Andrey Kurkov present in global media, his work to be published in 41 languages

The news about Andrey Kurkov abounded in the last weeks, here's a choice of the most important announcements, articles and interviews:

Pen America hosts Andrey Kurkov for the ›Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture‹, to be held on 13 May, as part of the PEN Voices Festival, also according to The New York Times.

Andrey Kurkov discussed the Russian invasion and his book Grey Bees live on TV station France 24 (English, 9:25 min). He also did a remote interview with Dutch TV station VPRO (English, 13 min) on the Russian invasion and its impact on language and culture. US media outlet PBS News Hour talked to Andrey Kurkov about the current state of the war. La Repubblica from Rome features Andrey Kurkov at the London Book Fair. The Guardian editor Viv Groskop features Andrey Kurkov and the way the war has changed his life. Swedish paper Dagens Nyheter as well as Vienna paper Die Presse published Andrey Kurkov’s essay »Bills and Animals«. Portuguese Lider Magazine published a long interview with Andrey Kurkov, in which he talks about what Putin’s worldview might further imply. The New Statesman makes an update after their prewar feature of Andrey Kurkov – and ends with a grim quote by the author: »The country which was fighting the Nazis became the Nazis for Ukrainians. Bombing maternity clinics and theatres where people are hiding is not something actually you can forget.«

Furthermore, we sold Georgian rights of Death and the Penguin, thereby taking the languages in which all of Andrey Kurkov’s books have been or will be published to a solid 41. 

Grey Bees reviewed by The New Yorker, to be published in 25 languages

Review quotes for Grey Bees:
»Grey Bees is a gentle, sometimes ambivalent book about a conflict that had its share of moral complexity.«
The New Yorker / New York

»And this one is actually kind of a sweet simple story, but in a way that’s deceptively so. You watch someone’s sweetness be pushed to its limits.«
The New York Times Book Review / New York

»May more novels follow.«
The Independent / Dublin

»This book lingers in the details, and every detail bears significant power.«
Electric Literature / New York

Over the course of the last month, we sold Spanish rights of Grey Bees to Alfaguara, Portuguese rights to Porto, Swedish rights to Natur och Kultur and Slovak rights to Slovart. Finnish rights for Grey Bees are under negotiation. 

Rights of Grey Bees sold as of today: 
Chinese/CN: Beijing Imaginist
Croatian: Bozicevic
Danish: Mr. East
Dutch: Prometheus
English (UK): Quercus
English (US): Deep Vellum
Estonian: Tänapäev
Farsi: Ofoq
Finnish: tba
French: Liana Levi
Greek: Kastaniotis
Hungarian: Művelt Nép
Italian: Keller
Japanese: Sayusha
Mongolian: Tagtaa
Norwegian: Cappelen Damm
Polish:  Noir sur Blanc
Portuguese/PT: Porto
Romanian: Editura Paralela 45
Russian original: Folio
Slovak: Slovart
Spanish/world: Alfaguara
Swedish: Natur och Kultur
Ukrainian: Folio

The film Deep Water now released internationally 

After quite some delay due to the pandemic, the long-awaited Deep Water with Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas is finally out on Prime Video and on Hulu simultaneously.

The erotic psychological thriller gives fans of Patricia Highsmith everything they so dearly desire: a secretive couple who seems at the same time poisonously open about their infidelities, an enigmatic plot translated into an obscure marital game by director Adrian Lyne (Basic Instinct, Fatal Attraction) and – snails: those fascinating creatures that the author Highsmith could hardly do without, that have time and again found their ways into her stories and now, once more, onto the screen.

Script: Zack Helm and Sam Levinson.
Production: Entertainment 360 / New Regency Pictures. 
Executive Producers: Steven Zaillian, Garrett Basch, Guymon Casady, Ben Forkner, Anthony Katagas, Arnon Milchan, and Philipp Keel (Diogenes Entertainment GmbH). 

