Title Pick: Maidenhair by Mikhail Shiskin

Day after day the Russian asylum-seekers sit across from the interpreter and Peter—the Swiss officers who guard the gates to paradise—and tell of the atrocities they’ve suffered, or that they’ve invented, or heard from someone else. These stories of escape, war, and violence intermingle with the interpreter’s own reading: a his­tory of an ancient Persian … Continue reading Title Pick: Maidenhair by Mikhail Shiskin

Title Pick: The Essential Poetry by Marina Tsvetaeva

We are kicking off Russian literature month on the GLLI blog with a little poetry from acclaimed poet Marina Tevetaeva. From the Glagoslav Publications webpage: Marina Tsvetaeva: The Essential Poetry includes translations by Michael M. Naydan and Slava I. Yastremski of lyric poetry from all of the great Modernist Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva’s published collections and … Continue reading Title Pick: The Essential Poetry by Marina Tsvetaeva

Title Pick: Baho! by Roland Rugero

In Baho!, the first Burundian novel ever translated into English, the 28-year-old Roland Rugero uses elements of fable and oral tradition to explore the themes of miscommunication and justice in his war-torn Central African nation. When Nyamuragi, an adolescent mute, attempts to ask a young woman in rural Burundi for directions to an appropriate place … Continue reading Title Pick: Baho! by Roland Rugero