WTI Magazine #49 2014 December, 10
Author : Umberto Mucci Translation by:
Even if in the US it will be broadcasted in February, in Italy RAI has already aired the wonderful PBS documentary by John Maggio, "The Italian Americans". These are four fantastic hours of celebration of the Italian American experience, a must see that we highly recommend to all our readers. John Maggio will be the host of our interview right before the days of the American broadcasting of his excellent work.
A few days ago, I've attended an interesting workshop regarding the presence of the Italian publishing industry in the US. During the workshop, a brilliant paper by ICE, the Italian Trade Agency which publishes the interesting website www.italbooks.com, has been presented.
Between January 2012 and September 2014, 174 Italian books have been translated and published in the US market: 67 in 2012, 62 in 2013 and 45 until September 2014. 87 of them (50%) are novels; 62 of them (36%) are literary essays; 14 (8%) are poetry books, and 11 (6%) are books for children. During these three years, 81 publishers have been present with at least one book in the US, with 9 of them that sum up the 50% of the whole basket of translated and published books: they are Europa Editions (24), University of Chicago (10), FSG (9), Verso (7), Chelsea Editions (5), Penguin (5), Other Press (4), Pushkin Press (4) and Rizzoli (4).
In the same years, 2.394 translated books have been published in the US, from 58 different languages and 103 countries. Italian is the fourth translated language: before it we find French with 539 books, German with 385, and Spanish with 253. But Italy as a country is in the third place, right before German (307 books) and France (451).
Last but not least, I'm sure you all will be appreciating the new design of our magazine! We are very thankful to my very good friend William Liani, who has been in charge for it until our previous issue, and we are very happy to welcome the new editor in charge, Giovanni Vagnone. Ciao Giovanni!
That's all for now. So stay tuned, fasten your seat belt and enjoy the ride. The future's so bright, we gotta wear shades!