A new voice in digital publishing
In 2018 Penguin Classics reissued the collection of Classical Japanese poetry One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each translated by Peter MacMillan, which is a full translation of an ancient and very popular book that in Japan is called Hyakunin isshu. This book is a key influence on Japanese literature to this day, and (comparable to Shakespeare in the English-speaking world) is a major part of their national syllabus.
Have you ever found something that makes you really think? I was in a second hand bookshop recently and saw a copy of Catullus’ poems, translated by Peter Whigham, under the always attractive Penguin Classics label. It was not going for much, about £2, so I picked it up with a ‘why not?’.
Singer in the Night is a novel about the Balkans conflict of the 1990s and the long term trauma it inflicted on its youth. It tells the story of the generation that came of age during the war and how they internalised its violence and hatred. Now 38, Clementine lives in modern-day Slovenia, working as a successful screenwriter. But after a car accident leaves her comatose, she awakes to re-evaluate her life and realise that, by distancing herself from memories of conflict, she has thrown away her chance of love.