Diogenes' publisher Philipp Keel receives the ›Premio Enrico Filippini‹

On the occasion of the Literature Festival in Ascona (Switzerland), Diogenes' publisher Philipp Keel was awarded the ›Premio Enrico Filippini‹. Since 2013, the award highlights people and initiatives in the world of books which show bravery and creativity. Renowned book critic Maike Albath gave the laudatory speech, important media reported on the event, such as FAZ.

Our books travel!

And you can join them. The Frankfurt Book Fair featured four of them in this April's publication German Stories: Daniela Krien's Love in Case of Emergency, Benedict Wells' Hard Land, Bernhard Schlink's Olga, and our picture book The Big Cuddle by the Meyer brothers.

Just published and English rights sold to Pushkin Press: Deep Dark Blue by Seraina Kobler

The new young female detective, the setting of the crime series and the intriguing intertwining of the world of science and our daily lives is also presented in our monthly podcast (in German) here. 

We sold English world rights of Seraina Kobler's Deep Dark Blue to Pushkin Press one month before publication. 

Selling English rights prior to its publication at the end of April is an especially good omen for the author – and the mystery series of which it is the start. Furthermore, the book shot straight to #9 of the Swiss bestseller list upon publication.

If you would like to read an English sample, please let us know.

Now published in translation: Daniela Krien's Love in Case of Emergency in Chinese (simplified characters)

Chinese edition by Beijing October

The book was recommended on the ›International Women's Day Reading List‹ of Shanghai Oriental Newspaper as well as by Jingdong for World Book Day.

Now published in translation: Frances Face-Maker by William Cole, illustrated by Tomi Ungerer in Italian

Italian edition by Lupoguido, Milan

Liked by readers, praised by the press: The Hunt by Sasha Filipenko

Sasha Filipenko's The Hunt has been on the Spiegel bestseller list for five weeks now, and counting. Here's the latest press:

»For all the novel’s savagery, this is sophisticated literary fiction, many-voiced and free in its form.«
Erik Lim / Südwest Presse, Ulm 

»In a remarkably nimble tone, Filipenko succeeds in portraying the perversities of the Russian state apparatus.«
Lukas Koschyk / Nürnberger Nachrichten

»In this very readable book, Belarusian author Filipenko shows that commercial fiction doesn’t have to be apolitical.«
Rheinische Post, Düsseldorf

»With his highly literary, sophisticated prose, Filipenko takes us into the heart of the country on several narrative levels.«
Annemarie Stoltenberg / NDR Kultur, Hamburg

»Perhaps not reading from the history books after all. Sadly, this novel has proved to be timeless.«
Wolfgang Koydl / Die Weltwoche, Zurich
 
»A jumble of voices as chaotic as the country in which moral categories like good and bad seem to have abdicated, and a lack of conscience reigns.«
Lilo Solcher / Augsburger Allgemeine

»Filipenko has written a brutal, a disillusioned book, that fits today's perception of Russia in a haunting way.«
Johann Michael Möller / Cicero, Berlin

Italian rights for Samson and Nadezhda sold to Marsilio

We have sold Italian rights for Samson and Nadezhda to Marsilio and have received an offer for Polish rights and Croatian rights. Here is the full rights sales list to date:

English (MacLehose)
French (Liana Levi)
Greek (Kastaniotis)
Italian (Marsilio)
Portuguese/PT (Porto)
Russian (Folio)
Spanish/world (Alfaguara)
Ukrainian (Folio)

Joachim B. Schmidt's Tell ›Swiss booksellers' favourite 2022‹ and praised by the press

After topping the Swiss bestseller list upon publication and spending four weeks on the Spiegel bestseller list so far, the book has just been chosen as the ›Swiss booksellers’ favourite 2022‹.
  
