Translators Association – 60 Years of Classic Translations: Dr. Zhivago (1958)

Posted on by Rachel Hildebrandt

Founded in 1958, the Translators Association of The Society of Authors (TA) is celebrating its 60th anniversary. For the next 60 weeks l will post and tweet a classic #translation for each TA year, and #namethetranslator who rewrote it so we could enjoy it in English. #TA60 Ready? Here we go! DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, Boris Pasternak's … Continue reading Translators Association – 60 Years of Classic Translations: Dr. Zhivago (1958)

Title Pick: Scattering the Dark: An Anthology of Polish Women Poets

Posted on by Rachel Hildebrandt

Scattering the Dark offers a lively selection of Poland’s women poets writing before and after the fall of communism. In eight thematic chapters, this book reveals how the influential literary tradition of Miłosz and Szymborska continues to evolve as younger generations turn from their country’s tragic history to a poetry of ordinary experience and language … Continue reading Title Pick: Scattering the Dark: An Anthology of Polish Women Poets

Title Pick: The Duchy of Warsaw, 1807-1815, by Jaroslaw Czubaty

Posted on by Rachel Hildebrandt

The Duchy of Warsaw, 1807-1815 is the first academic history of the state established by Napoleon in pre-partitioned Poland at the turn of the 19th century. The book examines the political, social and cultural dynamics of the Duchy and considers its role in Napoleon's wider empire and the politics he engaged in across the European … Continue reading Title Pick: The Duchy of Warsaw, 1807-1815, by Jaroslaw Czubaty

Title Pick: FLIGHTS by Olga Tokarczuk

Posted on by Rachel Hildebrandt

Flights, a novel about travel in the twenty-first century and human anatomy, is Olga Tokarczuk’s most ambitious to date. It interweaves travel narratives and reflections on travel with an in-depth exploration of the human body, broaching life, death, motion, and migration.  From the seventeenth century, we have the story of the Dutch anatomist Philip Verheyen, … Continue reading Title Pick: FLIGHTS by Olga Tokarczuk

Adult Title Pick: HISTORY OF A DISAPPEARANCE by Filip Springer

Posted on by Rachel Hildebrandt

Winner of Asymptote Journal’s 2016 Close Approximations Translation Contest and Shortlisted for the Ryszard Kapuscinski Prize, History of a Disappearance is the fascinating true story of a small mining town in the southwest of Poland that, after seven centuries of history, disappeared. Lying at the crucible of Central Europe, the Silesian village of Kupferberg suffered … Continue reading Adult Title Pick: HISTORY OF A DISAPPEARANCE by Filip Springer

Title Pick: The Snowman by Jo Nesbø

Posted on by Rachel Hildebrandt

One night, after the first snowfall of the year, a boy named Jonas wakes up and discovers that his mother has disappeared. Only one trace of her remains: a pink scarf, his Christmas gift to her, now worn by the snowman that inexplicably appeared in their yard earlier that day.  Inspector Harry Hole suspects a … Continue reading Title Pick: The Snowman by Jo Nesbø

Title Pick: The Wounded Soul of a Black Elephant & A Prayer to the Ancestors by Gabriel Mwene Okoundji

Posted on by Rachel Hildebrandt

The Wounded Soul of a Black Elephant & A Prayer to the Ancestors by Gabriel Mwènè Okoundji is a bilingual edition of the poems of the prize-winning Congolese poet Gabriel Mwènè Okoundji translated into English by Peter Figueroa. “I spent my childhood, like most children brought up in the Congolese bush, among women. Their talk, … Continue reading Title Pick: The Wounded Soul of a Black Elephant & A Prayer to the Ancestors by Gabriel Mwene Okoundji

Title Pick: Mr. Fix It by Richard Ali A Mutu

Posted on by Rachel Hildebrandt

Ebamba’s name means “mender” in Lingala, but everything in the Congolese twenty-something’s life seems to be falling apart. In the chaotic megacity of Kinshasa, the educated but unemployed young man must navigate the ever widening distance between tradition and modernity—from the payment of his fiancee’s exorbitant dowry to the unexpected sexual confession of his best … Continue reading Title Pick: Mr. Fix It by Richard Ali A Mutu

Title Pick: An Eternity in Tangiers by Eyoum Nganguè

Posted on by Rachel Hildebrandt

The protagonist of An Eternity in Tangiers is a teenager named Gawa, who leaves his native city, the imaginary West African capital of Gnasville, hoping to find a better life in Europe, where he hopes to escape the turmoil of his home country. Following a journey fraught with dangers and betrayals, Gawa is stranded in … Continue reading Title Pick: An Eternity in Tangiers by Eyoum Nganguè

Title Pick: Forbidden Fruit by Stanley Gazemba

Posted on by Rachel Hildebrandt

Desperate to make ends meet, Ombima commits a “harmless” crime. When he tries to conceal his misdeed, the simple farm laborer becomes a reluctant participant in a sinister affair. If discovered, the consequences could be disastrous for Ombima’s family, friends, and a spate of unwitting, gossipy villagers. A delicious tale of greed, lust, and betrayal, … Continue reading Title Pick: Forbidden Fruit by Stanley Gazemba