May GLLI Blog Series: Japan in Translation, No. 4 (part 1) With my project Joy o' Kanji, I'm writing one essay about each of the 2,136 Joyo kanji, the characters the Japanese use in daily life. In the essays I explore all facets of a kanji, including its readings, the evolution of its shape and … Continue reading PUN POTENTIAL — Eve Kushner on Kanji and Translation, part 1
May GLLI Blog Series: Japan in Translation, No. 2 Editor's note: Even in 2018, many conversations about Japan begin by mentioning the nation's homogeneity before going on to discuss a group or individual who appears to be an exception. Japan is filled with such “exceptions,” however, and even the tiny percentage of Japanese fiction published … Continue reading OUTSIDER STORIES IN CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE FICTION — by Kathryn Hemmann
This week’s Publisher Spotlight is all about the “leading English-language publisher in Egypt and the Middle East”—The American University in Cairo Press. AUC Press is a predominantly academic publisher that offers titles in twelve main categories, which include ancient Egypt, Islam and Coptic Studies, Middle Eastern art, and Arabic language learning, among other genres. … Continue reading Publisher Spotlight: The American University in Cairo Press + Hoopoe
When you know that every day some 86,000 people go online to study the Choctaw language, it makes it a little easier to understand why one of the best things about Sherri Maret’s new picture book The Cloud Artist may be that it can be read in both English and Choctaw. In … Continue reading Choctaw Culture Graces Every Page of Picture Book About an Artist in the Making
I was introduced to Talonbooks via the Governor General’s Awards some years back, though it was hardly Talon’s first time being recognized at the prestigious awards ceremony. The Canadian publisher has a four-decades-long history of book awards to their name, and when you read their catalog, it’s easy to see why. Talonbooks has been a … Continue reading Publisher Spotlight: Talonbooks
When I think of the word “contemporary” in relation to poetry, I immediately think of Wave Books. This indie publisher rises above the rest in terms of aesthetics. Their font-first cover art has become so characteristic of the press that one can walk into the poetry section of a bookstore and immediately recognize the careful … Continue reading Publisher Spotlight: Wave Books
A few years back, I was introduced to Akashic Books, the provocative Brooklyn indie with a taste for urban and political literature. Like many, I found them after they published Go the Fuck to Sleep, the hilariously subversive and now infamous children’s book. It didn’t take long for me to recognize Akashic as a trailblazer … Continue reading Publisher Spotlight: Akashic Books
SUMMARY: The moving, inspiring memoir of one of the great women of our times, Shirin Ebadi, winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize and advocate for the oppressed, whose spirit has remained strong in the face of political persecution and despite the challenges she has faced raising a family while pursuing her work. Best known … Continue reading International Banned Book: Iran Awakening by Shirin Ebadi
This year I have enjoyed serving on the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Book Award Committee with USBBY, the United States Board on Books for Young People. Our chair, Dr. Kathy Short, is a professor at the University of Arizona, College of Education in Tucson. She is the Director of an exciting project called Worlds of Words. … Continue reading Worlds of Words
I had an absolutely awful time choosing just one book to feature from Seagull Books’ forthcoming titles in translation. Not only does this international press seek out stories from a myriad of countries—Hungary, Chile, India, Germany, Italy, among others—but every single cover is consistently stunning. How could I possible decide? Therefore I am flouting … Continue reading Publisher Spotlight: Seagull Books
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 