Uk Panel's Choice - Year 2014

Panels are usually formed by six industry experts, amongst which there are publishers, translators, critics, booksellers, and a permanent representative from the British Centre for Literary Translation (BCLT). Panellists change every edition to allow as many people as possible to be part of the project. The panel meets twice and decisions are based on their knowledge, experience and intuition, as well as on reader’s reports. Members of the panel take their decisions with total independence.

The 2014 Edition panel was formed by: Alessandro Gallenzi (Founder - Alma Books), Anne Meadows (Junior Editor – Granta & Portobello Books), David Lea (London Review Bookshop), Christina MacSweeney (Translator), Gary McKeone (BCLT) and Laurence Laluyaux (Literary Agent - Rogers, Coleridge & White). The following people have translated book summaries and/or written reports for this issue: Christina MacSweeney, Rosalind Harvey, Jennifer Arnold, Peter Bush, Martin Schifino, Margaret Jull Costa, Jessica Johannesson Gaitán, Catherine Mansfield, Ana Fletcher, Annie McDermott, Judith Willis, Richard Mansell, Lindsey Ford and Isabelle Kaufeler.

A big thank you to all of them for their enthusiasm and invaluable contribution to the 2014 Edition of New Spanish Books

  • Dos taüts negres i dos de blancs
    Two Black Coffins, Two White Coffins
    Dos taüts negres i dos de blancs / Two Black Coffins, Two White Coffins
    Author:
    Pep Coll
    Publisher: Raval Edicions S.L.
    The massacre of a family of farm labourers in Carreu in 1943 shakes the local community and surrounding villages of this corner of Pallars Jussà, Catalonia. But news of the mass murder did not get much further. In an age when it was necessary to offer an image of Spain as a peaceful paradise, censorship silences the press.
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  • La habitación oscura
    The Dark Room
    Author:
    Isaac Rosa
    Publisher: EDITORIAL SEIX BARRAL, S.A.
    A group of young people decide to construct a "dark room": an enclosed space into which light never enters. In the beginning they use it to experiment with new ways of relating to each other, to have anonymous, free sex, and for a mixture of play and transgression.
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  • Música de cámara
    Chamber Music
    Author:
    Rosa Regàs
    Publisher: EDITORIAL SEIX BARRAL, S.A.
    Arcadia returns to Barcelona in 1949, accompanied by her aunt Inés, a viola and a suitcase full of memories. As the daughter of Republicans living in exile in France, she takes refuge in her passion for music to help her survive the oppressive atmosphere of the post-war years. One day she meets Javier, a promising law student, who soon becomes the centre of her life.
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  • Quan en dèiem xampany
    When We Called It Champagne
    Author:
    Rafel Nadal
    Publisher: Columna Edicions S.A.
    The author reconstructs the life of his great grandfather, Francisco Oller, who, at the age of sixteen, decided to leave Cassà and travel to France in search of a better life. And he found it. This book offers the story of an upright man, tenacious and hard-working, who ends up founding a grand empire in the world of French vineyards and champagne, far from his home.
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  • Solitud
    Solitude
    Author:
    Victor Català
    Publisher: Edicions 62 S.A.
    'Solitud' was an immediate success with readers and was translated into various languages. One hundred years after its publication, this modern, startling novel is still just as relevant today. Considered one of the greatest works of Catalan literature ever written, 'Solitud' tells of the spiritual journey of a woman, Mila, who lives in the countryside.
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  • Una historia sencilla
    A Simple Story
    Una historia sencilla
    Author:
    Leila Guerriero
    Publisher: Editorial Anagrama S.A.
    In January 2011, Leila Guerriero travelled to a small town in the interior of Argentina to tell the story of a dance competition: the Laborde National Malambo Festival. The malambo is a traditional dance of the Argentinian gauchos and the festival ends with the crowning of a champion.
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