Politics and
Prose
FROM PUBLISHING TRENDS (MARCH
2005)
This story was contributed
by Efrat Lev, Foreign Rights Director
at the Harris/Elon Literary Agency
in Jerusalem. She participated in this year's Editorial
Fellows Program at the Jerusalem International
Book Fair.
Those of us
living in this country and region know that everything
in our lives is political; and those attending this
year's lively Jerusalem International Book Fair experienced
first-hand that even a book fair can be influenced by
the complicated situation in the Middle East. It was
obvious that the increase in the number of attendees
at the Fair should be attributed to the relative calm
and the current cautious optimism felt here after the
change of the Palestinian leadership. The opening ceremony
of the Fair was a good indication of this, when the
head of Israel's Publishers' Association
discussed in his address the recent cease-fire negotiations.
He was followed by the esteemed novelist David
Grossman, who talked about a writer's life
in Israel during these difficult years, and the hopes
for change in light of recent developments.
Politics proved
dominant in many events at the Fair, from a panel discussion
with foreign journalists who have written books about
the Middle East, to the most exciting event of all--the
literary exchange between Israeli, Arab and Middle Eastern
writers, which took place at the Sheikh Hussein Bridge
connecting Israel and Jordan. The 48 fellows of the
twentieth Editorial Fellows Program,
editors and agents from fourteen countries, were also
greatly exposed to the politics in Israeli life, in
listening to the guest speakers or in their tour of
Jerusalem's Old City.
The Bridge
event, sponsored mainly by the von Holtzbrinck
Publishing Group, was planned and organized
by Deborah Harris of Israel's Harris/Elon
Agency, who realized over the years that there
has been no dialogue between Israeli and Arab authors
at the Fair. Over 300 participants, including the fellows
and other international publishing professionals, local
and foreign press and writers and poets gathered on
a beautiful sunny day to discuss literature together,
trying to leave behind-if not forgetting--political
differences. The atmosphere was relaxed and the discussions
were held in good spirit, moderated by Michael
Naumann, former German Minister of Culture.
The topics of discussion were "How Does Language
and Place Affect Your Identity as a Writer" and
"Can Writers Change the World". The authors
and poets who participated in the discussions and readings
were speakers of Hebrew, Arabic, French, English, Dutch
& Turkish. To an inquiry about whether there are
any real political benefits to such a meeting, noted
Israeli author A.B. Yehoshua replied,
"This is another drop of engine oil in the wheels
of peace…for me, this may be yet another meeting
of many that took place already and will continue to
take place--but I will never tire of such events."
The happy faces and the extraordinary human connections
made that day indicated that indeed there can, and should
be a link between literature and politics.
A more industry-oriented
event at the Fair was the International Buzz
Forum, moderated by PW's Daisy
Maryles, at which editors and agents presented
current projects. Some of the titles discussed were
Charles Lambert's Fern Seed (Isobel
Dixon at Blake Friedmann,
UK), The Lost Thoughts of Soldiers by Delia
Falconer (Fran Bryson, Australia),
Chosen: The History of An Idea, An Anatomy of An Obsession
by Avi Beker (Scott Mendel,
U.S.), and Julie and Julia: 365 days/524 recipes/One
crappy apartment kitchen by Julie Powell
(Wylie). The Israeli authors who created
interest among the editors this year were Sayed
Kashua (Harris/Elon), Etgar Keret
(The Institute for the Translation of Hebrew
Literature), and newcomers Alon Hilu
(Harris/Elon) and Maya Arad (Xargol
Publishers).
©2005
Publishing Trends
