Our editors bring you the latest news in global literature from Italy and Japan this week as COVID-19 continues to make its presence known, the one-hundredth anniversary of Gianni Rodari’s birth is celebrated, and traditionally paper-dependant Japan starts investing in a virtual literary presence. Read on for the scoop!
Anna Aresi, Copy Editor, reporting from Italy:
As is well known to people in the industry, the COVID-19 pandemic has deeply impacted the publishing sector on many levels. In particular, the cancellation of most book fairs has deprived many of an important opportunity to meet fellow publishers, authors, translators and illustrators, to discover new releases to potentially translate, and set up those professional relationships that keep the industry alive. However, as we’ve seen over and over again in these months, the scope of the pandemic’s impact has often been countered with inventive, creative solutions to hold these same events in a different format.
One of the book fairs that had to be canceled was the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, one the most important events for children’s literature, taking place in Bologna, Italy, every spring. Originally scheduled to be postponed, it soon became clear that holding the BCBF in praesentia was not going to be possible, and the event happened virtually this past May.
One of the highlights of this year’s edition was the celebration of the one-hundredth anniversary of Gianni Rodari’s birth. Rodari is perhaps the single most important author of children’s books in Italy, having influenced and shaped generations of students, teachers, authors, and illustrators with his poems, short stories, books, and theoretical essays. The BCBF’s website hosts a virtual exhibition, Illustrators for Gianni Rodari, showcasing the works of many Italian artists who’ve illustrated Rodari’s books. In particular, Beatrice Alemagna, an award-winning Italian illustrator based in Paris, participates with her new illustrations for A sbagliare le storie (Telling Stories Wrong), in which an absent-minded grandfather keeps making mistakes when trying to tell the story of Red Riding Hood to her granddaughter, who has to continually correct him. As anyone who’s ever read to young children knows, consistency is key when telling them stories (over and over and . . . over again!), yet as the book shows, deviations from the norm might be as fun and rewarding as the canonical version. Alemagna’s beautiful new visual interpretation of this classic will hopefully be brought to other languages soon!
The BCBF Online Special Edition’s highlights are still available for anyone to consult, while waiting for next edition scheduled to happen in April 2021 . . . hopefully in person!
Xiao Yue Shan, Blog Editor, reporting from Japan:
As we in Japan continue to witness–with adequate trepidation–the COVID-19’s slow (and unpredictable) regression, the nation’s manifold literary publications have also taken advantage of the newly-founded “corona-literature” by releasing issues themed around the pandemic. The prestigious and historic 新潮 Shincho tackled the newfangled genre head on by cohering the contents of their June issue under the byline: “expressions in the age of corona”, featuring Akutagawa-winning author 金原 ひとみ Hitomi Kanehara. Popular literature magazine 文藝 Bungei, in its Summer 2020 issue, also addressed the various perspectives on this unprecedented time with a special feature titled “How Asian Writers are Facing the Corona Pandemic” that brought translated non-fiction from a relatively diverse panel of writers, ranging from Chinese author Yan Lianke to Korean singer-songwriter and essayist Lang Lee to Indonesian author Uthis Haemamool.
Though front doors are cracking open and people are taking advantage of the late onset of rainy season, many of us still continue to be occupied with virtual enclaves for support, activism, and cultural freedoms. Japan usually falls short on this front, as a nation famously in love with print media, but as the population adjusts to living online, certain cultural institutions have taken the premier steps into manufacturing creative spaces on the internet. Most notably, the Musashino Literature Museum unveiled its beautifully designed online exhibitions on June 12, which include presentations on renowned literary critic 秋山駿 Shun Akiyama and 大河内昭爾 Shoji Okochi.
*****
Read more on the Asymptote blog: