Today’s post comes to you from Erin えりん The curation of reality through language in Rie Qudan’s "Sympathy Tower Tokyo" August 11 is Mountain Day (Yama no Hi) in Japan, celebrated annually in appreciation of the country's mountainous regions. The choice of date is related to the Kanji character for the number 8 (八), which visually … Continue reading #WITMonth: “Sympathy Tower Tokyo”
Today’s post comes to you from Beth Gourley Suite for Barbara Loden by Nathalie Léger. Translated from French by Natasha Lehrer and Cécile Menon. Cover illustration by Ruth Gwily. Originally published in France in 2012 as Supplément à la vie de Barbara Loden (P.O.L); English translation published by Les Fugitives (UK) and Dorothy, a publishing … Continue reading #WITMonth: In Conversation with “SUITE FOR BARBARA LODEN”
Today’s post comes to you from Angie Erickson Every August, Women in Translation Month asks us to notice which voices reach our shelves. It is also an opportunity to consider what we mean when we talk about women’s writing. In 2025, Yael van der Wouden won the Women’s Prize for Fiction for her extraordinary debut novel, … Continue reading #WITMonth: Welcome to the annual Women in Translation Month on GLLI
Welcome, WITty readers! I am Rebecca, and I am very happy to be joining GLLI as a guest curator this August. A bit about me: I have been a public librarian for 12 years. For the past six years, I have served as the Literature & Language Librarian at Portland Public Library in Portland, Maine, … Continue reading Welcome to #WITMONTH 2025
Last week, in my capacity as learning support teacher, I taught a lesson to the whole grade 4 cohort about my book project. Why you might ask. The Grade 4s are looking at why we read. I presented my project and blog then set them on their own discovery task, linked here. Thanks to the … Continue reading End of the road!
In a Nutshell: Dime Quién Soy or Tell Me Who I am in English, is the story of Amelia Garagoya, the great-grandmother of the narrator. The narrator is a journalist, who lacks any ambition and is asked by his aunt to go and research the life of his great-grandmother and write a book on her life. The book … Continue reading Spain 🇪🇸: Tell me Who I am by Julia Navarro, tr. by James Womack
In a Nutshell: First published in Dutch in 1954, The Tree and The Vine was regarded as groundbreaking and controversial. I read about this book, along with Nine Moons thanks to the wonderful online magazine, Words without Borders. Set in Amsterdam in 1938, the novel explores the tumultuous relationship between two very different women. In the shadow of the Nazi … Continue reading Holland 🇳🇱: The Tree and The Vine by Dola de Jong, tr. by Kristen Gehrman
In a Nutshell: Thirteen Months of Sunrise depicts the lives of ordinary people living in contemporary Sudan. It is a slim collection of 10 short stories. My personal favourite was the first and the story that gives the collection its title. Themes: Isolation, urban living, human experience, love. A Quote: “Perhaps the abaya I was wearing … Continue reading Sudan 🇸🇩: Thirteen Months of Sunrise by Rania Mamoun, tr. Elizabeth Jaquette
An Overview: Europa 28 is a brilliant anthology of essays, short stories and play excerpts from women writers, artists, scientists, entrepeneurs and dreamers. In this anthology, one woman from each of the EU states, including the UK, shares their vision for the future of Europe, hence the title Europa 28. Who would have thought a book on … Continue reading Czech Republic 🇨🇿 : Europe Must be for the 99 Per Cent by Apolena Rychliková, tr. by Julia Sherwood, in Europa 28: Writing by Women on the Future of Europe, edited by Sophie Hughes and Sarah Cleave
In a Nutshell: This is a slightly upsetting yet beautiful and insightful read with a positive ending. Three Days in That Autumn is a 87 page novella that I raced through. This novella tells the story of a gynaecologist, we meet her as she approaches the final three days of her working life before retiring. She … Continue reading Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 🇰🇵: Three Days in That Autumn by Pak Wanseo, tr. Ryu Sukhee
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 