Is this a Marmite book? Or maybe a sour-plum book, given the colour of the cover. My mum spent a large chunk of her childhood in Hong Kong, so she loves them, but they’re too strong for me. My mum…
The Polyglot Lovers
Tagged with: And Other Stories, Lina Wolff, Saskia Vogel, Sweden, Swedish, The Polyglot Lovers, Translation, writing
Posted in books, gender, international, translation
Posted in books, gender, international, translation
Sergius Seeks Bacchus
A fellow queer Christian, from an utterly different context. Indonesian literature has been in the literary news since the country guest of honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2015. But now it gets personal: Sergius Seeks Bacchus. This slim…
Tagged with: books, Indonesian, Norman Erikson Pasaribu, Poetry, Sergius Seeks Bacchus, Tiffany Tsao, Tilted Axis Press, Translation
Posted in books, faith, gender, poetry, translation
Posted in books, faith, gender, poetry, translation
The Governesses
Something is happening in French-language literature right now that makes me dearly regret stopping at GCSE. In the last few months I’ve devoured three short and piercingly acute new translations from French that have made me think hard about animal…
Tagged with: Anne Serre, books, French, Mark Hutchinson, The Governesses, Translation
Posted in books, gender, literature, translation
Posted in books, gender, literature, translation
Accomodations
Wiola is growing up. We are still growing up in parallel. She is a student in Poland exactly when I am a student in Poland, the academic session of 1995/1996. Except I’m in Warsaw for a year of my degree,…
Tagged with: Accommodations, books, Jennifer Croft, Polish, Translation, Wioletta Greg
Posted in books, translation
Posted in books, translation
Empty Words
“This book might change your life, or at least your handwriting.” Alejandro Zambra is not wrong about Mario Levrero’s Empty Words. Annie McDermott’s translation, out last Thursday, might just do the same for you. There are plenty of “how to…
Tagged with: And Other Stories, Annie McDermott, books, Mario Levrero, Spanish, Translation, Uruguay, writing
Posted in books, translation, words
Posted in books, translation, words
The Condition of Secrecy
Words grow out of her like leaves from a tree. They just emerge that way, it’s an organic process. There are so many endless possibilities, starting from somewhere, one could end up anywhere at all. Words fight each other and…
Tagged with: books, Danish, essays, Inger Christensen, Susanna Nied, The Condition of Secrecy, Translation, writing
Posted in books, translation, words
Posted in books, translation, words
Negative Space
A voice from Albania, somewhere I’ve never been, seems to know exactly what I’m thinking. This is all the more interesting as for a long time, the poet, Luljeta Lleshanaku, couldn’t go anywhere at all. Born in 1968, she grew…
Tagged with: Albania, Albanian, Ani Gjika, Bloodaxe Books, books, Luljeta Lleshanaku, Negative Space, Poetry, Translation
Posted in books, poetry, translation
Posted in books, poetry, translation