And the book keeps being praised by German language media: 

»In his new novel, Tell, he returns to his homeland to reimagine the ancient Swiss legend of William Tell in a sublime new way – namely, with all the excitement of a western.«
Denis Scheck / SWR, Stuttgart

»218 years after Schiller, Joachim B. Schmidt pulls apart the legend of William Tell, rearranges its component parts, and turns it into a storm of perspectives that reverberates for a long while.«
Oliver Uschmann / Galore, Dortmund

»For anyone after an exciting read, and willing to be persuaded that the story of William Tell can work as a thriller.«
WDR 2 / Cologne

»In this book, Tell is only reluctantly a freedom fighter – Schmidt wanted to create a realistic Tell.«
SRF / Zurich

»Driven from cliff-hanger to cliff-hanger by its staccato narrative style, this is literary fare to be devoured with great enjoyment.«
Karin Waldner-Petschutschnig / Kleine Zeitung, Graz

»He allows the characters surrounding his shady protagonist to take it in turns to have their say, turning this well-known legend into a psychological kaleidoscope.«
Axel Hill / Kölnische Rundschau, Cologne

»Tell is one of the best books of the season.«
Ulrike Plapp-Schirmer / Heilbronner Stimme

»So he is a modern Tell, which may also be so convincing exactly because it was not written in Switzerland, but with a lot of distance in Iceland.«
3sat Kulturzeit / Mainz

Furthermore, Tell is among the recommendations by New Books in German. This implies a guarantee for Pro Helvetia’s financial support of an English translation, and their interest in funding further translations.

The book ranks second on Swiss radio SRF’s bestseller list both in March and April.

Donna Leon's Give Unto Others is a #9 on The New York Times bestseller list

Give Unto Others by Donna Leon made it to #9 of the New York Times bestseller list upon publication. Furthermore, the book ranked #14 on the hardcover list of the American Booksellers Association.

Critic Mark Sanderson picked Give Unto Others as the best new crime fiction in March in The Times. 

»It may be Donna Leon’s 80th birthday this year but it is her readers who will be getting a present, in the form of a new Commissario Brunetti novel, Give Unto Others.«
Financial Times / London

»Give Unto Others is no less mysteriously compulsive than its 30 predecessors… Thanks for giving such civilised pleasure for half a lifetime.«
The Tablet / London

»There has always been another reason to read Leon: the elegance and wit of her prose. Virtually every page contains a sentence that demands to be quoted.«
The Sunday Times / London

Just published and praised by the press: In a Hidden Cove by Luca Ventura

The third part of the successful detective series set in the Gulf of Naples is now out. 100'000 copies sold for the first two instalments, Spanish and Catalan rights sold to Catedral and Univers.

»His crime fiction also makes wonderful holiday reading: exciting, entertaining, and intelligent.«
Sabine Weichelt / Freie Presse, Chemnitz

»Entertaining and enjoyable, a pleasure to read.«
Dorothea Husslein / SWR 2, Baden-Baden

Gem from our backlist: Joey Goebel, I Know it's Going to Happen for You Someday

Our license trainee Lena Baumann recommends: 
Joey Goebel writes about the feeling of being alone – and creates a book in which we all come together. In ten stories, the author links people in a small town in Kentucky. They have all encountered loneliness in its various facets, but none of them succumb to it. An impressive, sensitive search for ways out of loneliness. A novel about a feeling that could not be more timely after the years of the pandemic. Written with Joey Goebel's quiet humour, a book of hope and love, because I Know it's Going to Happen for You Someday.
 

Just published and praised by the press: For a Lifetime by Christoph Poschenrieder

A man is accused of murder and his friends take his side: surely, he cannot – he must not – be a murderer. Christoph Poschenrieder explores the complicated connections between friendship and morals – is the one determined by the other? And how far should loyalty go? We discussed this novel written in true crime style in the April-instalment of our podcast (in German) here.

»By stringing together the protocols, a dialogue emerges – without the voices babbling all at once.«
Maria Wiesner / Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

»A book for readers who enjoy grappling with open-ended questions.«
Susanne Kerkovius / Badische Zeitung, Freiburg

»Poschenrieder’s new novel skilfully takes on the veneer of true-crime reportage.«
Marina Mucha / Galore, Dortmund

If you would like to read an English sample, please let us know.