Special Event! Meet the translator live via Zoom! Free event!
Hosted by Shelley Stephenson and Keith Brown
Meeting in the Ironwood Classroom at Tempe Public Library
The Book: The Time of the Goats by Luan Starova: English translation by Christina E. Kramer, 2013: first published in Macedonian in 1993 as Времето на козите (Vremeto na Kozite).
Detailed handout with discussion questions, additional links and background:
https://www.potluckdinner.org/misc/time_of_the_goats_handout.pdf
Author Bio: Luan Starova was born in Podgradec, Albania in 1941, to an Albanian family. They moved to Struga in 1943 and then to Skopje, now the capital of North Macedonia, in 1945. After receiving his doctorate at the University of Zagreb in Croatia, and working as a journalist, Starova joined the faculty of French Literature at the University of SS Cyril and Methodius in Skopje. He was appointed as Yugoslav ambassador to Tunisia (1985) and Palestine (1990), and after Macedonian independence he served as the country’s first ambassador to France (2004). He wrote 20 more novels over 5 decades, and passed away in 2022.
Publication and Translation: The Time of the Goats is Starova's second novel (after My Father's Books) in the Balkan Saga, based on his own family history. Set in the immediate post-World War II period (1945-1949), the book mixes fact, fiction and memoir from his family history, and addresses themes that until the late 1980s were considered taboo or dangerous to write about. The book was published in Macedonian in 1993, following Macedonia's transition from one-party rule to a multi-party system after the parliamentary elections of November 1990, and the Republic's referendum on independence on September 8, 1991. Translator Christina E. Kramer first encountered Starova's trilogy after 2000, and chose to translate all three books in part because, in her words, "...Starova's works, which highlight the long and deep cultural and linguistic ties of different Balkan peoples, provide an antidote to our notions of the Balkans as a locus of conflict because they focus on centuries of cultural and linguistic exchange." (https://www.catranslation.org/feature/translating-skopje-an-interview-with-christina-kramer/)
Reading Global Book Club: Tempe Public Library's Reading Global Book Club reads fiction and non-fiction books focusing on Tempe's Sister Cities. Each book is either written by an author from one of Tempe's Sister Cities, or focuses on those cities, and each book club meeting will include discussions led by individuals with deep experience in the diverse and compelling histories and cultures of these communities. The club meets once per month. All Reading Global Book Club meetings are held at the Tempe Public Library, 6:00pm-7:30pm.
What If I Have Not Read the Book? We find that most attendees at our book club meetings are excited about reading these books and come to the meetings having read all or part of the books. But everybody is welcome at the book club meetings, even if they haven't read the book! We have great discussions, great guests, etc., and everyone can enjoy and participate, regardless of how much they read.