European Union Prize for Literature to Paulus Hochgatterer

Things are rather slow around here; the city's train system has collapsed and everyone's on holiday. I keep getting replies to emails that say: 'I'll be away from my desk until the end of September. My emails will not be forwarded.'

My reactions are equally sluggish, so it may be no news to you that Paulus Hochgatterer's Die Süße des Lebens won one of twelve newly created awards under the title of the European Union Prize for Literature. Funnily enough, one of the members of the Austrian jury is the book's publisher.

Maybe they should pit the twelve books against each other in a huge Eurovision-style extravaganza, inevitably to be won by Ireland, which then has to host next year's very expensive gala and so submits a weaker number next year. In fact, the Irish winner Karen Gillece has already been described as "no one-hit wonder", unlike good old Jonny Logan. Of course they'd have to get all twelve books translated into eleven different languages first though, which would be a great way to "put the spotlight on the creativity and diverse wealth of Europe’s contemporary literature in the field of fiction, to promote the circulation of literature within Europe and encourage greater interest in non-national literary works", as is the award's objective.

You can get Jamie Bulloch's translation of the Austrian winner, The Sweetness of Life, from MacLehose Press. It's a psychological thriller set in the Alps, written by a psychologist and writer.

This One's Not for the Beach

Whereas the Sainsbury's Magazine recommends a spot of ethnic cleansing fun for the sun-lounger, the Independent is a little more concerned about where its readers read its recommendations. Jonathon Gibbs reviews Paulus Hochgatterer's unconventional crime novel The Sweetness of Life (trans. Jamie Bulloch), and sums up: "His rather abstruse approach makes this a fascinating but demanding read: a truly stimulating find, but perhaps not one for the beach."

Good job Maclehose Press put that scary snow picture on the front then, isn't it, as the title could be ever so slightly misleading. And I like the offensive strategy of plonking a quote from the Berliner Zeitung on the cover too. None of that coy "I'm not really a translation, honest guv" business here. Heck, the guy they quote even has an umlaut in his name. Now that's going out on a limb for an industry that prefers authors with easy-to-pronounce names, it really is.

But no great surprise really from Maclehose Press, a Quercus imprint run by Christopher Maclehose. That's the man who has championed international crime fiction, putting it firmly on the map in the English-speaking world. And it was Quercus who published Measuring the World in the UK too - a book so unashamedly German (or Austrian?) it would make you blush. If you were embarrassed by things being German, that is.