Lawrence Schimel
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lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
Lawrence Schimel
@lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
7.1K followers 20 following 6K posts
Reader.
Bilingual (Spanish/English) author & literary translator. Kidlit. Poetry. SF/F/H. Comics. 🌈
He/él
I’ve translated: Maggie Nelson, Danez Smith, George Takei, Juan Villoro, Carmen Boullosa, Trifonia Melibea Obono, Koleka Putuma, etc.
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lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
While you know I am always encouraging you to read more poetry, Rónán, I wouldn't recommend The Jackal's collection for its literary merits...
A photo of me holding a copy of TENDERLOIN by Andrew Wylie featuring on the cover a black and white photo of the author in his youth, unsmiling nd wearing a black beret over long hair.
November 30, 2025 at 10:20 AM
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
Our Hebrew translator Gili Bar-Hillel @gilibug.bsky.social is wearing matchy-matchy socks to our book cover today. 🥰🥰

#kidlit #xl8
A photo of two feet with blue socks with black and white pugs on them, on either side of the Hebrew translation of my board book NO ES HORA DE JUGAR illustrated by Elina Braslina, which shows a white girl with big eyes and long black hair and a smiling black and white pug, both looking straight out, against a blue background.
November 26, 2025 at 11:24 AM
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
So jealous!

There are early finished copies of picture book THE VISIT by Núria Figueras & Anna Font, which I translated from Catalan for @ebyrbooks.bsky.social at their booth at #ncte25!

#kidlit #worldkidlit #xl8

(I also translated JOURNEY OF THE HUMPBACKS which can also be seen in back top row.)
A photo of the Eerdmans booth at the NCTE conference in Denver, foregrounding three picture books: ARTHUR'S CAT, WHO HID THE STARS? and THE VISIT.
November 22, 2025 at 1:54 PM
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
Forthcoming novel by translator Janet Hong!
🎉🎉

#booksky
#xl8
Publishers Marketplace Deal Report Category: Fiction: General/Other November 20, 2025 WHEN WE SWALLOWED THE SEA By Janet Hong Imprint: Flatiron Books Korean-to-English translator Janet Hong's WHEN WE SWALLOWED THE SEA, a kaleidoscopic contemporary Korean family saga pitched in the vein of Min Jin Lee and Rachel Khong, about a young woman from a long line of haenyeo, forced to leave home after a tragedy shatters her family, and her decades-long search for belonging, narrated across multiple voices and three generations, to Caroline Bleeke at Flatiron Books, in a pre-empt, by Annie Hwang at Ayesha Pande Literary (NA).
November 21, 2025 at 3:21 PM
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
The Latvian edition of my picture book ¡QUÉ SUERTE TENGO! illustrated by Juan Camilo Mayorga, translated by Elīna Brasliņa, is about to be published by liels un mazs. This is the 27th edition of our little book! 😍😍

#kidlit
The cover of the Lativan edition of my picture book LUCKY ME! shows the two brothers, one with his eys closed, lying on a field with occasional red flowers, with buildings behind them, and a tree and a dog to the left, and shrubbery in the foreground. The cover has a light yellow wash over it.
November 20, 2025 at 3:40 PM
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
30 years ago instead of doing an (expensive) MFA I made this flyer & posted it around NYC hoping that reading alone could substitute for doing an MFA.
(It didn't quite, in a lot of ways, especially in having community.)
I've written/published a lot less #poetry, my 1st love, than if I'd done an MFA.
A photo of my hand holding a flyer which read: Do you have no-longer-wanted Lpoetry books or literary magazines? Let me come take them away! Young poet (23 years old) is looking to build a library. I'm not in an MFA writing program; I hope that reading widely in all genres and modes of poetry will prove a better education. This is a serious plea, not a scam to get books to sell. No books will be sold; duplicates of titles I already have will be donated to local libraries or given to other aspiring poets. Please call. And then strips with a phone number to tear off.
November 14, 2025 at 6:41 PM
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
Forgot to post a selfie with my translator copies of RO-BO by Argentine author/illustrator Mariana Ruiz Johnson, a sweet #comic for early readers about imagination & friendship, just out from @orcabook.bsky.social, which arrived while I was at the Frankfurt Bookfair.

#kidlit #worldkidlit #xl8
A selfie wearing a blue T-shirt with a pattern of which you can only see a starry night and moon and the head of a man wearing a hat inside a jar, holding a copy of RO-BO, which shows four lids in an amorohous, angular "ship" being moved by a one-eyed spherical robot with a propeller out the top of its head, and four spider-like arms which hold the ship up as it moves through a colorful, surreal landscape or seascape.
November 7, 2025 at 6:37 PM
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
👏🏽👏🏽🎉🎉 @sandraproudman.bsky.social
#kidlit
Vanessa Aguirre at Wednesday Books has acquired Lost and Darling Things by Sandra Proudman (Salvación), a YA fantasy retelling of Peter Pan following an immortal teen bruja, Petra, who must work together with a mysterious captive named W to find the last living faerie, or risk her island becoming lost to a nefarious pirate captain forever. Publication is planned for spring/summer 2027; Kate Schafer Testerman at KT Literary sold North American rights.
November 6, 2025 at 10:45 PM
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
Cover for new
@tiffanytsao.bsky.social novel!

