Writers From the Other Europe

From 1974 to 1989, Philip Roth was the General Editor of the Penguin Books paperback series "Writers from the Other Europe." Roth selected titles, commissioned introductions, and oversaw publication of Eastern European writers relatively unknown to American readers. His literary relationship with these writers, however, has elicited little scholarly attention to date. The essays assembled in this volume attempt to fill this void by emphasizing the importance of Roth's series for the introduction of these authors as well as his creative dialog with their work. Several chapters explore his relationship with the work of the Yugoslav author Danilo Kiš, of the Czech novelists Milan Kundera, Ludvik Vaculik, Bohumil Hrabal, of the Polish writers Bruno Schulz, Jerzy Andrzejewski, Tadeusz Borowski, and the Hungarian writer György Konrád. A special attention will be paid to Roth's interviews with Milan Kundera and Ivan Klíma.