It's a big world after all 

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Barbara Ras, director of Trinity University Press, pauses in her office to discuss the press' ambitious new series, "The Writers World," a collection of anthologies from around the world featuring accomplished writers on the vocation of writing. The first volumes will be available in approximately two years. (Photo by Mark Greenberg)

Trinity University Press puts a globe full of writers on the page

Barbara Ras, director of Trinity University Press, laughs as she describes the inspiration for an ambitious new series, "The Writer's World," a collection of essays on the literary enterprise by writers from different parts of the world. The works will be bound in anthologies grouped by country, language, and geographical region.

"It came to me when I was reading Chekov, his short stories, and his theories on writing. I thought, I wish there was a volume that had all of the great Russian writers' thoughts on writing compiled in one place; and then I thought, I wish there was a volume of all the great French writers' thoughts on writing compiled in one place; and then I thought: Wait! I'm a publisher, I should do this!"

From the beginning, Hirsch and Ras planned to produce as many volumes as they could conceive. So far, they have signed nine and are in the process of negotiating more. As a whole, the books will provide a rare comparative look at the way writers from different countries think about literature, and how national circumstance and literary traditions change the creative process. "In one way, to be an Italian writer is similar to being an American writer, and in another it seems to be a radically different thing - you write out of a literary tradition that is much older and has a different way of engaging literary problems," explains Hirsch.

The individual volume editors are experts in the given language and literature and, in many cases, well-known writers in their own right. They have their work cut out for them. Some of the essays will be commissioned, but many, some by deceased writers, will be culled from existing sources around the world: magazines, letters, diaries, interviews, et cetera. And most will have to be translated into English. With relatively little control in the way of guidelines or restrictions on their composition, the books promise to be as idiosyncratic as they are authentic.

"That's the creative idea," says Hirsch. "Some editors will go as far back in their literary tradition as they can, some will begin in the 19th century, and some will want primarily contemporary writing." Editors will have to choose the writers, balancing historical scope with international and more local reputations.

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Acclaimed poet and essayist Edward Hirsch is collaborating with Trinity University Press on "The Writer's World" anthologies. (courtesy photo)

"Romanian Writers will be a discovery for almost everyone. But the thing about that tradition that I think is so striking is that even if people know something about those writers, they may not think about them in the Romanian context," Hirsch says. "Paul Celan wrote in German but was born in Bukovina, Romania. People think of him in a German writing tradition, but this book will make clear that he also belongs in an Eastern European context."

Ras and Hirsch talk about the deeper importance of the project. It's not just about literature; it's also about the growing insularity of Americans, and the value of introducing outside voices. "I'm hoping that these books will be introductions to the deeply humane values of other cultures, to remind people that we live in an international world," says Hirsch.

Because of the workload involved, it will be a couple of years before the first volumes are available. All potential academic and inspirational purposes aside, the list of potential writers promises something to look forward to for purely aesthetic reasons: some truly beautiful writing. "It is an enormous thrill and an honor for a press that has yet to publish its first list to be able to work with writers of this caliber. It's both humbling and exhilarating," says Ras. •

` By Susan Pagani `