😍😍😍

#booksky
Cover for BUT WON'T I MISS ME by Tiffany Tsao.
November 6, 2025 at 7:37 AM
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
Black skies in Madrid
(22 hours later)
View from my window of the vuildings across the yard and very thick, dark clouds
November 5, 2025 at 3:22 PM
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
More moonrise
View from my window of the nearly-full moon rising over the rooftops. Zoomed in view from my window of the nearly-full moon rising over the rooftops.
November 4, 2025 at 4:56 PM
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
Moonrise in Madrid
View from my window of a nearly-full moon rising over the rooftops
November 4, 2025 at 4:51 PM
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
¡Qué honor!

Our book, HaiCuba/HaiKuba, written by Carlos Pintado & Lawrence Schimel, illustrated by Juan Jose Colsa ( @northsouthbooks.bsky.social ), has been Commended by the 2025 Américas Book Award.

🥰🥰🙏🙏

#kidlit #booksky #haikus #cuba #bilingue #poetrycommunity #poetry #poesia
An announcement graphic from the Américas Award which reads: 2025 Américas Award for children's and young adult literature Commended Titles [Covers for HAICUBA/HAIKUBA and OLD CLOTHES FOR DINNER?!] HaiCuba HaiKuba written by Carlos Pintado and Lawrence Schimel and illustrated by Juan José Colsa Old Clothes for Dinner written by Nathalie Alonso and illustrated by Natalia Rojas Castro
November 3, 2025 at 4:28 PM
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
Congrats to @aliciamartorell.bsky.social whose Spanish translation of Judith Butler's WHO'S AFRAID OF GENDER? (Paidós) just won the 20th Esther Benítez Prize for the best translation from @acetraductores.bsky.social 🎉🎉

#xl8
Announcement of the award with the book cover and the text: PREMIO DE TRADUCCIÓN ESTHER BENÍTEZ 20.ª edición Otorgado por los socios y socias de ACE Traductores a ALICIA MARTORELL LINARES por su traducción de ¿Quién teme al género?, de Judith Butler (Paidós, 2024)
November 3, 2025 at 12:36 PM
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
Terrible news out of Latvia.

🤬🤬😢😢🤬🤬

"A majority of Saeima deputies voted for Latvia to leave the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention and Suppression of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, commonly known as the Istanbul Convention."

eng.lsm.lv/article/poli...
On October 30th, a majority of Saeima deputies voted for Latvia to leave the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention and Suppression of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, commonly known as the Istanbul Convention. After a marathon day of debates lasting more than 13 hours deputies voted to quit the international treaty by 56 votes to 32, with 2 abstentions. Last week, after lengthy debates, the Saeima supported withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention in its first reading. With 52 votes in favour, it was supported by the opposition parties – the United List, National Alliance, For Stability! and Latvia First – together with a coalition party, the Greens and Farmers Union, and several non-aligned MPs. Before the second reading, there was time to submit proposals to the draft law. However, on Wednesday, 29 October, at the meeting of the responsible committee, all proposals were declined, and several participating NGOs were not even given the floor.
October 30, 2025 at 10:59 PM
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
At the Frankfurt Bookfair @buchmesse.de , I once again moderated the Frankfurt Kids Conference, including interviewing beloved Gruffalo-illustrator Axel Scheffler for his opening keynote.

#kidlit #kidlitart #ukkidlit #kidlituk #booksky #fbm25
Axel Scheffler (speaking into the mic) and I, both on stage, looking over our shoulders at a cartoon by Axel displayed behind us, about the sad facts that 1 in 7 primary schools in the UK do not have a library. Axel Scheffler and I on stage during the Frankfurt Kids Conference, as I interviewed him as the opening keynote. I am gesticulating wildly (as is my wont) and behind us, projected on the back of the stage, is one of Axel's drawings.
October 28, 2025 at 4:45 PM
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
👏🏽👏🏽🎉🎉
@vickyweberbooks.bsky.social

#kidlit #latinxkidlit #puertorico #boricua #taino
Screenshot Publishers Marketplace: Children's Picture Book Fiction Vicky Weber's THE LEGEND OF COQUI, THE SECRET OF THE HUMMINGBIRD, and THE SECRET OF THE MIRACLE OF SALOME, in the Taino Tales series, pitched as retellings of Taino folklore, to Rebekah Borucki at Wheat Penny Press, for publication in spring 2026, by Amy Giuffrida at Belcastro Agency.
October 28, 2025 at 1:39 PM
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
Just arrived!

These books are so full of love!

Reesham Shahab Tirtho charts fun, funny, heartwarming domestic moments in the 1st & 2nd year of his daughter's life, in these black & white family vignettes.

