"All true democracies place a high value on freedom of expression in the arts and humanities, as have all U.S. presidential administrations until now."

@authorsguild.bsky.social is presenting a Zoom webinar on 14 May, 10 am PT/1 pm ET about the basics of literary translation contracts:

authorsguild.org/event/transl...

"If there’s a choice between doing nothing and doing something that fails, I’ll choose doing something every time. And if we don’t fight we can’t win."

In addition to exposing systemic problems and root causes, what we also really need is to propose and discuss possible solutions:

Today, @theatlantic.com published a search tool that allows authors to check if their works are in LibGen, an illegal pirate site AI companies copied for their AI systems.

Here's what you can do: authorsguild.org/news/meta-li...

I think it's time to share my new project: The Planchette (theplanchette.substack.com). I talk about horror, sci-fi and fantasy lit from around the world, especially translated work. I've got some fun books in my queue, so please come have a look and follow for upcoming reviews!

"Kenyan publishers face the same problems that small publishers face everywhere, and most of them focus on publishing nonfiction and textbooks in order to survive. Kenyan writers who pen genre and literary works, almost invariably, must self-publish in order to make their books available."

"The bill bars New Jersey schools and libraries from pulling books based on viewpoint discrimination, and requires education boards and governing boards of public libraries in the state to establish and follow clear policies for challenging library materials."

Very pleased with today’s bookmail:
The Black Plague by Theodor Kittelsen. This 1998 facsimile edition collects both the poetry and artwork he did inspired by The Black Plague. I’m familiar with his art but not his poetry, so this is going to be interesting
#booksky

I saw a post on Facebook yesterday about a swan frozen to the ice on Reykjavík pond. People were wondering what could be done and there was a comment from this absolute legend pictured below saying: "I am on my way with the necessary gear".

And there is just nothing cooler than people like this.

This is a fascinating overview of the history of translation philosophy and an examination of the prevailing modern approach (with a great reading list if you're a novice like me).

Translator Kotryna Garanasvili is giving a free talk online via Teams this Monday, 8 November on the topic of coping with the challenges of dialect in translation. It's 1 PM GMT, so a little early for the West Coast (check your local TZ at www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/m...).

Hello all! I've had Bluesky for months but haven't used it much until recently; with that other site sinking fast, I figured it was time to move along with everyone else. So many friendly people are following back, so I thought I'd introduce myself. 👋