Kumerdej
2019 Longlist

The Harvest of Chronos

Translated from the Slovene by Rawley Grau
artwork-image

ABOUT
THE BOOK

An epic, humourous, and quite unique historical novel that looks at Central Europe in the 16th century – a territory plagued by ceaseless battles for supremacy between the Protestant political elite and the ruling Catholic Hapsburg Monarchy, as well as the ongoing battle between the sexes. In Kumerdej’s wonderful saga, history and fiction intertwine in wavelike fashion, producing a colorful portrait of the Renaissance; permeated by humanist attempts to resurrect antiquity through art, new scientific findings, and spirited philosophical and theological debates.

 

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Mojca
Kumerdej

Mojca Kumerdej is a Slovene writer, philosopher, and critic. She also works as the cultural correspondent for the daily newspaper Delo. Kumerdej graduated in philosophy and the sociology of culture from the University of Ljubljana. Her debut novel Krst and Triglavom (The Baptism Over Mount Triglav) was a witty and ironical revision of one of Slovene literary history’s most important works, the epic poem Krst pri Savici (The Baptism at the Savica) by France Prešeren. Her next two published books, Fragma and Temna Snov, are collections of short stories. Her stories have been translated into many languages and have been published in various Slovene and foreign literary journals and anthologies. In 2017, Kumerdej received the Prešeren Award for her second novel Kronosova žetev (The Harvest of Chronos).

Mojca Kumerdej is a Slovene writer, philosopher, and critic. She also works as the cultural correspondent for the daily newspaper Delo. Kumerdej graduated in philosophy and the sociology of culture from the University of Ljubljana. Her debut novel Krst and Triglavom (The Baptism Over Mount Triglav) was a witty and ironical revision of one of Slovene literary history’s most important works, the epic poem Krst pri Savici (The Baptism at the Savica) by France Prešeren. Her next two published books, Fragma and Temna Snov, are collections of short stories. Her stories have been translated into many languages and have been published in various Slovene and foreign literary journals and anthologies. In 2017, Kumerdej received the Prešeren Award for her second novel Kronosova žetev (The Harvest of Chronos).

ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Rawley
Grau

Rawley Grau has translated numerous works from Slovenian, including novels by Dušan Šarotar, Mojca Kumerdej, Gabriela Babnik, and Sebastijan Pregelj. Five of his translations, including Pregelj’s A Chronicle of Forgetting, have been longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, and his translations of Šarotar’s Panorama and Billiards at the Hotel Dobray were shortlisted for the Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize. In 2021, he received the Lavrin Diploma for excellence in translation from the Association of Slovenian Literary Translators. Originally from Baltimore, he has lived in Ljubljana since the early 2000s.

Rawley Grau has translated numerous works from Slovenian, including novels by Dušan Šarotar, Mojca Kumerdej, Gabriela Babnik, and Sebastijan Pregelj. Five of his translations, including Pregelj’s A Chronicle of Forgetting, have been longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, and his translations of Šarotar’s Panorama and Billiards at the Hotel Dobray were shortlisted for the Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize. In 2021, he received the Lavrin Diploma for excellence in translation from the Association of Slovenian Literary Translators. Originally from Baltimore, he has lived in Ljubljana since the early 2000s.

NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS

The novel is a colourful portrait of Central Europe in the 16th century. It is convincing and authentic in the way it captures the spirit of that time, but what maked this book great is the language which changes with the narrator. You get the feeling that history is repeating itself only the ways of manipulation are different.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Date published
01/01/2017
Country
Slovenia
Original Language
Slovenian
Publisher
Istros Books
Translator
Rawley Grau
Translation
Translated from the Slovene by Rawley Grau

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