Open Letter Books

with Ron Restrepo

This week’s episode is all about one of our favorite publishers: Open Letter Books. Trevor and Paul are joined by translated lit super fan, Ron Restrepo, as they share a few favorite Open Letter titles, talk about the ones they can’t wait to pick up next, and discuss the importance and magic of this vital and exciting press.

We also announce the winner of our giveaway of Arabesques! Oh, and we have another giveaway . . .

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Open Letter Books Giveaway!

Generously, Open Letter is giving away a 12-Month Subscription to a lucky listener. You can jump in here even if you don’t live in the United States! Here is where you can see what a 12-month subscription entails, and if you don’t win you can make your order!

But wait, how do you enter to win? You need to send an email to mookseandgripes@gmail.com that includes the following:

1. either your favorite Open Letter book or, if you are just getting to know them, one they have published you’d most like to read, and

2. the upcoming Open Letter book you’re most looking forward to.

To help you in your research, here are two links.

1. The Open Letter Books catalog

2. The Open Letter Books upcoming releases

We will be drawing the winner in the early morning of Saturday, April 1, so get us your emails soon! And don’t hesitate to reach out to us (a great place is on Twitter where you can contact @mookse and @bibliopaul) if you have any questions.

Good luck!

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Some new and upcoming releases we have our eyes on

• Francisco, by Alison Mills Newman. Published by New Directions.

• The Fawn, by Magda Szabó, translated by Len Rix. Published by NYRB Classics.

• Biography of X, by Catherine Lacey. Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

• The Garden of Seven Twilights, by Miquel de Palol, translated by Adrian Nathan West. Published by Dalkey Archive Press.

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Upcoming Episodes

While the schedule might change, here is what we are looking at for the next several episodes.

• Episode 51: Reading to Our Kids (April 6)

• Episode 52: Stories About Idylls (April 20)

• Episode 53: What Do We Bring to the Books We Read (May 4)

• Episode 54: Favorite Book Titles (May 18)

• Episode 55: Barbara Pym (June 1)

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Shownotes

Books

• One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel García Márquez, translated by Gregory Rabassa

• Solenoid, by Mircea Cărtărescu, translated by Sean Cotter

• Arabesques, by Anton Shammas, translated by Vivian Eden

• Bariloche, by Andrés Neuman, translated by Robin Meyers

• This Is Not Miami, by Fernanda Melchor, translated by Sophie Hughes

• Two Sherpas, by Sebastián Martínez Daniell

• Moving Parts, by Magdalena Tulli, translated by Bill Johnston

• Flaw, by Magdalena Tulli, translated by Bill Johnston

• Plainsong, by Kent Haruf

• Our Souls at Night, by Kent Haruf

• Eventide, by Kent Haruf

• Benediction, by Kent Haruf

• The Story of a Life, by Konstantin Paustovsky, translated by Douglas Smith

• The Thursday Murder Club, by Richard Osman

• Nobody’s Home, by Dubravka Ugrešić, translated by Ellen Elias-Bursač

• Rupert: A Confession, by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer, translated by Michelle Hutchison

• The Confessions of Noa Weber, by Gail Hareven, translated by Dalya Bilu

• Chronicle of the Murdered House, by Lúcio Cardoso, translated by Margaret Jull Costa and Robin Patterson

• La Grande, by Juan José Saer, translated by Steve Dolph

• Scars, by Juan José Saer, translated by Steve Dolph

• The Sixty-Five Years of Washington, by Juan José Saer, translated by Steve Dolph

• Death in Spring, by Mercè Rodoreda, translated by Martha Tennent

• Camellia Street, by Mercè Rodoreda, translated by David Rosenthal

• Radiant Terminus, by Antoine Volodine, translated by Jeffrey Zuckerman

• The Translator’s Bride, by João Reis, translated by the author

• Hunger, by Knut Hamsun, translated by Robert Bly

• Four by Four, by Sara Mesa, translated by Katie Whittemore

• Our Lady of the Nile, by Scholastique Mukasonga, translated by Melanie Mauthner

• The Bottom of the Sky, by Rodrigo Fresán, translated by Will Vanderhyden

• Gesell Dome, by Guillermo Saccomanno, translated by Andrea G. Labinger

• Hurricane Season, by Fernanda Melchor, translated by Sophie Hughes

• 77, by Guillermo Saccomanno, translated by Andrea G. Labinger

• The Clerk, by Guillermo Saccomanno, translated by Andrea G. Labinger

• The Incompletes, by Sergio Chejfec, translated by Heather Cleary

• The Planets, by Sergio Chejfec, translated by Heather Cleary

• The Chejfec book I couldn’t remember in the episode: Baroni: A Journey, by Sergio Chejfec, translated by Margaret Carson

• Fox, by Dubravka Ugrešić, translated by Ellen Elias-Bursać & David Williams

• The Museum of Unconditional Surrender, by Dubravka Ugrešić, translated by Celia Hawkesworth

• Not Even the Dead, by Juan Gómez Bárcena, translated by Katie Whittemore

• Tirza, by Arnon Grunberg, translated by Sam Garrett

• Ninth Building, by Zou Jingzhi, translated by Jeremy Tiang

• Pachinko Parlor, by Elisa Shua Dusapin, translated by Aneesa Abbas Higgins

• Winter in Sokcko, by Elisa Shua Dusapin, translated by Aneesa Abbas Higgins

• Bluebeard’s First Wife, by Ha Seong-nan, translated by Janet Hong

• Flowers of Mold, by Ha Seong-nan, translated by Janet Hong

• Maidenhair, by Mikhail Shishkin, translated by Marian Schwartz

• The Physics of Sorrow, by Georgi Gospodinov, translated by Angela Rodel

Other Links

• Leaf by Leaf on Solenoid

• Deep Vellum Press

• Dalkey Archive Press

• Returning to the Dalkey Archive

• The Three Percent Website

• The TMR Show (The Two Month Review)

• The Three Percent Podcast

• The Best Translated Book Award

• The Complete Review

• The Complete Review of Tirza

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About the Podcast

The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast is a book chat podcast. Every other week Paul and Trevor get together to talk about some bookish topic or another.

Please join us! You can subscribe at Apple podcasts or go to the feed to import to your favorite podcatcher. You can also listen to us on YouTube, if that’s your thing.

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