(Dunwich Marshes, Suffolk, via WikiCommons)
Fans of WG Sebald’s melancholic masterpiece The Rings of Saturn will be curious to see how two English filmmakers have transposed the book for the screen. Sebald, a Suffolk-based German writer, had a meteoric rise to late-career literary fame cut short when after a car accident 9 years ago. In 1992, he undertook a walk for a few days through the Suffolk countryside following a spell in hospital. Although sometimes called a novel and sometimes a travelogue, the book that he wrote inspired by the walk is actually an innovative mix of the two. It remains unique simply because no other writer has ever matched its mix of gloom and dazzling learning.
The Rings of Saturn has continued to inspire writers and artists ever since. In 2007 seven British artists exhibited work inspired by Sebald and his tome. Now two documentarians – Stuart Jeffries and Grant Gee – have made a film loosely based on The Rings of Saturn (preview courtesy of the Guardian). The world premiere of Patience (After Sebald) takes place tonight at Snape Maltings, Suffolk, as part of After Sebald: Place and Re-Enchantment, a weekend-long programme of events exploring WG Sebald’s work.
There are many writers who have found literary fame late in life. None, however, can match the late-career bloom that is Toyo Shibata. At the age of 99, she’s become one of Japan’s bestselling authors. What’s more, Reuters reports, she’s only been writing for the past 7 years, since back pain forced her to abandon her previous love, dancing.
Toyo Shibata was one of Japan’s top ten bestselling authors in 2010. With sales boosted by the screening of a television documentary on the poet last week, there are currently 1.5 million copies of her books in print, in a country where poetry collections only need to sell 10,000 copies to be deemed a success. Toyo Shibata plans to publish another collection of poems for her hundredth birthday in June.
NPR science correspondent Robert Krulwich has published a piece on the various contenders for the prestigious title of the longest word in English.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the behemoths of the language are names given to chemical compounds, but the matter isn’t so simple. There are certain tests the word must pass: it must have been used at least once, for example, which means it needs to have been published. Most chemical compounds are referred to in annotated form, so they’re never actually printed. The longest-word-in-English title also needs to be given to a real word, not one purposely invented for the purposes of breaking records – what Krulwich refers to as a “trophy” word. Interestingly, inventing long words for the sake of it is a tradition that may stretch as far back as Shakespeare.
As for the holder of the title – well, you’ll have to read it yourself. Suffice to say, the story may have a Hollywood ending.
