Manuel Roca was a correct, disciplined, tidy man. Manuel Roca was behind the president the moment they shot at him. He was his Minister of Social Affairs. Until the Military Staff cleared the stage, he didn’t flinch. He was a cold man. One of the guards grabbed him by the arm and he resisted. “What’s … Continue reading Excerpt: The Conspiracy by Israel Centeno
A thrilling journey in search of the legendary malambo dance of Argentina, and one Gaucho who faces the biggest contest of his life Every year, at the height of summer, the remote Argentinian village of Laborde holds the prestigious national malambo contest. Little known outside the Argentinian pampas, the malambo is a centuries-old gaucho dance, … Continue reading Title Pick: A Simple Story by Leila Guerriero
September was World Kid Lit Month, a time to notice if global stories are reaching kids in the form of translations. The month ended on International Translation Day, September 30—itself an opportunity to seek and share #worldkidlit. I learned of many translated children’s titles (picture book through young adult) in a post that Marcia Lynx Qualey wrote for World … Continue reading 100 More Translated Children’s Books from Around the World
Charco means 'puddle' in Spanish. It is also a colloquialism used in some Latin American countries to refer to the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, cruzar el charco means 'crossing the puddle' and is a way of referring to when someone is going overseas, or travelling between continents. Charco Press focuses on finding outstanding contemporary Latin American … Continue reading Publisher Spotlight: Charco Press
Nothing—not even the chance to live—makes Dr. Korczak abandon the children of the Warsaw Ghetto. November 1940. A circus parade walks through the streets of Warsaw, waving a flag and singing. They are 160 Jewish children, forced by the Nazis to leave their beloved orphanage. It’s a sad occasion, but led by Doctor Korczak, their … Continue reading USBBY Outstanding International Book Pick: Mister Doctor by
Hanan Harawi (which in Quechua means “poetry from above) is an independent publishing house specializing in international poetry based in Lima, Peru. According to its founding editor, the poet John Martínez González, Hanan Harawi seeks to connect audiences to a diverse array of contemporary Latin American poets and writers ‘’without blogs, posts, or web-anthologies. While … Continue reading Hanan Harawi’s Insurrection
Uncle Tito introduces Juan to his library, which proves to be an enormous place one can easily get lost in. He uses this opportunity to hint at the existence of The Wild Book, as well as Juan’s true nature as a “Lector Princeps”. Juan receives a postcard from his estranged father; this new adventure therefore … Continue reading Excerpt: The Wild Book by Juan Villoro
English-language retellings of Jewish folktales come from many different source languages, Yiddish, Hebrew, and Ladino (the language of the Sephardic Jews) chief among them. This post will present a round-up of some of my favorite storytelling collections, whether translated or otherwise reworked from the oral tradition. Since I work in a Sephardic congregation library, I … Continue reading Jewish Storytelling Sources
In Summer 2015 and 2017 I spent time in Jordan, Israel, and Palestine doing a number of things related to my work as Middle East Studies Librarian at the Michigan State University Libraries. One of my goals was collecting comics, to add to our international comic art collection, a vast and beautifully cataloged and cared-for … Continue reading Collecting Israeli Comics
An interview about poetry, memory, and revolution with Argentinian independent publisher, returned exile and political activist Miguel Martínez Naón. (Arturo Desimone’s series on Latin American Poetry for Anomaly and formerly The Drunken Boat. Republished with permission from Anomaly.) Miguel Martínez Naón is an Argentinian editor who forms part of the independent publisher Lamás Médula, … Continue reading Notes on a Return to the Ever-Dying Lands: The Return of Naón
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 