Proud to have co-translated them into Spanish from the Bengali together with Tumpa Barua.
A selfie in front of a bookshelf, hold in one hand volumes 1 & 2 of Babuibela by Reesham Shahab Tirtho, square hardcover books with white covers each with a black and white pen and ink family scene (father, mother, little girl).
October 27, 2025 at 2:26 PM
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
At the Frankfurter Buchmesse last week I got our copies of the Faroese translation by Julia Rutt Petersen of my 2 #RainbowFamilies children's books illustrated by Elīna Brasliņa.

Faroese is the 43rd language these books have been translated into!
😍😍
🌈🌈

#booksky #queerkidlit #kidlit #lgbtq #queer
A photo of me at the stand of the Faroe Islands at the Frankfurter Buchmesse #fbm25 holding copies of SEINT UM KVØLDIĐ and TÍĐLIGA UM MORGUNIN, the Faroese translations of BEDTIME, NOT PLAYTIME! and EARLY ONE MORNING.
October 25, 2025 at 11:55 AM
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
New @tkingfisher.com novel announced!

Fanboy squeeeee!

O frabjous day!

#booksky
Sci-Fi/Fantasy Author of WHAT STALKS THE DEEP T. Kingfisher's THE NAKED STARS, exploring the final frontier with uplifted naked mole rat hives on a spaceship that ventures off course to save what appears to be a lost ship, to Lindsey Hall at Tor, in a good deal, in an exclusive submission, for publication in 2028, by Helen Breitwieser at Cornerstone Literary (NA).
October 23, 2025 at 9:43 PM
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
O frabjous day!

New @tkingfisher.com announced!

Fanboy squeeeee!

#booksky
Sci-Fi/Fantasy Author of WHAT STALKS THE DEEP T. Kingfisher's THE NAKED STARS, exploring the final frontier with uplifted naked mole rat hives on a spaceship that ventures off course to save what appears to be a lost ship, to Lindsey Hall at Tor, in a good deal, in an exclusive submission, for publication in 2028, by Helen Breitwieser at Cornerstone Literary (NA).
October 23, 2025 at 1:45 PM
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
Yay! @aliettedebodard.com is coming to Madrid next month!
(And this time I am actually in town! 🙂)
Screenshot of the Sui Generis Festival schedule for November 15: 17:30 - 18:30 h. *Familia, honor y poder: diálogo sobre la ficción y la diáspora" (Futuros rotos, pasados vivos). Mesa redonda con las escritoras Fonda Lee (Estados Unidos), Aliette de Bodard (Francia), Cristina Jurado y Sofía Rhei (España). 17:30 - 18:30 h. La Nube, Casa del Lector (planta inferior) *De la revolución francesa a las puertas del feminismo: el misterioso viaje de Mary Wollstonecraft*. Mesa redonda con los autores Ricard Ruiz Garzón, Aitziber Saldias y Marjorie Eljach. 19:00 - 19:15 h. Auditorio FGSR, frente a Casa del Lector Entrega del Premio Sheridan Le Fanu 2025 a P. Dieli Clark, Rubén Sánchez Trigos y La Nave 19:15 - 20:30 h. Amforio -GSR. frente a Casa de Lector *Narrar lo invisible: Memorias de violencia en los géneros especulativos" (Futuros rotos, pasados vivos). Mesa redonda con las autoras y autores: Fonda Lee (EE. UU.), P. Djeli Clark (EE. UU.), María Fernanda Ampuero (Ecuador), Luciano Lamberti (Argentina), Gabino Iglesias (Puerto Rico), Cristina Jurado (España), Aliette de Bodard (Francia), Carlos Pitillas (España) y Ramiro Sanchiz (Uruguay).
October 21, 2025 at 5:44 PM
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
¡Se abre la veda a los dulces sin gluten!

Spain's gluten-free almond-based holiday sweets season has begun!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

¡Ñam!
Selfie with a big smile holding a turrón (jard almond nougat) and a bag of huesos de santo (marzipan filled with egg custard).
October 21, 2025 at 11:49 AM
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
I got to see @candygourlay.bsky.social in person again (after we first met two decades ago !!! when I hosted the final #SCBWI International Conference in Madrid) last week at the Frankfurt Bookfair where The Philippines was the Guest Country.

#fbm25 #kidlituk #kidlit #booksky
A selfie with Candy Gourlay, both of us smiling, she is holding, one in each hand, copies of her two ecological picture books published by Otter-Barry Books, LITTLE RHINO LOST and IS IT A MERMAID?
October 20, 2025 at 7:11 PM
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
It is after midnight here in Frankfurt so it is now officially my birthday, October 16.

Santiago made the traditional birthday tortilla to celebrate together before I left.

And now I am celebrating at #fbm25 with my big "family" of fellow book lovers.
🥰🥰
A photo of me, a middle aged white guy with short-cropped dark hair and a salt and pepper beard, wearing a dark grey polo shirt and holding a white plate with a large round tortilla española on it. The tortilla has two, lit numeral candles on it indicating my age: 54. Behind me are bookshelves full of books.
October 15, 2025 at 10:01 PM