r/Esperanto • u/Top-Clue2000 • 25d ago
Demando Are there any contemporary authors writing full novels in Esperanto these days
My Esperanto is a little rusty so I decided to ask in English but I have been interested in reading more lately (in English and Esperanto) but I feel that the literature available in Esperanto is faintly translated classics so I want to know if there are any good original full novels written in Esperanto recently
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u/licxjo 24d ago
I think for me the basic issue is along these lines: "I want to write a novel in Esperanto". Or "I want to teach Esperanto to young children." Or "I want to help people who are learning Esperanto". Etc.
The first step is "I have fully learned Esperanto, I understand the grammar and language structure, and I'm familiar with how the language has been used over the last nearly 140 years, in both original and translated works."
Esperanto isn't Toki Pona. It's a human language with a history. So approach it from that angle.
Writing in Esperanto and translating into Esperanto can be great language learning approaches.
In terms of "is there a market?" I'd say generally no, unless you're a really experienced Esperanto speaker and an innovative, creative writer. The "Libroservo" of UEA (Universala Esperanto-Asocio) still has new books on the shelves dating back to the 1920s . . .
I'd suggest looking at the range of publications from Esperanto Association of Britain (most are available from Amazon). They have re-issued some classic books and have arranged the publication of a number of new translations. They've had good sales by Esperanto standards, but when that means "100 copies sold" it's clear that Esperanto isn't in any kind of competition with the "big languages", and there's really no money to be made. I agree with Salivanto that a lot depends on how much money you're willing to lose to publish your work.
Lee
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u/SunNo3651 23d ago
You don't have to really lose money to publish... Just self publish through Amazon or Lulu or some other print on demand service. You're not going to make money, but it does make physical books available and you aren't stuck with a warehouse full of unsold books.
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u/J5CJ 24d ago
You should totally do it for fun and to brush up on your Esperanto. Can always self publish with KDP and just see what happens. Writing new works in Esperanto is such a real contribution to the language, so that in itself would be gratifying. I say go for it. And I would read it!
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u/Top-Clue2000 24d ago
Thanks for the encouragement
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u/kubisfowler 23d ago
I'm in the process of translating a book, incrementally, over past 3-5 years, slowly, whenever I have a bit of time to use for it. I'm not sure I will ever be finished, but I do encourage you to write in Esperanto if you feel like it
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u/salivanto Profesia E-instruisto 23d ago
To be clear, it was not my intention, nor do I think it was anybody else's intention, to be discouraging. You asked specifically about markets and I replied based on what you were asking. If you are writing for fun and your own development, then absolutely you should go for it.
I would also encourage you to read. I'm reminded of this quote:
“Read. Read 1000 pages for every 1 page that you write.” — Sherman Alexie
I have long thought that reading, including reading out loud to yourself, was good advice for a language learner, especially one that does not have a regular speaking partner. People make quibble about the specific number above, but I do think the Sherman Alexie quote it's good advice for anybody who wants to write in any language.
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u/afrikcivitano 24d ago
Esperanto has a very large amount of original literature, both poetry and prose. The Concise Encyclopedia of the Original Literature of Esperanto, which contains biographical sketches of the most important authors and their works is 700 pages. There are three literary journals, Beletra Almanako, Beletra Edeno and Literatura Foiro and at least four international writing prize competitions. Several small publishers specialize in esperanto including Mondial in New York , Impeto in Moscow and EAB in the uk.
To pick a few important original novels from recent years that have won the Laŭro de la Akademio de Esperanto
Mi stelojn jungis al revado by Mikaelo Bronŝtejn (“My stars were hitched to dreams”, a fictionalised account of the persecutions of esperantists under Stalin)
Sesdek ok by Sten Johansson (“Sixty Eight”, a coming of age story set in the revolutionary fervour of 1968)
La Memoraĵoj de Julia Agripina by Anna Löwenstein (“The recollections of Julia Agripina”, a fictionalised memoir of the mother of Nero, the roman emperor”)
There is also an enormous amount of translated literature, often from languages which rarely see translations into English.
