20th March Newsletter

What’s On At Veranda

Welcome, welcome! After the busy-ness of last week, we’ve had a more chilled few days at Veranda, enjoying the sun and catching up with our neighbours in Seymour Place. Shutting up shop at the same time each day gives us consistent evidence that Spring is officially here! Some in our community are celebrating Nowruz, the Persian New Year – we’d like to wish you Nowruz Mobārak!

And to those marking Eid ul-Fitr, Eid Mubarak!

Wishing you all a joyful time with your loved ones!

Discover

The David Bellos Translation Prize

Exciting news from Janklow & Nesbit, a major literary agency based here and in NYC: a new translation prize in the form of a £2,000 award, and the offer of representation.
Dedicated to the late David Bellos, who devoted his professional life to language and translation as a Professor at Princeton and eminent literary translator of Georges Perec and Ismail Kadare among others, this prize demonstrates the agency’s desire to “give more voice to stories from around the world, foster a global exchange of ideas and introduce English language readers to cultures and places they might not have even heard of.”
If you’re a translator, or know any, please check out the details – we have more info at the shop if you’re able to call in. Submissions are invited until the 10th May; we’ll be keeping a close eye on this very welcome addition to the literary translation landscape!

Author Profile: Han Kang

While Japanese literature in translation has dominated the conversation about Asian writing for years now, the recent rise in popularity of Korean writing has been sharp – coming as it does on the back of the wider Hallyu Wave, the name given to Korean cultural offerings from music to film to food.
And at the forefront of Korean literature: Han Kang, winner of the International Booker Prize 2016, for The Vegetarian (tr. Deborah Smith), and in 2024, the Nobel Prize in Literature for her collective works – the first Asian woman to win.
Kang is a writer deeply attuned to South Korea’s painful history of violence and resistance. Her most recent novel We Do Not Part referred to the Jeju massacre of 1948, and further state-sponsored atrocities both in Korea and Vietnam. An earlier work, Human Acts, focused on the massacre of Gwangju in 1980. That Gwangju is Han’s birthplace gave this novel a personal slant; more personal still is 2018’s The White Book, which takes the form of an extended poem. At its heart, is the loss of Han’s newborn sister, years before the author’s own birth.
The Vegetarian,​which will have been the gateway for many readers into Han’s work – and Korean writing more broadly – is a disturbing novel, combining beauty with violence. Even Han herself has professed to being surprised by its success. Despite the human suffering evident in Han’s work, her intense, poetic prose and abundant empathy continue to find new audiences in the anglophone world.
Han fans will love…Light and Thread (tr. Maya West, e.yaewon, Paige Aniyah Morris) a newly-published collection of essays, poems, photos and diaries through which Han traces a ‘gold thread’ of connection and reflecting on her creative process as she goes
Looking for more Korean Literature? Our recommendations…
  • Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung (tr. Anton Hur) – short story collection which blends aspects of horror, sci-fi and fairy tales. Slightly terrifying with laugh-out-loud moments
  • Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Jo (tr. Jamie Chang) – a poignant representation of women’s rights and everyday misogyny in modern-day South Korea
  • One Hundred Shadows by Hwang Jungeun (tr. Jung Yewon) – a fascinating depiction of the less glossy side of life in Seoul, written with emotional restraint and a hint of fantasy. Recommended by Han Kang herself.
Subscriptions

Now Booking

An evening with Ali Isaac

We feel very lucky to bring you an event in collaboration with Héloïse Press, an independent publisher championing women’s stories. On the 9th April, we’ll welcome Ali Isaac to the shop to discuss her memoir Imperfect Bodies. Ali’s daughter Carys was born with a rare genetic condition, and Imperfect Bodies is a literary record of her journey as a mother, a reflection on identity, the female body and social definitions of ‘normal’.

We hope you can join us for this very special evening; 6.30-8.30. Tickets are free, but spaces are limited – sign up now via the link, or call in at the shop to reserve.

Sign me up

Our Recommended Reads

shop now

The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran by Shida Bazyar (tr. Ruth Martin)

At a time when Iranian stories take on particular significance, we are highlighting two very timely novels. Alison is recommending Shida Bazyar’s multi-generational story which follows an Iranian family through the revolutions of 1979, into exile and back again to the homeland. Capturing youthful political resistance and the realities of immigrant life, this is a novel of hope and heartbreak providing real insight into the complex contemporary history of Iran.

Women Without Men by Shahrnush Parsipur (tr. Faridoun Farrokh)

Leo’s pick: Banned in Iran on its publication in 1989, and resulting in a second jail term for its author, Women Without Men is a short but multilayered novel that traces the interwoven destinies of 5 women from a cross-section of Iranian society.
While the themes may be inherently political, Shahrnush Parsipur narrates the story hypnotically as a fable, incorporating magical realism and Iranian mysticism. This often creates a sense that you could be reading more of a fantasy novel, but make no mistake: this is a hyperrealist feminist novel which sets out to explore a route to liberation for women in Iranian society, which sadly feels as unattainable now as it was in the 1950s, when the novel was set.

What we’re loving this week…

Emily has been gripped by the (now Oscar-winning) documentary Mr Nobody Against Putin, following teacher Pavel Talankin as he uncovers the indoctrination of school children to support the war in Ukraine. The fast that we’re able to see what’s really going on at the heart of Russia and the ideology that a lot of the teachers believe is what makes this documentary truly shocking. Talamkin has still managed to create a hopeful film that celebrates the idea of truth and the love he has for his home town.
Leo celebrated St Patrick’s Day at the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith, where five-piece Irish folk band Some One’s Sons delivered joy in spades. In spite of his early refusal to dance, several pints of Guinness later, he relented and joined the jigging on the dance floor. A very late but highly enjoyable night!
Alison enjoyed a trip to the Royal Academy to see the Rose Wylie exhibition, on til the 19th April. Full of big, bold paintings, this is a bright, exuberant show – Wylie’s imagination roams from famous women to childhood memories, all captured in her colourful, childlike canvases.
She’s also been loving James Blake’s new album Trying Times. Noone else sounds quite like Blake – his distinctive airy vocals, electronica and hip-hop samples combine to strange but singular effect.

Be the first to hear

Sign up to the newsletter to get this delivered to your inbox weekly

left aligned logo
Facebook Twitter Instagram Linkedin Google Youtube

7 Seymour Place
London W1H 5BA

Browse

Navigate

Newsletter

Subscribe to get special offers, free giveaways, and once-in-a-lifetime deals.

Website designed and built with love by Studio 77.