The Joys and Challenges of Publishing Books from Abroad

This breakout conversation was led by Arthur Levine, a leading American publisher. Levine is a very funny speaker but tells the story from the publishing world. There aren't many companies that take on the challenges of providing translated books to their readers. I was amazed at his recall of books and his description of the process.

He has a group of readers that he uses when reading books in other languages. Levine has a close connection with these people. They need to know what his criteria is and understand what he likes and dislikes in books. Levine discussed how hard that is to let someone else judge a book, but it has to be done. He also stressed the importance of accuracy verses literal translations which makes for a good book.

Levine said that some of the countries he has the most trouble with is Finland, Russia, and China. He is having a hard time finding people who speak Finnish and are qualified to judge and write good literature. The language itself is very challenging. Russia and China just aren't producing many books at this point.

He attends the Bologna, travels all over the world, and has many connections with agents. The American market is asking for translated books but he emphasized that it is the librarians and book sellers that need to ask for them. The large store book sellers are pushing out the independent book stores, and this changes what is being published. Also, the American market censors its books more frequently, wanting less nudity and violence than other countries in the world.

There are many struggles publishing translated books, but I could see that Levine is committed to this work. When asked to name some of his favorites, he struggled but then came up with these two: The Book of Everything and The Fabulous Feud of Gilbert & Sullivan.