This is one of the most beloved carols in the Nordic countries, but the tune is from Central Europe and it has travelled across the Atlantic in English translations. So why haven’t you heard of it yet? Maybe it’s because…
Blog Archives
the carol that travelled
Tagged with: Aarberg, Bernhard Ingemann, Christmas Carols, Danish, Dejlig er jorden, Fairest Lord Jesus, Finnish, German, Härlig är jorden, maa on niin kaunis, Schönster Herr Jesu, Swedish
Posted in Christmas, history, international, music, translation
Posted in Christmas, history, international, music, translation
The Winterlings
A strange tale indeed, this one. If you’ve seen Pan’s Labyrinth, you’ll know that it’s perfectly possible to mix the brutal history of the Spanish Civil War, magical realism, a tight rural community that blends into the wooded mountains and…
Tagged with: Cristina Sánchez-Andrade, Samuel Rutter, Spanish, The Winterlings, Translation
Posted in books, history, translation
Posted in books, history, translation
A bookish birthday for Finland
Finland is 99 today, and counting. Independence Day today marks the start of the centenary year. The celebrations really kick off with the New Year – including Book Finland 2017 which celebrates something Finns do a lot of – reading. The average Finn borrows…
Tagged with: A. A. Prime, Emmi Itäranta, Finland, Finnish, Johanna Sinisalo, Kaija Anttonen, KirjaSuomi, Laura Lindstedt, Lola Rogers, Maria Turtschaninoff, Owen Witesman, Rauni Magga Lukkari, Salla Simukka, Sofi Oksanen, Suomi100, Terhi Ekebom, Thomas Teal, Tove Jansson
Posted in books, gender, history, literature, translation
Posted in books, gender, history, literature, translation
Searching for Sappho
New poems by a woman who died over two millennia ago – of course I was interested. And this book does get off to a cracking detective-like start, which reminded me of a book I loved, Sisters of Sinai: What happens after…
Tagged with: Anne Carson, Greek, Mary Barnard, Philip Freeman, Sappho, Searching for Sappho, Translation
Posted in books, gender, history, poetry, Uncategorized
Posted in books, gender, history, poetry, Uncategorized
Where do you really come from?
November 9 is a good date to mark German Literature Month; the day the monarchy ended, the day Hitler’s putsch failed, the night of the pogroms he instigated, the day the Berlin Wall came down… It wasn’t as easy as…
points of gold in the dark
The first Mongolian poetry book in English translation to be published in the US after The End of the Dark Era – it’s no surprise it’s from Phoneme. Tseveendorjin Oidov, like so many artists in the Soviet sphere of influence,…
Tagged with: Buddhism, modernism, Mongolian, Poetry, Simon Wickhamsmith, The End of the Dark Era, Tranlsation, Tseveendorjin Oidov
Posted in books, history, poetry, translation
Posted in books, history, poetry, translation
We need more Akhmatova
With some books, you have to be ready.This poet is one of Russia’s best, but it took me this long to sit down and read her. It’s time you did, too. Anna Akhmatova’s Selected Poems in Richard McKane’s English translation…
Tagged with: Anna Akhmatova, Bloodaxe Books, Poetry, Richard McKane, Russian, Translation, Women in Translation Month
Posted in books, faith, history, literature, poetry, translation, Women in Translation Month
Posted in books, faith, history, literature, poetry, translation, Women in Translation Month
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
Lady Midday
It started with an eight-year-old boy left at the train station by his mother, as the Germans flee the Red Army approaching Szczecin/Stettin in 1945. We need to go back more than twenty years to find out how it came…
Tagged with: Anthea Bell, Die Mittagsfrau, German, German Book Prize, Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, Julia Franck, Lady Midday, The Blind Side of the Heart, Translation
Posted in books, history, translation
Posted in books, history, translation
Jamala: Crimean Tatar in translation
Eurovision 2016, almost everyone is singing in English (even the French!!!) and a Crimean Tatar wins, singing the chorus in a language that isn’t even available on Google Translate. Because she sings with passion about her people, who were forcibly…
Tagged with: 1944, Crimean Tatar, Eurovision 2016, Jamala, Meni gamdan azat eyle, The Colour of Pomegranates, Translation, Ukraine
Posted in history, international, language, music
Posted in history, international, language, music
found in translation 