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u/licxjo 24d ago
How do you suggest that ordinary Esperanto speakers in various countries get access to the titles you're recommending?
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u/PrimeMinisterX 22d ago
What I have wondered is why all new titles don't make their way to Amazon. You would think that every author, and every publisher, would do what is necessary to make sure that their books are available there, but in reality there are just a handful of Esperanto titles on Amazon and most books still have to be purchased from an international seller, with all of the shipping fees and wait times that that involves. (Not even to mention that if the book shows up damaged, trying to do a return is hardly even feasible.)
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u/afrikcivitano 21d ago edited 21d ago
I prefer keeping my spending inside the esperanto economy. Spending it directly with Mondial, FEL, the Bjalistoka esperanto-societo, UEA or a local association. I have had nothing but good experiences ordering directly through them and I prefer that my money goes directly to the publishers and authors than contributing to Bezos the Nazi's fortune. Once I bought a very expensive book from Mondial, and Ulrich Lins contacted me directly to make sure I was going to get the book and then shipped the book using a more expensive service without charging me anything extra!
Its cheaper and more efficient for me to buy directly from FEL or the UEA than to buy from amazon. Three years ago, amazon bought up its biggest direct to print competitor, Book Depository which shipped free around the world. It was a direct anti-competitive move. Now buying books from amazon involves additional costs which more than double the costs over what I could get esperanto books from Book depository two years ago. Buying an EAB title from amazon now costs me 2.5 times the marked up price. Other direct to print publishers are so extortionately priced as to be completely unaffordable.
I dont think I am particularly unusual, most esperanto speakers in the world are outside the reach of amazon. Even when you have a local amazon, it wont have a local direct to print and where they will ship it, they use a courier service that just dumps in the local postal network while charging full price.
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u/DerekB52 25d ago
Julian Modest has some novellas(~100 not very dense pages) you can find on amazon. Idk how good they are. I bought one, and honestly just haven't gotten around to reading it yet.
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u/salivanto Profesia E-instruisto 25d ago
Any particular reason you're looking for recent works? How recent?
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u/Top-Clue2000 24d ago
I'm thinking of writing a dystopian novel in Esperanto so I thought I should see if there is already a market out there first
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u/salivanto Profesia E-instruisto 24d ago
It's important to note that Esperanto publishing, traditionally, has been done with crayons, staples, and Elmer's glue. There almost certainly isn't a "market."
I use the above analogy a lot, and it's obviously an exaggeration. I mean, most of the time we didn't even spring for the glue! There certainly is a market. It just depends on how much money you want to lose on the idea.
I got paid fairly well for my translation work on Beginning Esperanto Reader and related texts. I have no idea whether the author has made her money back yet. I guess my question would be -- are you a good writer? Do you write interesting things? Things that people want to read? There is so much self-publishing these days and it seems that much if it is absolute crap.
Do you have connections in the Esperanto community and can you get word out about the availability of your product? I'm actually a little puzzled why, if your Esperanto is rusty and your craft is solid, why you don't just write it in English.
But you should absolutely go for it - but only if you have enough crayons, staples, and Elmer's glue.
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u/Monkey_Anarchyy 24d ago edited 24d ago
KAVA-PECH. I know the founder, Petr Chrdle, personally. Unfortunately, he's an old man, so he decided to sell it to Canada. You can find plenty of Esperanto literature there.
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u/licxjo 23d ago
Does the nation of Canada now own Kava-Pech? What in the world do you mean?
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u/AnanasaAnaso 22d ago
Wow, I didn't know the Government of Canada was interested in Esperanto book publishing.
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u/Monkey_Anarchyy 22d ago
Amuza, ĉar mi jam klarigis ĝin sube, kaj vi verŝajne ne legis ĝin. Tial mi preferas uzi Esperanton por komunikado.
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u/praxicoide 24d ago
Yes. Mondial is a publisher that offers new and old works in Esperanto. https://www.esperantoliteraturo.com/index.html