At Naša Nìva they have an English translation of the BG.Media Q & A with the editor-in-chief of bellit.info and press secretary of the International Union of Belarusian Writers, Tsikhan Charniakevich, Charniakevich: Don’t expect a triumphant march of Belarusian literature across Europe.
Yes, he’s (realistically) not too hopeful:
What needs to happen for Belarusian literature to be talked about again in ten years as one of the most interesting literatures of Eastern Europe ?
I don’t know, I simply wouldn’t expect that at all.
But good to hear about publishers such as Лысы Чэрап:
They’ve published about a dozen books, maybe.
Very outrageous, on the verge of foul play, in the spirit of DIY 1990s.
But these books are printed because they sold 20-50 copies of the previous print run, and with the money earned, they printed a new book.
So, there are publishing projects that bypass all barriers: both interesting and completely unreadable things can appear there.
Also interesting to hear that:
I would say that in emigration over the past five years, Belarusians have published 10 times more fiction in Russian than there was in “pre-revolutionary,” “pre-harvest” times.
It’s easier for them that way, they breathe that way, they feel that way.
All this is understandable, considering how much Russian-speaking urban population there is in Belarus, from which, of course, writers also emerge.
Therefore, the drift of professionals will be towards the Russian language, and I predict that it will increase year by year both in Belarus and in the diaspora.
(But/and he also notes: “People come from a Russian-speaking environment but see that Belarusian-language content interests readers, so some run their Russian-language texts through Chat GPT” …..)
Disappointingly little Belarusian literature is available in English, and little is under review at the complete review — only: Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich’s Voices from Chernobyl, Vasil Bykau’s Alpine Ballad, and Paranoia and Мова by Victor Martinovich – Read More
