The Rabbit Back Literature Society by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen translated by Lola M. Rogers Pushkin Press January 20, 2015 352 pages I must admit, I was hoping that the mysterious woman at the heart of this novel turned out to be a dimension-shifting alien robot. And who knows, she might have been. But I’m jumping … Continue reading Speculative Fiction in Translation: The Rabbit Back Literature Society
Dreams From Beyond: An Anthology of Czech Speculative Fiction Edited for the purposes of Eurocon 2016 (BCon) 189 pages When Julie Nováková first told me about her anthology, I was thrilled because I hadn’t yet come across any Czech speculative fiction in English translation and I was eager to learn more about it. Let me … Continue reading Speculative Fiction in Translation: Dreams From Beyond
Kontakt: An Anthology of Croatian SF edited by Darko Macan and Tatjana Jambrišak translations by Tatjana Jambrišak, Goran Konvični, and the authors Wizard’s Tower Press February 11, 2014 246 pages From the Wizard’s Tower Press website: “The original paperback edition of Kontakt was produced in conjunction with the 2012 European Science Fiction Convention (Eurocon) in … Continue reading Speculative Fiction in Translation: Kontakt
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu translated from the Chinese by Ken Liu series: Remembrance of Earth’s Past (Book 1) Tor Books November 11, 2014 400 pages The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu translated from the Chinese by Joel Martinsen series: Remembrance of Earth’s Past (Book 2) Tor Books August 11, 2015 512 pages Death's … Continue reading Speculative Fiction in Translation: The Three-Body Trilogy
The Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz translated from the Arabic by Elisabeth Jaquette Melville House May 24, 2016 224 pages There aren’t any spaceships or spirits in The Queue; no mutant alien viruses or Martian colonies, either. And yet, it is speculative fiction, because Basma Abdel Aziz has taken the reality of Egypt’s oppressive security … Continue reading Speculative Fiction in Translation: The Queue
Here The Whole Time and Where We Go From Here are two queer YA novels in translation from Brazilian Portuguese published by Scholastic this year. In a Brazilian LGBT sweep, both titles won the #2021GLLITranslatedYALitBookPrize this week. Translator and World Kid Lit co-founder Lawrence Schimel spoke to their translator Larissa Helena about the books last September. Indeed, Lawrence … Continue reading Translator Larissa Helena in conversation with Lawrence Schimel
Speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, and horror) is written around the world and in many languages, and it is being translated into English with increasing frequency. Since 2016, when I started the website SFinTranslation.com, I've realized just how much speculative fiction in translation (SFT) allows Anglophone readers to experience stories and language traditions that they … Continue reading Speculative Fiction in Translation: An Introduction
A picture-book ode to the power of creative nonconformity, Who Left the Light On? achieves a rare trifecta: a loosely rhyming book in translation with brilliant illustrations. Mix in important themes—embracing diversity and expressing oneself—add a huge dollop of whimsy, and you have the ingredients to this charming tale. But the sum of the parts … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Who Left the Light On?
Being a teenager is hard enough as it is. Layer in the loss of a beloved grandparent, gossiping relatives, a father who is a political prisoner, and the trauma of military occupation, and perhaps the only way to make sense of everything is to resort to the fantastical. Trees for the Absentees is the coming-of-age … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Trees for the Absentees
According to the UN, “Every two weeks a language disappears taking with it an entire cultural and intellectual heritage.” Humanity is facing a linguistic diversity crisis even as it faces the biodiversity crisis. How can we help? For starters, we can #NameTheTranslator. Books authored in English circle the globe now, making it harder for authors … Continue reading New Year’s Resolution: #NameTheTranslator
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 