On the verge of silence Although we live in a society full of means of communication that are hardly ever shut off – modern mankind finds itself still having difficulties and misunderstandings in simple person-to-person conversations. We talk in images that are clear to us, but frequently incomprehensible to those we are talking to. When … Continue reading World Languages Review: Op de rand van het zwijgen (The Netherlands)
It seems an impossible coexistence: German Grundlichkeit in one of the Amazonian cityscapes, filled with myths, religions, folk tales, and superstition. Yet, this is exactly what Cramer – scouting locations for a movie – has to grapple with if he is to survive in this personally exotic environment. Already with his first steps out of … Continue reading World Languages Review: Der Mann, der den Regen fotografierte (Germany)
A postcard from the Amazon When we talk about Brazilian literature, more often than not, we find ourselves talking about works by authors from the São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro regions or, less often still, those related to the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia. There are, of course, exceptions proving that other Brazilian … Continue reading World Languages Review: Jaçanã – poética sobre as águas (Brazil)
Ruth Wolff-Stirner My mother became sick very quickly. Because of the unhygienic living conditions in Shanghai, her liver became infected and she died at the age of 46. That was in 1954 and I was eight. My father kept me away from her. I didn’t see her anymore after she was taken to the hospital. … Continue reading Excerpt: Going Back by Andrea von Treuenfeld (Germany)
Emilia, a pensioner in northern Romania, is forced to confront the nostalgic illusions she nurtures as a reaction to the grim post-communist present when her daughter, now living in Canada, telephones urging her not to vote for the former communists in upcoming elections. Determined to discover in her own mind why ‘things were better back … Continue reading Title Pick: I’m an Old Commie! by Dan Lungu (Romania)
In our series of 60 classic first translations to mark the 60th anniversary of the Translators Association, 1960 is represented by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s THE LEOPARD, translated from the Italian by Archibald Colquhoun. This great historical novel by the last prince of Lampedusa recounts the story of a Sicilian nobleman caught in the political … Continue reading Translators Association – 60 Years of Classic Translations: The Leopard (1960)
Iraqi Kurdistan at the turn of the twenty-first century is a territory ruled by strongmen, revolutionaries, fixers, bureaucrats, and the "Barons" who control everything from livestock and land to Kurdish cultural life. Defying the absolute power wielded by the Barons, a band of friends led by an enigmatic poet embark on an odyssey to find … Continue reading Minority Languages Translated Book Pick: I Stared at the Night of the City by Bakhtiyar Ali (Kurdish)
From the Rubinstein website: For over 30 years Rubinstein has been working with love and attention, expertise and craftsmanship on beautiful, often book related products. Rubinstein was founded in 1985 by Maurits Rubinstein as a publisher of audiobooks. A large number of audiobooks and music productions are still recorded and mastered in our own studio … Continue reading International Publisher Spotlight: Rubinstein (The Netherlands)
A brilliant new translation of Ó Cadhain’s modern Irish literature masterpiece, meant to spark debate and comparison with Alan Titley's Dirty Dust, now with bonus materials on its history, reception, interpretations, adaptations, and more In critical opinion and popular polls, Máirtín Ó Cadhain’s Graveyard Clay is invariably ranked the most important prose work in modern … Continue reading Minority Languages Translated Book Pick: Graveyard Clay by Máirtín Ó Cadhain (Irish)
Synopsis The novel is set in a town on the industrial outskirts of Bilbao during the 1980s, marked by heroin, unemployment and industrial decline, where the police fight running street battles with local youths, and the walls are covered with threatening slogans. Its narrator, Amaia, is a young child at the start, and progresses through … Continue reading World Languages Title Pick: Mejor la ausencia by Edurne Portela (Spain)
