If you had used the term literary Dallas a few days ago, I would have thought it’s made up. But, after meeting Will Evans (the founder and CEO of Deep Vellum), Slavik Gabinsky (who sits on the Board of Deep Vellum) and realizing the scope of the operation they and their team are running in Dallas and around the US, I know that literary Dallas is a real thing, more real than some of the stories that make a lot of noise nowadays about American culture.
Will started Deep Vellum Publishing in 2015. He moved to Dallas two years prior. Ten years after that, it has grown into the biggest publishing house translating literary fiction and poetry from around the world. They publish writers from over 70 languages, they have another six imprints under the Deep Vellum belt and have grown into a full-fledged cultural hub for the whole area and opened an office in New York.
Meeting Will Evans for the first time at the Romanian Cultural Institute HQ, I couldn’t help being contaminated by his pure enthusiasm for literature and bringing books in translation to readers. We spoke about what it means to publish Romanian Literature in translation and about what it takes to bring these books to readers, not just the Romanian diaspora, but to American readers. Deep Vellum has published writers like Mircea Cărtărescu (Solenoid and Theodoros, translated by Sean Cotter), Magda Cârneci and Tatiana Țîbuleac, The Summer My Mother Had Green Eyes (translated by Monica Cure). Theodoros by Mircea Cărtărescu will come out this autumn in Sean Cotter’s translation. This conversation would not have been possible without the help and support of Vlad Niculescu of Cărturești and Friends. If you know, you know. Vlad can make you fall in love with a book just by talking to him for two minutes. He has brought Will Evans and Deep Vellum to Romania this week and I am very grateful that he did. Have a listen, and you too will know about literary Dallas!
Foarte interesant, mai ales pentru cineva care preda marketing literar si chestiuni conexe