EDWARD GAUVIN

Jean-Philippe Toussaint (1957 Р) is a Belgian writer and filmmaker whose books have been translated into more than twenty languages. The author of nine novels, he is the winner of numerous literary prizes, including the Prix M̩dicis in 2005 for his novel Running Away, and the Prix D̩cembre in 2009 for The Truth about Marie, the two middle books of the Marie tetralogy.

• The essays “The Ravanastron” and “How I Built Certain of My Hotels” appeared in Issue 27.1 of Gulf Coast, Winter-Spring 2015.
• The essay “For Samuel Beckett” is forthcoming online at Gulf Coast.

His essay collection Urgency and Patience is forthcoming in Spring 2015 (despite this page from Google Books).

The long-awaited Chimera Brigade series kicks off in the U.S. this December, attempting to answer the question: “Whatever happened to the European superhero?” Drawing on a wealth of cult and popular literatures from the late 19^th century to just before World War II, The Chimera Brigade rewrites the fictional history of Euro-adventurers into a shared universe not unlike our own.

A book trailer from publisher Titan Comics.

Scripted by Serge Lehman and Fabrice Colin, with pencils by Gess and colors by Celine Bessonneau.

More details, and a key to characters and references, at Weird Fiction Review.

Serge Lehman, one of the minds behind The Chimera Brigade, continues his exploration of Euro-superheroes with this series set in a Paris five minutes into the future.

Coming to you soon from the good folks at Titan Comics!

Ever since The Chimera Brigade, I seem to be translating a lot of French SF star Serge Lehman. For instance, this trilogy, Season of the Snake, set in a nexus of interplanetary transport linked to distant star systems by spacetime “chutes.” Sentient hive minds, ambulatory arbors, heroes armored and pregnant… plus a clever use of color bleeding into early two-tone (you can tell from the progression of the covers).  Meticulous art by Jean-Marie Michaud.

Coming to you soon from the good folks at Titan Comics!

With Book 2, Stormbringer, I jump aboard The Ship Which Sails Over Land and Sea the smash French adaptation of Michael Moorcock’s immortal Elric series by Julien Blondel, Jean-Luc Cano, Robin Recht, Didier Poli, and Julien Telo.

Coming to you soon from the good folks at Titan Comics!

Now out in English, the second volume of Swiss creator Frederik Peeter’s full-color far-future space saga of autism, technology, and artificial intelligence: Aama, The Invisible Throng!

If the cover doesn’t do it for you, maybe the wonders inside will:

Award-winning graphic novelists MARJANE SATRAPI and CHRIS WARE are two artists whose difficult, beautiful storytelling combines visual pleasure with subject matter of the highest seriousness. Satrapi’s internationally best-selling graphic memoir Persepolis recounts her youth in Iran amid the Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War. Chris Ware uses stunningly lyrical drawings and spare text to create haunting, beautiful and unshakable books, including Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth. Join us for a rare opportunity to see these two critically acclaimed artists—and longtime mutual admirers—in conversation about their own and each other’s work. The discussion will be moderated by USC professors DANA JOHNSON and JEFF SOLOMON, hosting the event in conjunction with Professor ALICE GAMBRELL. RSVP now!

Hans Rollman, a contributing editor at PopMatters, has penned the first review of The Art of Empathy, the NEA’s collection of essays on translation published last August. He spares a kind mention for yours truly:

Edward Gauvin draws an analogy with photographers (and other new media workers), who were once seen as merely technicians who clicked a button: now they’re seen as creative producers in their own right. “The translator is… a literature worker, and as such deserves respect, guarantees of safer working conditions, and certain basic rights for the formerly invisible and illicit.”