domestic sales: We have sold around 35’000 Diogenes copies of Kalmann now. 

Now published in translation: Simone Lappert's Jump in Italian

Italian edition by Ugo Guanda (Milan)

Jump was very warmly received by the Corriere della Sera. Here's a longer quote from the review:

»So the reader has put out their feelers and the adrenalin is sky-high even before starting. [...] The characters’ personal fates are told in a discontinuous, but complete manner and for all of them the reader feels a strong, empathic attraction.«
Alessandra Iadicicco / Corriere della Sera, Milan

Now published in translation: Summer Women, Winter Women by Chris Kraus in French

French edition by Belfond (Paris)

The French edition has been very warmly received by the French press:

»A floating effortlessness passes through the whole book, which makes reading it invariably pleasurable and gripping. As if anything could happen. A stronger potion than any other form of suspense.«
Florent Georgesco / Le Monde, Paris

»The figures are portrayed with a great deal of authenticity.«
Frédérique Fanchette / Libération, Paris

»Summer Women, Winter Women is exciting. With a delightful humour, a delightful poetry, a delightful tenderness.«
Isabelle Spaak / Le Figaro Littéraire, Paris

»In the shape of a diary of which you devour every day like a small novella. A picturesque novel, but without any ridiculous nostalgia. An homage full of pungency and tenderness towards all survivors.«
Marguerite Baux / Elle, Paris

Happy 60th birthday, Anthony McCarten!

Anthony McCarten turned 60 on 28 April. In 2015, the novelist, dramatist and screenwriter was nominated for two ›Oscars‹ and won two ›BAFTAS‹ for his screenplay The Theory of Everything, starring Eddie Redmayne as Stephen Hawking. His play Ladies Night continues to be an international hit. Anthony McCarten divides his time between London and Munich.

Benedict Wells' Hard Land to be published in eight languages

We have just sold Polish rights for Benedict Wells’ Hard Land to Wydawnictwo Poznanskie and Catalan rights to Les Hores.

Here is the list of rights currently sold:
Catalan (Les Hores)
Dutch (Meulenhoff)
French (Slatkine)
Hungarian (Geopen)
Norwegian (Forlaget Press)
Polish (Wydawnictwo Poznanskie)
Portuguese (ASA)

Furthermore, domestic sales are overwhelming: We have sold more than 120’000 copies. This is an outstanding figure on the German-speaking market after being published a mere two months ago. 

Moreover, Hard Land was chosen as the Favourite Book of German-speaking Swiss Booksellers in 2021 (here).

Here is further astounding press:

»There can be no doubt that, with this title, Benedict Wells has become the successor to the world’s greatest coming-of-age novel, Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye.«
Lothar Schröder / Rheinische Post, Düsseldorf

»Anyone who doesn’t have a fridge where their heart should be will be captivated.«
Arno Orzessek / rbb Kultur, Berlin

»If one didn’t know better, one could think Hard Land was a centuries-old classic of coming-of-age literature.« Oliver Pfohlmann / Der Tagesspiegel, Berlin

»A phase of life that is often mocked is given new value here, through sublimely talented characterisation.«
Julian Melichar / Kleine Zeitung, Graz

»Benedict Wells proves himself to be one of the best contemporary German-language authors.«
Juliane Fischer / Salzburger Nachrichten, Salzburg

And if you would like to see Benedict talking to Denis Scheck, ›the‹ literary critic in Germany, check out this link.

Due to huge demand, we have just commissioned a full English translation of Hard Land, which should be available by October at the latest. Please let us know if you would like to receive it.

Love in Five Acts (aka Love in Case of Emergency) warmly received by UK press

»Written in unsentimental, affecting prose, this is an intelligent study of female desire, ambition and frailty.«
Hannah Beckerman / Observer, London
 
»Sparse and precise«
Novel of the Week **** / Telegraph, London 
 
»Their experiences of men, children and abortions (and work, horses and forests) are subtly interlinked«
The Tablet, London
 
»Make yourself a hot chocolate or pour a glass of Grauburgunder; you’ll be in Germany any minute«
Saga, London

Now published in translation: Tomi Ungerer's Why am I not you? in Japanese

Japanese edition by Gendai Shokan (現代書館, Tokyo)

Happy 60th birthday, Andrej Kurkow!

Andrej Kurkow turned 60 on 23 April – yes, on World Book Day. His novel Death and the Penguin is a worldwide success. He has been a freelance author since 1996 and also works in radio and television. Andrej Kurkow was born in Leningrad, or St. Petersburg (Russia) today, in 1961, and has been living in Kiev (Ukraine) since his childhood. At the moment, Andrej Kurkow is a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the University of California in San Diego (until November 2021).

János Székely's Temptation – a modern classic that remains in catalogues until today

Claudia says: »If you need a bit of spring or summertime feelings, if you feel like you miss Walpurgis Night, read Temptation.«

»They say it was so hot that night that even at dawn people were covered in sweat, though they danced outdoors, in the open air. There was a small breeze sometime after midnight, it's true, but it served only to set the tricolour paper lanterns on fire, and brought no relief. The wind itself was as hot as if it had come from a fiery oven. So they stamped the flaming lanterns out, leaving only the moon and the stars to light them from the sky. [...]

It was a crazy night, and there was hardly a soul sober in the village. The free-flowing wine had had its effect, as had the all-too starry sky and the slow, steady music– and what generally happens under such circumstances happened that night, too.«
(translated from the Hungarian by Mark Baczoni)

Rights currently sold:
English/UK (Pushkin Press)
English/US (New York Review of Books)
French (Gallimard)
Italian (Adelphi)