Sir Peter Stothard vs. Concise Encyclopedia of the Original Literature of Esperanto

This is smug British shtick at its worst:

Sir Peter Stothard, "The Book Show", ABC Radio National, February 12, 2009

"The editor of the Times Literary Supplement, Sir Peter Stothard, takes us through three new books featured in his august journal. A new book on why evolution is true, reviewed by true-believer Richard Dawkins; a book on why politicians negotiationg with Iran might have to brush up on Persian poetry, and a Concise Encyclopedia of the Original Literature of Esperanto, complete with Esperanto puns."

This is not very august or literary, it's just retarded. But at least it's publicity. To listen to the Esperanto segment, click here (mp3 - 4MB).

I am not terribly impressed either by Esperantist John Wells' review: "A long kolego," Times Literary Supplement, February 6, 2009.

Even the most cursory overview of the literary history of Esperanto demands a bit more than this.  Anyway, here is Mondial's advert for the book. You can get a fair preview from Google books:

Concise Encyclopedia of the Original Literature of Esperanto by Geoffrey Sutton (New York: Mondial, 2008). 740 pp.

Esperantists are not above criticizing their literary tradition. I've just uploaded an old paper by Holocaust survivor and poet Julius Balbin, with my comments:

The Secret Malady of Esperanto Poetry (1973) by Dr. Julius Balbin