Dulari Devi didn’t know how to read the printed word, but she always had a rich visual lexicon built into her consciousness, a legacy that stemmed from being part of a rural community in Bihar that created stunning wall murals in the Mithila art style, also known as Madhubani painting. Her story is one of … Continue reading #WORLDKIDLITWEEKEND: Following My Paint Brush
I moved on to Booker International in 2022; this is a book I struggle to review, as it is just so rich in its language and poetic voice. I finally tackled it after we, with the Booker shadow panel, just chatted with Daisy Rockwell, the translator of Tomb of Sand. She brought her process in … Continue reading #Translationthurs: Tomb of Sand, by Geertanjali Shree
Today, I go to a book from the Booker International list of 2020. I pick this as it was a book we all in the shadow Jury felt would be on the longlist. But I also have the last book from Lucas Rijneveld, as he is now called, as he was the first trans writer … Continue reading #TranslationThurs: The Discomfort of Evening, by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld
Now I have reached 2021, and I had to pick this book as I haven't had a book from Africa in my choices. This writer is always a name that is on the list of writers who could win the Booker and is near the top of that list. He originally wrote his first book … Continue reading #Translationthurs: The Perfect Nine by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
This article first appeared on the ALSC Blog on April 16, 2024. Reposted with permission. Not long ago, I asked a group of grade six English learners to do a “source language scavenger hunt,” finding middle grade and YA novels in the school library and recording the language in which each was written. I also … Continue reading It’s #WorldKidLit Weekend: Naming Source Languages and Translators Serves Young Readers
I move to 2019 and another book from the Booker International longlist. You may ask how I choose the books for each year. It may be a translator, or just a book I fondly remember. This is an example of both. Jen Calleja is a great translator and has also gone into publishing. This was … Continue reading #translationthurs: The Pine Islands, by Marion Poschmann
One of the styles of prose I love most is patchwork fiction, which sits on the line between fiction and nonfiction, using vignettes to link a theme or story together. This book from Korea links tale vignettes around death and how death is celebrated/remembered around the world. I have often found solace in books like … Continue reading #translationthurs: The White Book, by Han Kang
For all the hand wringing about young people not liking to read or even reading proficiently, there sure is a lot of gatekeeping by adults around what is and what is not appropriate for young people to read. Bracketing and suspending for a moment current book banning efforts in the United States, there are adults … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Movements and Moments
When I was invited to do these posts for this month I had a number of writers I wanted to highlight. Today's post is a perfect example, few people write better about his homeland of Iceland than Jon Kalman Stefansson. This is also the first time Jon Kalman Stefansson has tackled a more modern-day Iceland … Continue reading #translationthurs: Fish have no feet, by Jon Kalman Stefansson
I now move to the first year of the Booker International Book Prize, as it is now called, starting with its current format. I have chosen a particular unique little book that happened to be translated by a publisher in his own right, Stefan Tobler. This powerful little book was a different book, a piece … Continue reading #translationthurs: A cup of rage, by Raduan Nassar
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 