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Contributor

Georgia de Chamberet

Contributor

Georgia de Chamberet

Georgia de Chamberet was born in Paris to an eccentric father and an artistic mother. As an editor at Quartet Books in the 1990s she published contemporary writers Tahar Ben Jelloun, Annie Ernaux, Juan Carlos Onetti, Daniel Pennac and Simon Leys (winner of the 1992 Independent Award for Foreign Fiction) amongst others, as well as showcasing various Cuban writers in an anthology edited by Peter Bush.

She went on to found the London-based literary agency BookBlast Ltd in 1997 which has a cross- cultural focus. The agency also offers translation services and literary PR. Georgia went on to edit XCiTés: the Flamingo Book of New French Writing (1999) showcasing writers as yet unpublished in English—notably Frédéric Beigbeder, Tonino Benacquista, Virginie Despentes and Michel Houellebecq.

Georgia is a committee member of English PEN’s Writers in Translation programme. She writes for various web sites with a focus on translation and new writing, and is Literary Executor for the Estate of

Brave New World of European literature, or Eurovision Story Contest?
By Georgia de Chamberet
On the eve of my departure to attend the EU Prize for Literature in Brussels as part of a group invited by the European Commission Representative in the UK, literary critic Nick Lezard Facebooks: “I…
The War to End All Wars
By Georgia de Chamberet
August 2014 is the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, which marked the life of millions. Described by the Italian soldier, politician, and writer Emilio Lussu as being “Big game hunting…
The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair: Cult Classic or Mainstream Blockbuster?
By Georgia de Chamberet
The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, translated by Sam Taylor, is twenty-eight-year-old Swiss author Joël Dicker’s second novel and third published book. It sold two million copies in…
Opening New Doors on to New Worlds: Sport and Translation
By Georgia de Chamberet
Stories about feats of endurance and courage against the odds have been told since 776 BC when the ancient Olympic Games began. We all need myths and heroes: self-actualization lies at the core of their…
Children’s Books Found in Translation
By Georgia de Chamberet
“Folk Tales and Fairy Tales . . . Outside In: Children’s Writers Found in Translation . . . Win a weekend to see Father Christmas in Lapland! . . .” the promotional flyers for Sian Williams'…
The 2010 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize: A Reading at Foyles
By Georgia de Chamberet
The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize has introduced readers to the best of foreign contemporary fiction since it was founded in 1991, attracting more press interest every year. It acknowledges both the…
On the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize Longlist
By Georgia de Chamberet
Real food to enrich the intellect and the soul, or fast food publishing: which will survive in hard times? As the economic downturn hits home it makes sense to publish fewer, well-written books rather…
Imagination Can Take You Everywhere
By Georgia de Chamberet
All work and no play describes my summer this year. So I headed for the Arts Club in Mayfair with delight to celebrate the publication of Andrew Logan: An Artistic Adventure. One of the first Andrew Logan…
The A to Z of Literary Translation: W, X, Y & Z
By Georgia de Chamberet
Worldwide web development and the long-tail phenomenon offer new opportunities for the visibility of literary translation. Electronic translation software is to be avoided. Postcolonial and new immigrant…
London Calling
By Georgia de Chamberet
The wilderness years are over for Arabic writers in translation it seems, as they were in the spotlight this week in London’s Earls Court. Arabia Books was launched in the run up to the London Book…
The A to Z of Literary Translation: S to V
By Georgia de Chamberet
Schools of thought about the rights and wrongs of translation are summarized by Susan Sontag as follows: íI suppose that the two opposed schools of translators are those who feel, like Nabokov,…
The A to Z of Literary Translation: P to R
By Georgia de Chamberet
Publishers in the independent sector are fundamental to ensure variety in the marketplace; they are surviving despite stiff competition and the discount war, (ref. Society of Authors, The Future of Independent…
The A to Z of Literary Translation: M to O
By Georgia de Chamberet
Market share of world literature is dominated by U.S. publishing conglomerates and literary agents who, together with their British counterparts, are increasingly promoting celebrities rather than professional…
The A to Z of Literary Translation: J to L
By Georgia de Chamberet
Jerome of Stridonium is the patron saint of theological learning in the Roman Catholic Church and is also recognized as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church. Remembered in particular for his version…
The A to Z of Literary Translation: G to I
By Georgia de Chamberet
Grants, awards and prizes such as the Nobel Prize in literature, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the Marsh Award for Children’s Literature…
The A to Z of Literary Translation: D to F
By Georgia de Chamberet
Dialogue and debate on issues surrounding literary translation at talks, workshops, summer schools and residence programmes—along with translation studies courses covering linguistic concepts, theories…
The A to Z of Literary Translation
By Georgia de Chamberet
Whilst writing about English PEN's “Writers in Translation” committee, of which I am a member—tapping into my experiences as an editor, agent and publicist—the idea of doing…
Old Labour, New Labour
By Georgia de Chamberet
For independents committed to discovering and showcasing new voices—be they home-grown or from foreign climes—2008 looms as a year of reckoning. In October 2007, Arts Council England‘s…
A Case of Serendipity?
By Georgia de Chamberet
In one week, I bumped into a writer I had the pleasure of publishing in 1994, and his first translator in English, neither of whom I had seen for over ten years. Daniel Pennac (winner of this year’s…
Free Aung San Suu Kyi!
By Georgia de Chamberet
As the feeding frenzy that is Frankfurt Book Fair gets into full swing, a more mindful energy is fuelling the monks leading the people power revolution against the Military Junta in Burma. Last Saturday,…
Writers Gather in Finsbury Park
By Georgia de Chamberet
A blue and white striped tent, 30 white plastic chairs, a table covered in books supplied by Serpent’s Tail, Apis Books, Legend Press, 12 writers and a microphone: Welcome to the Story Tent at FinFest:…
Promising Stuff
By Georgia de Chamberet
The autumn leaves fell as the school year began when I was a child; now they stay on the trees longer as indian summers become the norm. In Britain around 120,000 new books are published every year, of…