Rain came down in a sudden torrent one day when I was staying in Osaka, Japan, a common occurrence during the rainy season. Lacking any other immediate options, I dashed to cover, where I planned to whittle away the following few hours in a bookstore cozily nestled inside a train station. As I perused … Continue reading The Anthropological Fantasy of Nahoko Uehashi’s Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit
It is well-known in American global literature communities that less than three percent of U.S. books are translations. For whatever reason, there aren’t many publishers willing to work in literary translation. It’s rarer still to find presses that exclusively release international literature for English-reading audiences. Sadly, there is only a handful operating in the States. … Continue reading Publisher Spotlight: Open Letter Books
Earlier this year, literary translator Nicky Harman shared her top ten list of English-language translations from China. This list of fiction, children’s books and nonfiction titles began with one of Harman’s own translation projects, The Chilli Bean Paste Clan written by Yan Ge. I’d previously glimpsed this Sichuan family drama in a few online book … Continue reading Publisher Spotlight: Balestier Press
It may only be August, but Oneworld Publications is already on lists. Awards lists, that is. It’s hard to keep track of the London-based independent publisher’s 2018 nominations. Luckily, the “News” section of their website documents each shortlist, finalist, and honoree. The page’s most recent announcements show that the Spanish-to-English translation of Fever Dream won … Continue reading Publisher Spotlight: Oneworld Publications + Rock the Boat
There’s little doubt that three-year-old Tilted Axis Press is here to bring radical international content to English-reading audiences. The UK-based publisher is exclusively dedicated to global titles “that might not otherwise make it into English”, and derives its name from a desire to always be “tilting the axis of world literature from the centre to … Continue reading Publisher Spotlight: Tilted Axis Press
Things have been busy at Portobello Books. The young indie will turn thirteen this year, and what a decade-plus it’s been. Their staff acquisitioned A-list catalogs, added to their international literary prize lists, and adopted sister imprints, Granta Books and Granta Magazine, all since opening its doors in 2005. Through the press continues to … Continue reading Publisher Spotlight: Portobello Books
In celebration of Pride, June’s “Publisher Spotlight” will showcase publishers of LGBTQ+ literature in English-language translation. This week, we will delve into the history of Penguin imprint Pantheon, a publisher of original and translated fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and comics. Many German-to-English translators may already know that Pantheon was built on literary translation. (It was … Continue reading Publisher Spotlight: Pantheon
In celebration of Pride, June’s “Publisher Spotlight” posts will feature publishers of LGBTQ+ literature in English-language translation. This week’s piece is about Arsenal Pulp Press, the groundbreaking Canadian publisher of LGBTQ+ titles, global literature, and so much more. Some readers might be questioning why Arsenal Pulp Press is getting a second feature in this column … Continue reading Publisher Spotlight: Arsenal Pulp Press (Part II)
In celebration of Pride, June’s “Publisher Spotlight” posts will feature publishers of LGBTQ+ literature in English-language translation. This week, we will explore titles by academic publisher University of Minnesota Press. Since its founding in 1925, University of Minnesota Press has been a beacon of scholarly writing in the humanities and social sciences. Later, literature was … Continue reading Publisher Spotlight: University of Minnesota Press
In this second part of my short series about Bulgarian Poetry collections available in English translation, I will cover the period until 1944, the year of the Communist takeover in Bulgaria. While in the last blog post I was presenting anthologies, I will focus in this post on books that present the (selected) poems of … Continue reading Bulgarian Poetry in English Translation (II): available titles from the pre-1944 period – An overview by Thomas Hübner
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 