“Be careful with Clarice,” the writer’s friend warned a reader. “It’s not literature, it’s witchcraft.” Clarice Lispector was born not so very far away from Kafka and Schulz, and you can tell. That particular magically impossible way of weaving a…
The painter who wrote: Tove Jansson’s letters
Tove Jansson was born 102 years ago today. Her letters were published in the original Swedish for her centenary, and you can read extracts in English translation by David McDuff at the Books from Finland archive. They are a treasure…
Tagged with: Books from Finland, David McDuff, Finnish, Jaana Nikula, Swedish, Tove Jansson, Translation
Posted in Illustration, literature, Tove Jansson Centenary, translation
Posted in Illustration, literature, Tove Jansson Centenary, translation
Women in translation month: Lydia Grigorieva
As women in translation month returns, the task is simple – just read! So I went to a new publisher of Slavonic literature, Glagoslav, and found the perfect way to start. Lydia Grigorieva’s Shards from the Polar Ice is out today and…
Tagged with: Glagoslav, John Farndon, Lydia Grigorieva, Olga Nakston, Richard McKane, Russian, Shards from the Polar Ice, Translation, Ukrainian, Women in Translation Month
Posted in books, gender, poetry, translation, Women in Translation Month
Posted in books, gender, poetry, translation, Women in Translation Month
Sur’s Ocean
“What poet, hearing the poems Sur has made, would not nod his head in pleasure?” (Nabhadas). Swim in the ocean of his words, or down-river from his source, in this stout annotated volume of just over 400 of the thousands…
Tagged with: Devanagari, India, John Stratton Hawley, Kenneth Bryant, Murty Classical Library, Old Hindi, Poetry, Sur's Ocean, Surdas, Translation
Posted in books, faith, poetry, translation
Posted in books, faith, poetry, translation
reflected in the rainwater butt: Regentonnenvariationen
Thistle stars, quince suns, and a buzzing alphabet of midges: Jan Wagner sees nature upside down and inside out. He will make you see the world in a whole new way. I found the young Hamburg poet on a trip…
Tagged with: German, Jan Wagner, Matthew Sweeney, Poetry, Regentonnenvariationen, Translation
Posted in books, poetry, translation
Posted in books, poetry, translation
the language is yours, cherish it
This week’s number one, slaying Justine Timberlake and Adele, is a song in te reo Māori. What a fantastic end to the 40th Maori Language Week in New Zealand. Here’s the karaoke version of Maimoatia/Cherish it by the team at Pūkana (a…
Tagged with: Aotearoa, Cherish it, Maimoatia, Maori, Maori Language Week, New Zealand, Pūkana & Whānau, te reo Māori, Welsh
Posted in international, language, music, translation, words
Posted in international, language, music, translation, words
Sing your heart out at the football: Calon lân
Wales will be singing tonight as they play Portugal in the Euro 2016 football semi-final. And they will be singing this song: According to the BBC, it only takes half an hour to learn the words to calon lân, which means a…
Tagged with: Calon lân, Euro 2016, football, Gwyrosydd, John Hughes, Rees Harris, Translation, Wales, Welsh
Posted in international, language, music, translation
Posted in international, language, music, translation
A Polish contribution to statistics
Almost 52 per cent of voters in a small group of islands off the west coast of Europe have decided to leave. The immediate result has been panic, fear – and a racist backlash, hitting the biggest minority of non-UK citizens,…
Tagged with: Clare Cavanagh, EU Referendum, Polish, Stanisław Barańczak, Translation, Wisława Szymborska
Posted in international, poetry, translation
Posted in international, poetry, translation
The Transmigration of Bodies
Having a book subscription can be a bit hit and miss. The new book can be fascinating, and just right for you, but does it land on your doormat when you’re ready to read it? This week, the right thing…
Tagged with: And Other Stories, Best Translated Book Award, Spanish, The Transmigration of Bodies, Translation, Yuri Herrera
Posted in Best Translated Book Award, books, translation
Posted in Best Translated Book Award, books, translation
Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets
This woman can tell a story or two. Or a hundred. Svetlana Alexievich writes so well because she knows who to ask and how to listen. She received last year’s literature Nobel for her ‘polyphonic writings’ – but she’s not a…
Tagged with: Bela Shayevich, Belarus, history, Nobel Prize, Russian, Second Hand Time, Soviet Union, Svetlana Alexievich, Translation
Posted in books, history, Nobel Prize in Literature, translation
Posted in books, history, Nobel Prize in Literature, translation
found in translation 