In addition to discussing The Savage Detectives and 2666, Wimmer reads from a never-before-translated essay that she is currently working on as part of a collection of Bolano’s essays that will be published by New Directions in 2011.

On The Savage Detectives:

As[Bolano] stated many times, writing was for him a radical way ofliving. . . . He had to find a vital, interesting, and in some waysanti-literary approach to literature. In The Savage Detectives,which is perhaps his most personal book--personal in the sense of beingautobiographical, but also because it is about people--he createscharacters who may be eccentric, but who are instantly human . . .

On 2666:

Curiouslyenough, in 2666 Bolano essentially sacrifices his uncanny ability tocraft characters. Well, not completely--there are a few characters in 2666 who would be at home in The Savage Detectives (Amalfitano, for example). But it's as if Bolano has switched modes. In 2666 it's as if his characters are closer to symbolic creations than viscerally real humans . . .

New Lit Journal:



Check out Cerise Press a new international online literary journal that has this to say about themselves:

Cerise Press, an international online journal based in theUnited States and France, builds cross-cultural bridges by featuringartists and writers in English and translations, with an emphasis onFrench and Francophone works. Co-founded by Fiona Sze-Lorrain, SallyMolini, and Karen Rigby in 2009, Cerise Press hopes to serveas a gathering force where imagination, insight, and conversationexpress the evolving and shifting forms of human experience.

This is pretty cool because not only does it focus on surrealism, but the poetry translations appear in their original language and with a English tab right next to it so you can see both versions.  I am really looking forward to giving this journal the thorough once over it deserves.