Stephen Kinzer writes:

Since English is the lingua franca, translating a book into English puts it in a position to be translated into many different languages. The United States is the clogged artery that prevents authors from reaching readers anywhere outside their own country.

In interviews publishers cited many reasons for their increasing reluctance to bring out books by non-American writers.

Several said a decisive factor was the concentration of ownership in the book industry, which is dominated by a few conglomerates. That has produced an intensifying fixation on profit. As publishers focus on blockbusters, they steadily lose interest in little-known authors from other countries.

Some publishers said that they had no staff editors who read foreign languages and that they hesitated to rely on the advice of outsiders about which foreign books might capture the imagination of Americans.

Others mentioned the high cost of translation, the local references in many non-American books and the different approach to writing that many foreign authors take.

"A lot of foreign literature doesn't work in the American context because it's less action-oriented than what we're used to, more philosophical and reflective," said Laurie Brown, senior vice president for marketing and sales at Harcourt Trade Publishers.

"As with foreign films, literature in translation often has a different pace, a different style, and it can take some getting used to. The reader needs to see subtleties and get into the mood or frame of mind to step into a different place. Americans tend to want more immediate gratification. We're into accessible information. We often look for the story, rather than the story within the story. We'd rather read lines than read between the lines."

The Frankfurt Book Fair last year was supposed to launch Korean literature onto the world stage, but did it?