Our Fall "Reading The World Conversation Series" Events
It that time of year where we've got some great "Reading the Wold" fall events coming to Rochester, NY. This season's events highlight the new releases of Gesell Dome by Guillermo Saccomanno and Frontier by Can Xue. The events are both free and open to all, and here are all the details:
Neo-Noir, Violence, and Argentine Resort Towns in Guillermo Saccomanno’s Gesell Dome
Tuesday | September 27, 2016 | 7:00 p.m.
The Daily Refresher
293 Alexander St
Rochester, NY 14607
Translator Andrea Labinger (recipient of a PEN Heim award for Gesell Dome) and Kaija Straumanis (editor, Open Letter Books) discuss the Dashiell-Hammett-Award-winning novel Gesell Dome by Guillermo Saccomanno, a neo-noir set in an Argentine resort town during the off-season. When the tourists all leave, the city fills up with crime, corruption, and despair. Like True Detective meets CSI meets John Dos Passos, Gesell Dome is one of the most anticipated books of the fall—one that will appeal to thriller fans while also subverting some common narrative techniques.
The discussion will touch on topics such as how well this book travels to the United States, what advantages and difficulties there are to translating such a visceral book that also contains a strong literary bent, and what distinguishes Latin American crime novels from the rest of the world, among others.
Free and open to the public - Food and refreshments available
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Literature That Makes Demands Of The Reader
Tuesday | October 11, 2016 | 7:00 p.m.
The Daily Refresher
293 Alexander St
Rochester, NY 14607
Best Translated Book Award winner Can Xue (The Last Lover, Vertical Motion, Frontier) writes books that blend elements of the Western literary translation with those from Eastern philosophy. As a result, her books are less about the things that happen and more about the experience the reader has while trying to puzzle out the plot points. Chad Post (publisher, Open Letter Books) will direct a wide-ranging conversation with Can Xue about her forthcoming novel Frontier and other books that challenge the reader to read differently.
This discussion will touch on topics of style and translation, contemporary emphases on content versus form in fiction, ways to represent reality in fiction, and the enjoyment to be found in confusion, among others.
Free and open to the public - Food and refreshments available