Ask anyone with at least one eye on world literature in translation which countries are putting out the most groundbreaking novels, and they will likely mention South Korea. Korean novels frequently bend and break genres, explore often untouched social and political themes, and speak to our very souls. Outstanding Korean Novels in Translation If you’re …
Cult icon. Literary superpower. Global phenomenon. These are just some of the words used to describe Japanese author Haruki Murakami, whose books have been translated into 50 languages and have infatuated millions of readers worldwide. Yet Murakami might never have written a word without his ‘epiphany’ at a Yakult Swallows baseball game in April 1978. …
While the great European and American mystery writers of the 19th and 20th centuries — writers like Agatha Christie, Edgar Allan Poe, and Arthur Conan Doyle — are often who we first turn to when looking for a great detective novel, the Japanese mystery novels of the 20th century and beyond offer some of the …
Translated from the Japanese by Polly Barton Published by Bloomsbury While I don’t know the complete shape of Japanese literature today, many Japanese books in translation have, for the past several years, been reflective of the frustrating, exhausting world their writers were born into. Most of these writers are inspiring women, exhausted and angered by …
Being queer means a lot of things to a lot of people, and here we have attempted to represent a broad scope of queer writers and stories within the world of comics, graphic novels, and manga. Here, you’ll find a lesbian memoir, a gay romance, queer graphic novels filled with asexual and non-binary characters, as …
Rome is a city that certainly deserves its reputation – walking along the cobbled streets, you can’t help but feel the history coming alive around you and its thriving culture blowing you away every time. Many writers have been captivated by the Eternal City, as suggested by its frequent appearance in many fantastic books. Here …
Translated from the Spanish by Frances Riddle Published by Charco Press One of 2020’s finest novels in translation, Theatre of War marks a lot of firsts. This is the first Chilean novel published by Charco Press; it’s the first Chilean novel I’ve ever read; and it’s my first experience with translator Frances Riddle. It’s also …
Over the course of the last decade or so, nonfiction has undergone a slow and gradual revolution, taking cues from the page-turning tone and immediacy of fiction to make itself more narrative, engaging, and exhilarating. We are now gifted with a wave of compelling, inspirational nonfiction. Every year, countless nonfiction books come out that prove …
Translated from the Georgian by Elizabeth Heighway Published by Peirene Press The Pear Field is a novel of juxtapositions. It is full of tragedy, but written with a calm joviality. It has a gothic tone but is populated by lovable characters, rather than ones you love to hate. It shocks and frightens you at one …
Born in Busan, having grown up between South Korea and Canada, and currently residing in Chicago, Emily Jungmin Yoon is poetry editor for The Margins, the journal of the Asian American Writer’s Workshop. Her 2017 chapbook Ordinary Misfortunes won the Sunken Garden Poetry Prize and she published her first full length collection A Cruelty Special to Our Species in 2018. …
