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…
Negative Space
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
To Leave with the Reindeer
What makes humans different from other creatures? We draw a clear distinction, but maybe our actions show there’s less of a difference than we think in the way we try to raise children and animals. There is a lot of…
Tagged with: And Other Stories, books, French, Kiki Smith, Olivia Rosenthal, Sophie Lewis, To Leave with the Reindeer, Translation
Posted in books, literature, translation
Posted in books, literature, translation
What we owe
As an immigrant to a Nordic country under very different circumstances, I devoured this. I’m vastly more privileged – I am not a political refugee, although my grandparents and great uncle were, in their day. But the otherness and sameness…
Tagged with: books, Elizabeth Jane Clark Wessel, Golnaz Hashemazeh Bonde, Iran, Sweden, Swedish, Translation, What we Owe
Posted in books, translation
Posted in books, translation
Love
This PEN award winner is indeed about love, and distance. I haven’t read such a desperately sad story for a long, long time. Like Romeo and Juliet, it’s the just-too-lateness of it all that is the most tragic. But this…
Tagged with: Archipelago Books, books, Hanne Ørstavik, Love, Martin Aitken, Norwegian, PEN Literary Award, Translation
Posted in books, translation
Posted in books, translation
Little Beast
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived in a little village on the edge of the forest. She was born long ago, when times were hard; as she knew they would be. She enjoyed life well…
Tagged with: books, Canada, Coach House Books, French, Julie Demers, Little Beast, Rhonda Mullins, Translation
Posted in books, translation
Posted in books, translation
Come into the story
I’m on the way home from Gdańsk, from the choral festival which my choir achieved silver in the equal-voice category yesterday – we are thrilled. For the competition we had to sing two songs in our own language and two…
Tagged with: Finland, Finnish, international, music, Pentti Linkola, Poetry, Sirkka Turkka, Translation, Tule kanssani satuun
Posted in international, music, poetry, translation
Posted in international, music, poetry, translation
Hell, freshly translated
Lent starts next week, so what better time to get your hands on a book about sinners, in their infinite variety, and where they end up? The gates of Hell open onto what some might consider the worst of the…
Tagged with: Alastair Gray, books, Dante, Divina Commedia, Hell, Illustration, Italian, Poetry, Translation
Posted in books, Illustration, literature, poetry, translation
Posted in books, Illustration, literature, poetry, translation
Revenge of the Translator
If you, like me, translate for a living, you might, like me, have been waiting to get your hands on this for quite some time. I ordered it ages ago, and when it finally arrived, I was about to take…
Tagged with: Brice Matthieussent, Deep Vellum, Emma Ramadan, French, Revenge of the Translator, Translation
Posted in books, language, translation
Posted in books, language, translation
Maresi’s Power
Maresi is home from the abbey. She has left her sisters behind. She has left the horror of death behind too, it seems. It isn’t easy coming home. The journey is hard, and long. And when she gets there, the…
Tagged with: Annie Prime, books, Dublin Literary Award, Finland, Finnish, Maresi, Maresi Red Mantle, Maria Kyrö, Maria Turtschaninoff, Swedish, Translation, YA
Posted in books, gender, translation
Posted in books, gender, translation
The year was so new, it yawned and stretched…
I was in London over new year, and there was one place I had to go. The British Library to see the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms exhibition. It is stuffed with treasures, including some of the earliest works ever written and translated…
Tagged with: books, Middle English, Poetry, Simon Armitage, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Translation
Posted in books, Christmas, Folklore, history, literature, translation
Posted in books, Christmas, Folklore, history, literature, translation
found in translation 