With preface by Jon Fosse, winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Since 2010, this anthology has been an essential resource for readers, critics, and publishers interested in contemporary European literature. In this, the seventh installment of the series, Best European Fiction 2016 continues its commitment to uncovering the best prose writing happening on the continent—from Azerbaijan to Denmark, from Portugal to the Ukraine—featuring work by established authors such as Josef Winkler, Christian Gailly, and João de Melo, as well as up-and-coming writers like Krisztina Tóth, Justyna Bargielska, Veronika Simoniti, and Bessora
The volume is also a forum for the best translators working today, featuring new translations by Lawrence Venuti, Vera Rich, Amaia Gabantxo, Adrian Nathan West, and many more. Also featuring a provocative prefatory essay written by John Fosse, Best European Fiction 2016 is another essential report on the state of global literature in the twenty-first century.
Austria: Josef Winkler, “The Word Flew Away”
Azerbaijan: Nijat Mamedov, “Streaming”
Belarus: Alhierd Bacharevic, “The Art of Being a Stutterer”
Belgium, French: Michel Lambert, “Long Night”
Bulgaria: Vladimir Poleganov, “The Birds”
Denmark: Claus Beck-Nielsen, “The Author Himself”
Estonia: Ilmar Taska, “Apartment for Rent”
France: Christian Gailly, “The Wheel”
Georgia: Tsotne Tskhvediani, “The Golden Town”
Hungary: Krisztina Tóth, "From Pixel"
Ireland: Rob Doyle, “John-Paul Finnegan, Paltry Realist”
Latvia: Māra Zālīte, “The Major and the Candy”
Liechtenstein: Armin Öhri, “The Interrogation”
Lithuania: Paulina Pukytė, From "A Loser and a Do-Gooder"
Luxembourg: Nico Helminger, From "Luxembourg Lions"
Macedonia: Rumena Bužarovska, “Waves”
Moldova: Ion Buzu, “Another Piss in Nisporeni”
Montenegro: Ilija Đurović, “The Five Widows”
Poland: Justyna Bargielska, From "Born Sleeping"
Portugal: João de Melo, “Strange and Magnificent Powers”
Romania: Marius Daniel Popescu, From "La Symphonie du loup"
Serbia: Srđan V. Tešin, “Where Is Grandma, Where Do You Think She’s Hiding?”
Slovenia Veronika Simoniti, “A House of Paper”
Spain, Basque: Harkaitz Cano & Andoni Aduriz, From "Mugaritz: B.S.O."
Spain, Catalan: Edgar Cantero, “Aesop’s Urinal”
Switzerland, French: Bessora, “Voyage Under Narcosis”
Switzerland, German: Michael Fehr, “The Apparent Fisherman and Real Drunkard”
Ukraine: Artem Chapeye, “Son, Please”
United Kingdom, Wales: Huw Lawrence, “Restocking”
Jon Fosse is one of Norway’s most celebrated authors and playwrights, and was awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born in 1959 on the west coast of Norway and is the recipient of countless prestigious prizes, both in his native Norway and abroad. Since his 1983 fiction debut, Raudt, svart [Red, Black], Fosse has written prose, poetry, essays, short stories, children’s books, and over forty plays, with more than a thousand productions performed and translations into fifty languages.
Damion Searls is a translator from German, Norwegian, French, and Dutch and a writer in English. He has translated many classic modern writers, including Proust, Rilke, Nietzsche, Walser, Ingeborg Bachmann, Alfred Döblin, Jon Fosse, Elfriede Jelinek, and Nescio.
Nathaniel Davis is an assistant editor at Dalkey Archive Press. He is also a translator and holds a PhD in comparative literature from the University of Pennsylvania.
