Summer has been so hot down south, but the Nordic midsummer is so uncharacteristically cold, even for here, that you might be missing real winter already. Time for some Icelandic poetry. Cold Moons by Magnús Sigurðsson, translated by Meg Matich,…
Cold moons
Tagged with: books, Iceland, Karol Majewski, Magnús Sigurðsson, Meg Matich, Phoneme Media, Poetry, Translation
Posted in books, poetry, translation
Posted in books, poetry, translation
Finland 100: The wolf’s bride
If you’re still looking for somewhere to go on holiday this summer, why not try Estonia’s second largest island, Hiiumaa, which looks like a lovely peaceful place where you can get really close to nature? Read this book before you…
Tagged with: 101 kirjaa, Aino Kallas, Alex Matson, Finland 100, Finnish, Sudenmorsian, The Wolf's Bride
Posted in books, Finland 100, Folklore, gender, theatre, translation
Posted in books, Finland 100, Folklore, gender, theatre, translation
Standing on Earth
Is a pomegranate a grenade-apple, a cluster of garnets, or a something else? Moshen Emadi has some ideas: Emadi’s Standing on Earth, translated from the Persian by Lyn Coffin, is a Phoneme Media production. I love this publisher for its windows on worlds…
Tagged with: books, Iran, Lyn Coffin, Mohsen Emadi, Persian, Phoneme Media, Poetry, Translation
Posted in books, international, poetry, translation
Posted in books, international, poetry, translation
Finland 100: a midsummer train ride
“Have you heard about the iron road?” “Iron road?” “yes, iron tracks, and on it, an iron horse that eats whole logs instead of hay, it’s a bit like the Suomela steam boat, only of course it doesn’t have paddles, it…
Tagged with: books, Finland 100, Finnish, Juhani Aho, midsummer, railway, Rautatie, Translation
Posted in books, Finland 100, translation
Posted in books, Finland 100, translation
The House in Smyrna
The key to The House in Smyrna is in Rio. Her grandfather brought it with him on the boat when he emigrated from Turkey. His granddaughter was born in Portugal, and is travelling all the way back, to see if it still…
Tagged with: Alison Entrekin, books, Brazil, Portuguese, Rio di Janiero, Tatiana Salem Levy, The House in Smyrna, Translation, Turkey
Posted in books, translation
Posted in books, translation
Fleur Jaeggy’s Cat
Susan Sontag calls her savage, Josef Brodsky calls her extraordinary, and the Paris Review calls her book downright lovely. There isn’t much one can add to that. Fleur Jaeggy’s latest collection, translated by Gini Alhadeff, is out next month and you…
Tagged with: And Other Stories, books, Cat, Fleur Jaeggy, Gini Alhadeff, I am the Brother of XX, Italian, Switzerland, Translation, Tuulikki Pietilä
Posted in books, translation
Posted in books, translation
Extracting the stone of madness
Extracting the Stone of Madness, Hieronymus Bosch c. 1494, Museo del Prado, Madrid Surgery to ‘treat’ mental illness 500 years ago was no joke. You would have a hole drilled into your skull to take the madness out. Is this what Alejandra…
The Queue
Every day, the queue gets longer. More and more people need documents: proof of citizenship, exemptions, permissions, documents with forms to get the other documents for the other forms. So they come to the Gate, and wait. They wait in…
Tagged with: Arabic, Basma Abdel Aziz, books, Egypt, Elisabeth Jaquette, The Queue, Translation
Posted in books, literature, translation
Posted in books, literature, translation
Mascha Kaléko: a new bilingual edition
This new and fully bilingual edition of the Poems of Mascha Kaléko, out in time for the 110th anniversary of her birth, is a good introduction in English to one of my favourite German poets, who deserves to be more…
Tagged with: Andreas Nolte, books, Fomite Press, Gabriele Münter, German, Mascha Kaléko, Poetry, The Poems of Mascha Kaléko, Translation
Posted in books, poetry, translation
Posted in books, poetry, translation
Finland 100: Minna Canth
This beautiful book (cover design by Anu Tuominen) is one of 12 classics republished by WSOY to celebrate Finland’s 100th anniversary. Minna Canth, the author of Työmiehen vaimo/The worker’s wife, died 120 years ago this Friday, so she didn’t live to…
Tagged with: Anu Tuominen, Finland 100, Finnish, Minna Canth, theatre, Translation, Työmiehen vaimo, WSOY
Posted in books, Finland 100, theatre, translation
Posted in books, Finland 100, theatre, translation
found in translation 