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Ending as I began

In 2018, I launched this blog with my first ever review: I wrote about Han Kang’s The Vegetarian, translated by Deborah Smith, published by the now shuttered imprint Portobello Books....

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 16 October 2024

It’s been a while…

It’s been a good few months now since I last posted anything here, and I’m sorry for the long silence. Since I started this blog in 2018, I think the...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 28 February 2023

The 17th woman laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature

On 6th October 2022, iconic French writer Annie Ernaux was announced as the 119th winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, the 17th woman laureate in the history of the...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 21 October 2022

REVIEW: Violent Phenomena: 21 Essays on Translation

Edited by Kavita Bhanot and Jeremy Tiang (Tilted Axis Press, 2022) I have long been looking forward to the publication of Violent Phenomena, a collection of essays exploring the possibilities...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 7 October 2022

Review: ALL THE LOVERS IN THE NIGHT by Mieko Kawakami

Translated from Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd (Picador Books, 2022) It’s always a happy event for me when there’s a new Mieko Kawakami novel to read. This is...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 20 July 2022

International Booker Prize 2022: Tilting the Axis of “world literature”

Last week Geetanjali Shree’s novel Tomb of Sand, translated from Hindi by Daisy Rockwell, won the International Booker Prize. Many media headlines have focused on this being the first time...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 3 June 2022

Reading in Translation: new collaboration!

This week I have a new review for you, which I was invited to write for the fabulous Reading in Translation site! The review is of Ivana Sajko’s Love Novel, translated from...

Posted by Mark on 30 May 2022

Review: SOMETHING STRANGE, LIKE HUNGER by Malika Moustadraf

Translated from Arabic (Morocco) by Alice Guthrie (Saqi Books, 2022) Something Strange, Like Hunger is the posthumously published work of Moroccan feminist Malika Moustadraf. A collection of fourteen short stories,...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 6 May 2022

Review: CONCERNING MY DAUGHTER by Kim Hye-jin

Translated from Korean by Jamie Chang Concerning my Daughter is a Korean novel that explores and challenges the difficulties of being lesbian in an adamantly (and at times violently) heteronormative...

Posted by Mark on 28 April 2022

It’s time for change…

I think this post has been a long time coming… I’m making a big change to the way I do the blog part of Translating Women, and I want to...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 8 April 2022

Review: FATHER MAY BE AN ELEPHANT, AND MOTHER ONLY A SMALL BASKET, BUT… by Gogu Shyamala

Translated from Telugu by Diia Rajan, Sashi Kumar, A. Suneetha, N. Manohar Reddy, R. Srivatsan, Gita Ramaswamy, Uma Bhrugubanda, P. Pavana, and Dugginala Vasanta (Tilted Axis Press, 2022) It’s no...

Posted by Mark on 18 March 2022

International Women’s Day 2022: Break the Bias

Women in Translation: how to read the world differently This International Women’s Day I wrote a guest post for the Pan MacMillan publishing house, looking at the relative paucity of...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 8 March 2022

The Day Nina Simone Stopped Singing: a personal story

Today’s post is a little different from my usual ones, because I want to talk to you about a translated text coming out next week… that itself isn’t so rare...

Posted by Mark on 3 March 2022

Review: IT’S OVER. DON’T GO THERE by Kathrin Schmidt

Translated from German by Sue Vickerman It’s over. Don’t go there. is the second title by Kathrin Schmidt published by Naked Eye, and the second in their new translated literature...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 11 February 2022

Review: WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR ME TO LEAVE by Loranne Vella

Translated from Maltese by Kat Storace (Praspar Press, 2021) For my first review of 2022, I had the pleasure of reading the first two releases from new publishing house Praspar...

Posted by Mark on 27 January 2022

Best books of 2021 (a personal and entirely subjective list!)

When I wrote my round-up of 2020, I had no idea that 2021 would be another year of restrictions and adaptations. I haven’t read as much as I’d have liked...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 22 December 2021

Review: BRICKMAKERS by Selva Almada

Translated from Spanish (Argentina) by Annie McDermott (Charco Press, 2021) Brickmakers is the second in Selva Almada’s “trilogy of men”, and was recently released by Charco Press. The first in...

