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| Dear Readers,
We are excitedly looking forward to our event on Wednesday 20th May with multi-award-winning writer, Fiston Mwanza Mujila, and his acclaimed translator, Roland Glasser, who will be discussing Fiston’s latest novel, The Villain’s Dance. |
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| Fiston Mwanza Mujila was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1981 and lives in Austria. He writes his short stories, novels, poems and essays in French, his mother tongue, and in German, his adopted language. His novel, Tram ’83, won the Etisalat Prize for Literature, the German International Literature Award and was longlisted for the International Booker Prize. |
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| About The Villain’s Dance
“Zaire. Late 90’s. Mobutu’s thirty-year reign is tottering. In Lubumbashi, the stubbornly homeless Sanza has fallen in with a trio of veteran street kids led by the devious Ngungi. A chance encounter with the mysterious Monsieur Guillaume seems to offer a way out . . .
“Meanwhile in Angola, Molakisihas joined thousands of fellow Zairians hoping to make their fortunes hunting diamonds, while Austrian Franz finds himself roped into writing the memoirs of the charismatic Tshiamuena, the “Madonna of the Cafunfo Mines.’ Things are drawing to a head, but at the Mambo de la Fête, they still dance the Villain’s Dance from dusk till dawn.” |
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| Translator, Roland Glasser has published over 25 translations from French (fiction, art, travel, and non-fiction) alongside literary editing. |
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| It is always a treat to hear from an author and translator together. Bristol’s festival of translated literature, run in collaboration between Polly Barton, Storysmith and ourselves, will return with a full programme in 2027 but at Gloucester Road Books we have been very fortunate to have received visits already this year from several author / translator teams. Both of these events have been absolutely fascinating. Getting to hear about not just the process of writing, and the process of translation, but also the human relationship between the people involved, is a unique insight into the creative working practices that produce so many of the books we love. |
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