Born into a wealthy Osaka family in 1899, Yasunari Kawabata lived through a tragic childhood, becoming orphaned at the age of four after which he was raised by his grandparents who themselves both passed away by the time he reached his fifteenth year. He endured the sorrow of his early years and went on to become a highly acclaimed writer in his homeland, gaining...
‘Books can do so many things – sometimes they spur you on to study, sometimes they entertain and sometimes they drive you to write yourself. Every time I read Bolaño I feel so inspired, I just want to write…He’s a genius – the expansiveness he creates, how he relates one book to another – he’s set a new template for writing...
Back in summer 2017, I had the pleasure and privilege of travelling through Colombia for two months. Over the past two decades, the nation has steadily increased in popularity as a tourist destination despite the wild and fearsome image much of the world still has of it. Whilst hardly what you’d call a safe haven, Colombia has nevertheless made massive strides...
Written by Eka Kurniawan Translated by Labodalih Sembiring “The tigress had come to him, lying beside him on the surau’s warm rug, while the universe outside froze. As his grandfather had said, the tigress was white as a swan or a cloud or cotton wool. How unbelievably happy he was, for the tigress was more than anything he had ever wanted”. Indonesia’s...