Posted by Mark on 15 December 2021

Review: NO TOUCHING by Ketty Rouf

Translated from French by Tina Kover (Europa Editions, 2021) No Touching is a story of everyday drudgery and unexpected empowerment, dealing with questions of female agency, desire in all its...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 3 December 2021

Review: THE BUREAU OF PAST MANAGEMENT by Iris Hanika and MADGERMANES by Birgit Weyhe

Translated from German by Abigail Wender (The Bureau of Past Management) and Katy Derbyshire (Madgermanes), V&Q Books, 2021 The autumn V&Q offering includes two excellent books by women, one that...

Posted by Mark on 5 November 2021

Review: THE DOLLS by Ursula Scavenius

Translated from Danish by Jennifer Russell (Lolli Editions, 2021) The Dolls is a collection of four stories, all populated with estranged or exiled characters navigating surreal situations. Each story invites...

Posted by Mark on 20 October 2021

Review: THE ANTARCTICA OF LOVE by Sara Stridsberg

Translated from Swedish by Deborah Bragan-Turner (MacLehose Press, 2021) Buckle up and brace yourself, because The Antarctica of Love is an excellent book, but a devastating one. It is narrated...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 14 October 2021

REVIEW: No. 91/92: Notes on a Parisian commute by Lauren Elkin

Les Fugitives, 2021 No. 91/92: notes on a Parisian commute is the first book Les Fugitives have released that wasn’t originally written in French. It is, though, steeped in both...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 23 September 2021

Women in Translation month 2021: a belated round-up

August has come and gone, and with it another Women in Translation month. Instigated by Meytal Radzinski in 2014 to encourage more people to read women’s writing in translation, Women...

Posted by Mark on 9 September 2021

Review: ELENA KNOWS by Claudia Piñeiro

Translated from Spanish (Argentina) by Frances Riddle (Charco Press, 2021) This is the Charco book I was most looking forward to this year (and, if you know my love of...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 20 August 2021

Review: THE FOOL AND OTHER MORAL TALES by Anne Serre

Translated from French by Mark Hutchinson (Les Fugitives, 2021) After publishing the uniquely provocative exploration of unconventional sexuality The Governesses in 2019, Les Fugitives return with another collaboration between Anne...

Posted by Mark on 22 July 2021

Review: ACROBAT by Nabaneeta Dev Sen

Translated from Bengali by Nandana Dev Sen (Archipelago Books, 2021) Acrobat is a collection by Bengali poet Nabaneeta Dev Sen, some translated by the poet herself before her death, but...

Posted by Mark on 15 July 2021

Review: THE SON OF THE HOUSE by Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia

Europa Editions, 2021 First of all, subscribers might have noticed that the blog posts have been coming less frequently lately, and I’m sorry for this. As long-term readers will know...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 8 July 2021

Gŵyl literary festival: Translating Women part 2

I was so happy to be invited back to speak at the Gŵyl Haf literary festival this year. First organised by Caitlin Van Buren in 2020, Gŵyl is an online...

Posted by Mark on 24 June 2021

Review: HEAVEN by Mieko Kawakami

Translated from Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd (Picador Books, 2021) Mieko Kawakami’s Breasts and Eggs (also translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd and released in the UK...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 9 June 2021

Review: SHOCKED EARTH by Saskia Goldschmidt

Translated from Dutch by Antoinette Fawcett (Saraband Books, 2021) I’m going to go out on a limb straight away, and declare this one of my favourite books of 2021: it...

Posted by Mark on 3 June 2021

Review: YOU’RE NOT DYING by Kathrin Schmidt

Translated from German by Christina Les (Naked Eye Publishing, 2021) Kathrin Schmidt’s You’re Not Dying is a prize-winning best-seller in Germany, where it was first published in 2009, and today...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 27 May 2021

Recent reads: Elena Ferrante and Rónán Hession

Over the Easter week I read a couple of books that had been sent to me as gifts, and so I’m taking a break from my formal reviews this week...

