Jennifer Croft is the recipient of Cullman, Fulbright, PEN, MacDowell, and NEA grants and fellowships, as well as the inaugural Michael Henry Heim Prize for Translation, the 2018 Found in Translation Award, and the 2018 Man Booker International Prize (for her astonishing translation of Flights by Olga Tokarczuk). She also received the Tin House Scholarship for her...
China is the oldest nation on Earth that has never been truly conquered or had its culture destroyed. It offers more to learn than any other country you could ever visit. It is also an increasingly popular tourist destination and place to live as an immigrant (or expat if you prefer). Before you visit any country, it’s a good idea to learn a bit about its food...
Written by Un-su Kim | Translated by Sora Kim-Russell The most important thing to note about The Plotters is that it’s billed as a thriller, but it is actually far more than that. Rather than blending genres and emerging as a kind of Frankenstein’s Monster of different styles, The Plotters rather refuses to acknowledge genre – it is not a blend of genres; it is the...
To Keep the Sun Alive – Written by Rabeah Ghaffari “Did my mother just trade me for a silver platter?” “My darling,” said her great aunt, “we have often been traded for less.” Bear with me as I begin this review with an anecdote: As I dug deep into the opening chapters of the book, and the family gathered around for dinner – each with her or his own wonderful...
Hidden in a quaint village by the name of Hawarden in North Wales, six miles from the beautiful city of Chester, Gladstone’s Library is a lot of wonderful things: the only residential library in the UK, the UK’s only prime-ministerial library, and the best place, in our humble opinion, to spend a weekend on the whole bloody island. We spent two nights at this...
Morgan Giles is a Japanese-to-English literary translator based in Tokyo. For her, 2019 is off to a fantastic start; Tokyo Ueno Station, a novel she has translated from the original Japanese by Yu Miri, will be published this year by the awesome folks over at Tilted Axis Press. Having grown up in Kentucky, moving to London, and now being based out of Tokyo, Morgan...
Mazen Maarouf | Translated by Jonathan Wright Jokes for the Gunmen is simultaneously the title of the book, the title of its opening (and longest) story, and the theme of the entire collection. Having been born as the son of Palestinian refugees and grown up in a city and country torn apart by war and civil unrest, Mazen Maarouf is no stranger to suffering and what...
What a year 2018 was! A year of incredible literature in translation, and the year that Books and Bao was born. Our list of Best Translated Books of 2018 barley skated the surface of the incredible ocean of translated literature released last year, and this list of upcoming books we’re looking forward to in 2019 barely does either (although this Guardian...
Stroud is a small Gloucestershire market town at the edge of the beautiful and historic Cotswolds. In this quaint and idyllic town, you’ll find farmer’s markets, old manor houses, and endless countryside walks across rolling hills. The town boasts Victorian homes, some charming cafes, and two delightful independent bookstores: one of new books, one of...
Through the Water Curtain & other Tales from Around the World Fairy Tales selected and introduced by Cornelia Funke ‘Fairy tales are Time Machines. They have preserved all the fears and hopes of our ancestors in the folds of their magical cloaks.’ – Cornelia Funke When you stop to consider it, it’s frightening how many things set in at a young age. Gender...
