stories on the go

One of the best things about being a translator is having the world at your fingertips – but a commute to work of less than twenty steps (I did get up and test the distance from breakfast table to desk for this).

For those less fortunate, there’s an app. With LitNav, you can choose where you want to go, how you want to travel (bike or tram? feminist or horror story? read or listen?) and how long you’ve got. Stories last 5 to 90 minutes.

There’s some great writing to choose from, including Belgian Koen Peeters’ Tramline 11 in Brian Doyle’s translation, set in Riga, and Polish Paweł Huelle’s Bicycle Express, in Antonia Lloyd-Jones’ translation, set in Gdańsk.

LitNav arose from Comma Press commissions on Reading the City and the Literature Across Frontiers project Tramlines, in which each writer spent a week in a new city.  The picture, from LAF’s Facebook page, shows Koen Peeters getting on the tram in Riga.

Enjoy the ride.