Posted by Mark on 12 May 2021

Review: NERVOUS SYSTEM by Lina Meruane

Translated from Spanish (Chile) by Megan McDowell (Atlantic Books, 2021) In Nervous System, Lina Meruane returns to the obsessions with a failing body that preoccupied her earlier work, the uncomfortably...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 28 April 2021

Review: POETICS OF WORK by Noémi Lefebvre

Translated from French by Sophie Lewis (Les Fugitives, 2021) I have to start this review with a confession: I was a bit nervous about reading Poetics of Work. The nerves...

Posted by Mark on 15 April 2021

Review: SIMPLE PASSION by Annie Ernaux

Translated from French by Tanya Leslie (Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2021) Simple Passion is the story of an all-consuming love affair: in it, Ernaux details the way in which her obsession with...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 1 April 2021

Review: THE PEACOCK by Isabel Bogdan

Translated from German by Annie Rutherford (V&Q Books, 2021) A funny, feel-good comedy of errors featuring characters ranging from the eccentric to the neurotic, a rambling castle in the Scottish...

Posted by Mark on 25 March 2021

Review: NIGHT AS IT FALLS, Jakuta Alikavazovic

Translated from French by Jeffrey Zuckerman (Faber & Faber, 2021) Night as it Falls is the debut novel by French-born Bosnian-Montenegrin writer Jakuta Alikavazovic, and follows its main characters Paul...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 17 March 2021

Choose to Challenge: International Women’s Day 2021

***Don’t miss an exciting Women in Translation giveaway to celebrate International Women’s Day! Details at the end of the post, or directly in this tweet*** Translating Women: challenging an “invisible...

Posted by Mark on 8 March 2021

Review: SELF-PORTRAIT IN GREEN by Marie NDiaye

Translated from French by Jordan Stump (Influx Press, 2021) I’ve been reading and enjoying Marie NDiaye’s work for twenty years, and for me Self-Portrait in Green is something of a landmark:...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 2 March 2021

Editorial and extract: SELF-PORTRAIT IN GREEN by Marie NDiaye

I’m very excited to bring you a piece by Sanya Semakula, Assistant Editor at Influx Press, about bringing Marie NDiaye’s work to the UK with the publication of Self-Portrait in...

Posted by Mark on 25 February 2021

Review: HAVANA YEAR ZERO by Karla Suárez

Translated from Spanish (Cuba) by Christina MacSweeney (Charco Press, 2021) I’m always excited to receive a new book from Charco Press, and they kick off 2021 with a Cuban detective...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 19 February 2021

REVIEW: Cécile Coulon, A Beast in Paradise

Translated from French by Tina Kover (Europa Editions, 2021) A Beast in Paradise is the English-language debut of Cécile Coulon, and deals with the tragedy and determination of a farming...

Posted by Mark on 10 February 2021

Review: THE ART OF LOSING, Alice Zeniter

Translated from French by Frank Wynne (Picador Books, 2021) Alice Zeniter’s multi-generational narrative The Art of Losing deals with the troubled legacy of the Algerian War of Independence, focusing on...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 4 February 2021

Review: COCKFIGHT, María Fernanda Ampuero

Translated from Spanish (Ecuador) by Frances Riddle (Influx Press, 2021) Cockfight is the debut work by Ecuadorian writer and journalist María Fernanda Ampuero, and comprises thirteen brutal and brilliant short...

Posted by Mark on 27 January 2021

Introducing Praspar Press!

How much do you know about Maltese literature? My own answer: embarrassingly little (all the more shameful given that I’m part Maltese). But that’s set to change this year, thanks...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 22 January 2021

REVIEW: The Book of Jakarta

Edited by Maesy Ang and Teddy W. Kusuma (Comma Press, 2020) The Book of Jakarta is the latest addition to the Reading the City series from Comma Press, presenting ten...

Posted by Mark on 15 January 2021

Women in translation 2020: my literary picks for the year that was…

I had intended to post this piece in December, but the end of the year brought some unexpected challenges and I had to delay it until the new year. So...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 5 January 2021

REVIEW: Esther Kinsky, GROVE and Jean Frémon, NATIVITY

Esther Kinsky, Grove, translated from German by Caroline Schmidt (Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2020) Grove is a story of mourning: the narrator has recently lost her love, and travels to places both familiar...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 9 December 2020

REVIEW: Claudia Hernández, SLASH AND BURN & Juan Pablo Villalobos, I DON’T EXPECT ANYONE TO BELIEVE ME

Claudia Hernández, Slash and Burn, translated from Spanish (El Salvador) by Julia Sanches (And Other Stories, 2021) Slash and Burn is the first novel in English of Salvadoran writer Claudia Hernández....

