Ivan Vladislavic Discusses “the Archival Impulse” at the Launch of The Loss Library at Boekehuis

Lara Buxbaum reports on the launch of Ivan Vladislavić’s new book, The Loss Library and Other Unfinished Stories, which took place at Boekehuis last week. Buxbaum recalls the words of Wits Professor Michael Titlestad, who remarked on the “metaphorical coincidence” of launching The Loss Library at what was probably the last of Boekehuis’ Saturday Voices series, foreshadowing its imminent closure.

In a conversation with Titlestad, Vladislavić discussed “the creative possibilities of incompletion” and “the archival impulse”, saying that incomplete narratives can be rewarding for the reader:

Ivan Vladislavić was in conversation with Michael Titlestad to launch his latest work, a collection of “unfinished stories”, at Boekehuis on Saturday.

For what was certainly the last event in the Saturday Voices/Saterdagstemme series of 2011 and most probably the final launch event ever, Boekehuis was packed to capacity. Several more people were huddled on the verandah, determined to ignore the ominous signs of an impending rainstorm. The mood was quite forlorn as no doubt everyone in the audience was aware of Boekehuis’s impending closure. I overheard at least two people mention that the gloomy weather was appropriate weather for a wake. However, if this was a wake, then it was a resolutely Irish one!

• Complete article: SLiPNet

Book details

• The Loss Library and Other Unfinished Stories by Ivan Vladislavic
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  EAN: 9781415201626
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