Schwob, an initiative to publicize largely untranslated modern classics, cult books and must-reads from all over the world, recently launched its English website: en.schwob-books.eu (http://en NULL.schwob-books NULL.eu/). The site is part of a larger project to find and promote insider tips about modern European literature.
An international network of translators, publishing houses, festivals and literature foundations contribute by suggesting titles, as well as providing sample translations, background articles, and information on how to acquire rights.
Schwob pitches titles to publishers, together with information on sourcing funding, and in cooperation with publishers, magazines, bookstores and libraries, also serves to bring these lesser-known classics to the attention of readers. Upcoming literary festivals in Marseille, Barcelona, Krakow and Amsterdam, for example, will feature European authors talking about their favourite Schwob-titles.
Schwob is a collaboration of literature foundations in Finland, the Netherlands, Poland, Wales and Catalonia, plus the Société européenne des auteurs (Finnegan’s List), and is supported by the European Union.
The website is available in English (http://en NULL.schwob-books NULL.eu/) and Dutch (http://nl NULL.schwob-books NULL.eu/); later this autumn the site will also be available in Catalan, Polish, Finnish and Welsh.
The project will be presented at Frankfurt Book Fair, at the Weltempfang, on Friday 11 October 2013, at 4pm.
For more information please send an email to write@schwob.nl (write null@null schwob NULL.nl), or contact Alexandra Koch, editor Schwob, at the Dutch Foundation for Literature, a.koch@letterenfonds.nl (a NULL.koch null@null letterenfonds NULL.nl), tel: +31 20 520 73 00.