The Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Michigan announced today that it would be taking over the editorship of the translation journal Absinthe, founded a decade ago by Dwayne Hayes to spotlight new European writing (its two most recent issues featured writing from Bosnia and Turkey). I’m sorry to see Hayes leave the journal after his dedicated stewardship, but he says, “It was time for me to step away, focus on other things, and let someone else guide Absinthe into its next phase. I’m very pleased that it’s going to the University of Michigan.”
In its new home, Absinthe will have a broader international focus and is to appear twice yearly with an expanded online presence. The first two upcoming issues will concentrate on the topics (1) “precariousness” in writing from across Europe and (2) the literature of Europe and China in dialogue, guest edited by graduate students Etienne Charriere and Emily Goedde, respectively. You can email them with your inquiries, submissions, and words of encouragement: those are some big shoes they’ll be filling.