The Memory Police is set on a mysterious island where an equally mysterious law enforcement body makes sure that everyone forgets what they’re supposed to (quite why this happens no-one knows, but hey, don’t mess with the Memory Police, right?). Well, let me tell you about the book first. So, what does that have to do with *you*, I hear you asking (I have great hearing).

You see, a book he worked on, Y ōko Ogawa’s The Memory Police, has been longlisted for this year’s Best Translated Book Award and (in my humble, well, not *that* humble opinion), it’s the best book on the list and is bound to win. But this doesn’t really have anything to do with his Middlebury work, it’s about his moonlighting as a literary translator, which I bet you’re not all that keen on. I’m writing about one of your employees, Stephen Snyder, who (according to your website) is dean of the Language Schools and vice president for academic affairs. To: the Person in charge at Middlebury Collegeĭear Dean/Professor/Academic Overlord (not sure how these things work at American universities) The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa, translated from the Japanese by Stephen Snyder (Pantheon) In addition, in his free time he enjoys translating from the German, and English translations of short pieces by Eduard von Keyserling, Ricarda Huch, and Karoline von Günderrode can also be found at his site. Between 20, he was a member of a Shadow Panel working on the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and then the Man Booker International Prize, chairing the group for several years.

His main focus is on Japanese and Korean literature, and he has covered over a hundred titles in each of these areas.

Tony Malone is an Australian reviewer of fiction in translation, whose site, Tony’s Reading List, has been providing reviews continuously since 2009. Check in daily for new Why This Book Should Win posts covering all thirty-five titles longlisted for the 2020 Best Translated Book Awards.

The memory police yoko ogawa