Rwandan Genocide, The Task of Translation, and Western Markets for Testimony: Part II – by Kim Rostan

Posted on by Global Literature in Libraries Initiative

Whoever writes is exiled from writing, which is the country—his own—where he is not a prophet. Maurice Blanchot,  The Writing of the Disaster   This summer, while collaborating with Rachel Hildebrandt of GLLI and a group of undergraduates at Wofford College, in the midst of collating lists of contemporary literature in translation, I pondered the … Continue reading Rwandan Genocide, The Task of Translation, and Western Markets for Testimony: Part II – by Kim Rostan

Publisher Spotlight: Portobello Books

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  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

Rwandan Genocide, The Task of Translation, and Western Markets for Testimony: Part I—by Kim Rostan

Posted on by Global Literature in Libraries Initiative

Whoever writes is exiled from writing, which is the country—his own—where he is not a prophet. Maurice Blanchot,  The Writing of the Disaster   When the Rwandan genocide began in 1994, the “era of testimony” (as dubbed by scholar Shoshana Felman) was already well underway. Following the Nazi genocide in Europe, there was initially relative … Continue reading Rwandan Genocide, The Task of Translation, and Western Markets for Testimony: Part I—by Kim Rostan

Translators Association – 60 Years of Classic Translations: Season of Migration to the North (1969)

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SEASON OF MIGRATION TO THE NORTH was selected by the Arab Literary Academy as the most important Arab novel of the 20th century, and is frequently cited as one of the most important post-colonial works in any language. Eminently readable, the metaphorical exploration of the relationship between colonial powers and their victims and the politics … Continue reading Translators Association – 60 Years of Classic Translations: Season of Migration to the North (1969)

The Particular Sadness of the Three Percent Problem: Part 3 – by Lydia Estes

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Just as my Art History studies in college have allowed me to make sense of centuries of history through art, and this research with GLLI has emphasized how much I have learned about the world through the books I read.  As a teenager, I explored novels set in Mexico (Esperanza Rising) and short stories inspired … Continue reading The Particular Sadness of the Three Percent Problem: Part 3 – by Lydia Estes

THE PARTICULAR SADNESS OF THE THREE PERCENT PROBLEM: PART 2 – BY LYDIA ESTES

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Acts of translation occur everywhere around us. My final essay for an AP Literature course in high school concerned a novel from the magical realism genre but with a twist; set in Los Angeles, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake certainly is not a book in translation and is not your typical magical realism novel. … Continue reading THE PARTICULAR SADNESS OF THE THREE PERCENT PROBLEM: PART 2 – BY LYDIA ESTES

The Particular Sadness of the Three Percent Problem: Part 1 – by Lydia Estes

Posted on by Global Literature in Libraries Initiative

When I was in the second grade, the visits to the library were often the best part of any day.  To this day, bookstores are still a sacred space to me. A voracious reader with a fixation on spelling, it was a competition every week with my best friend to see who could learn all … Continue reading The Particular Sadness of the Three Percent Problem: Part 1 – by Lydia Estes

The World Lit Professor’s Conundrum: A Personal Reflection – By Kim Rostan

Posted on by Global Literature in Libraries Initiative

The relationship between an educator teaching world literature and translated works is an obvious one, but the connection between that teacher and a community of translators and publishers is not at all a given.  In fact, many of us who teach World Literature in colleges and universities are graduates of English literature programs, where, unlike … Continue reading The World Lit Professor’s Conundrum: A Personal Reflection – By Kim Rostan

Translators Association – 60 Years of Classic Translations: Forbidden Colours (1968)

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The #TA60 list of classics in translation celebrates the 60th anniversary of The Society of Authors Translators Association by acknowledging the translators who rewrote these great books so anglophone readers could enjoy them. Please share, and remember: always #namethetranslator! FORBIDDEN COLOURS by Yukio Mishima was translated from the Japanese by Alfred H. Marks and published in English in 1968, two … Continue reading Translators Association – 60 Years of Classic Translations: Forbidden Colours (1968)

Bulgarian Literature Month: Wrap-up and a few recommendations

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Time to wrap-up Bulgarian Literature Month 2018! I would like to thank Global Literature in Libraries Initiative, and especially Rachel Hildebrandt and Karen Van Drie for trusting me with this task - it was a lot of work, but I am rather satisfied with the result. My thanks goes also to the contributors: Ellis Shuman, … Continue reading Bulgarian Literature Month: Wrap-up and a few recommendations