Posted by Mark on 4 December 2020

Review: Nino Haratischvili, THE EIGHTH LIFE

Translated from German (Georgia) by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin (Scribe Books, 2019) The prize ceremony for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation will take place online this Thursday,...

Posted by Mark on 24 November 2020

Review: Andrea Jeftanovic, THEATRE OF WAR

Translated from Spanish (Chile) by Frances Riddle (Charco Press, 2020) Theatre of War is Andrea Jeftanovic’s debut novel, and the final offering from a brilliant 2020 Charco catalogue. The narrator,...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 12 November 2020

Review: Annie Ernaux, A MAN’S PLACE

Translated from French by Tanya Leslie (Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2020) The release of A Man’s Place makes Annie Ernaux the most published author at Fitzcarraldo Editions: this is the fifth of...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 3 November 2020

REVIEW: Translators Aloud YouTube channel

Earlier this year, literary translators Charlie Coombe and Tina Kover set up Translators Aloud, a YouTube channel dedicated to putting translators in the spotlight. The channel grew from a speculative...

Posted by Mark on 26 October 2020

Review: FAREWELL, GHOSTS by Nadia Terranova

Translated from Italian by Ann Goldstein (Seven Stories Press, 2020) This week the new UK imprint of Seven Stories Press releases Nadia Terranova’s English-language debut, a coming-of-age story with a...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 7 October 2020

Review: DAUGHTERS by Lucy Fricke

Translated from German by Sinéad Crowe (V&Q Books, 2020) The new English-language imprint of V&Q Books offers another belter for its launch: following on from last week’s review of Paula...

Posted by Mark on 23 September 2020

Review: PAULA, Sandra Hoffmann

Translated from German by Katy Derbyshire (V&Q Books, 2020) This week sees the launch of German publisher V&Q’s English-language imprint: spearheaded by Katy Derbyshire, the new imprint brings some of...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 16 September 2020

Review: THE LYING LIFE OF ADULTS, Elena Ferrante

Translated from Italian by Ann Goldstein (Europa Editions, 2020) I’m going to start this review with a confession: until last month, I had never read anything by Elena Ferrante. Okay,...

Posted by Mark on 8 September 2020

Review: DEAD GIRLS by Selva Almada

Translated from Spanish (Argentina) by Annie McDermott (Charco Press, 2020) After the success of Selva Almada’s English-language debut The Wind That Lays Waste (translated by Chris Andrews, published by Charco...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 2 September 2020

Interview with Guadalupe Nettel, author of Bezoar and Other Unsettling Stories

I recently reviewed Guadalupe Nettel’s new collection, Bezoar and Other Unsettling Stories (tr. Suzanne Jill Levine, Seven Stories Press, 2020), and this week am delighted to bring you an interview with...

Posted by Mark on 24 August 2020

Review: Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami

Translated from Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd (Picador Books, 2020) Breasts and Eggs is a spectacular and delicate exposition of what it is to be in a woman’s...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 19 August 2020

Review: Guadalupe Nettel, Bezoar and Other Unsettling Stories

Translated from Spanish (Mexico) by Suzanne Jill Levine (Seven Stories Press, 2020) This collection of short stories from acclaimed Mexican author Guadalupe Nettel is the second release from the new...

Posted by Mark on 12 August 2020

Petra Hůlová, Three Plastic Rooms

Translated from Czech by Alex Zucker (Jantar Publishing, 2017) Three Plastic Rooms is narrated by an ageing prostitute, and is an extended internal monologue that offers insight into her musings...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 5 August 2020

Interview with Helena Buffery, translator of The Passion According to Renée Vivien

Last week I reviewed María-Mercè Marçal’s The Passion According to Renée Vivien; I’m delighted to bring you today some intimate insights into the translation of this novel from Helena Buffery, who...

