[Eric]

Ornela Vorpsi was about 20 when she moved to Italy, according to onew website. So she must have seen something of Albania, which has changed a lot recently, no doubt. But it is the same problem as with Kader Abdolah. Perceptions will be from long ago; and subjective ones, at that.

I'm glad to see that Stewart is defending Dalkey. I will too, not only because I've translated two novels for them, but because they, unlike half-a-hundred other publishing houses and presses, are receptive to writing that is non-commercial and often non-mainstream, plus that which is translated.

One very important thing with Dalkey and this anthology, is that this was not, as far as I know, only the choice of Hemon himself. Dalkey asked translators (not just people at Frankfurt) to suggest people to include. I personally suggested Elo Viiding, and chose the story to send in.

Hemon is, in any case, of Bosnian origin, so he understands how there are many, many writers locked away in Europe and never come to the attention of an English-speaking audience.

The anthology is, as Stewart suggests, designed to become a kind of annual publication. This will mean it will become an ongoing sampler of what is being written, even in English. This also means that if there were no Dutch, French, Czech, whatever, authors this time, this is not a one-off anthology and there will be a chance next time. But I have to say, one danger with anthologies is that when they start out to do "Europe", they try to be painfully even-handed, and always include someone from every conceivable country. Quality should prevail over this tendency.