Posted by Mark on 31 July 2020

Review: Maria-Mercè Marçal, The Passion According to Renée Vivien

Translated from Catalan by Kathleen McNerney and Helena Buffery (Francis Boutle Publishers, 2020) This is a very different kind of novel from those I normally read for Translating Women, and...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 27 July 2020

Review: Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, Camille Laurens

Translated from French by Willard Wood (Les Fugitives, 2020) Little Dancer Aged Fourteen is a work of non-fiction that delves into the life of Marie van Goethem, the young model...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 22 July 2020

Event review: Holiday Heart book launch

It was a great honour last week to chair the virtual launch of Holiday Heart, interviewing author Margarita García Robayo and translator Charlotte Coombe for a wonderful event organised by...

Posted by Mark on 15 July 2020

Review: The Book of Shanghai

Edited by Dai Congrong and Jin Li (Comma Press, 2020) Featuring Wang Anyi, Xiao Bai, Shen Dacheng, Chen Danyan, Cai Jun, Chen Qiufan, Xia Shang, Teng Xiolan, Fu Yuehui and...

Posted by Mark on 8 July 2020

Review: Margarita García Robayo, Holiday Heart

Translated from Spanish (Colombia) by Charlotte Coombe (Charco Press, 2020) *Details of the virtual launch of Holiday Heart at the end of this post (or click here if you can’t...

Posted by Mark on 30 June 2020

Review: Duanwad Pimwana, Arid Dreams

Translated from Thai by Mui Poopoksakul (Tilted Axis Press, 2020) Arid Dreams is the latest offering from Tilted Axis Press, and part of a very strong 2020 catalogue for the publishing...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 26 June 2020

Interview with Paula Gordon and Ellen Elias-Bursać, translators of Catherine the Great and the Small

In the final instalment of my mini-series of interviews about new Montenegrin novel Catherine the Great and the Small, I talk to translators Ellen Elias-Bursać and Paula Gordon about the importance...

Posted by Mark on 22 June 2020

Interview with Olja Knežević, author of Catherine the Great and the Small

It’s my great privilege to bring you the second instalment in my three-part interview series about new Montenegrin novel Catherine the Great and the Small. Today author Olja Knežević talks...

Posted by Mark on 15 June 2020

Gŵyl, an online festival of literature in translation

I was delighted to talk about the Translating Women project last week at Gŵyl, an online festival of literature in translation hosted by Caitlin Van Buren. We talked about how...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 12 June 2020

Translating Women: the Montenegro edit. Interview with Susan Curtis, Istros Books

I’m excited today to bring you the first in a 3-part series of interviews about a new Montegrin book and its journey to publication. Olja Knežević’s Catherine the Great and...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 8 June 2020

Update on video review

Dear friends, With apologies for sending you two messages in one day, this is a brief update to today’s post: the video review does not automatically embed in the email...

Posted by Mark on 29 May 2020

Alternative love stories from around the world

A couple of months ago, I wrote about how the lockdown would change the way I provide content on the Translating Women blog. In that open letter, I made a...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 29 May 2020

Review: Nathalie Léger, Exposition and The White Dress

Earlier this year, Les Fugitives published the final book in a trilogy of studies by Nathalie Léger. The first, Suite for Barbara Loden, translated by Natasha Lehrer and Cécile Menon,...

Posted by Mark on 11 May 2020

Review: Pauline Delabroy-Allard, All About Sarah

Translated from French by Adriana Hunter (Harvill Secker, 2020) All About Sarah is Pauline Delabroy-Allard’s powerful debut novel about love: love as an all-consuming force, love as a lit match...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 30 April 2020

Reading recommendations: the coronavirus edition

In my recent open letter, I talked about my belief that literature from other cultures – especially from marginalised voices – can be a crucial means of fostering empathy in...

Posted by Mark on 21 April 2020

Review: The Beauty of the Death Cap, Catherine Doustessyier-Khoze

Translated from French by Tina Kover (Snuggly Books, 2018) This is the final instalment in a trilogy of reviews of translations by women I met at the Translating Women conference last...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 8 April 2020

An open letter to friends of Translating Women

Dear friends, I hope you and your loved ones are all safe and well. The past week has seen an upheaval of life as we know it, in a way...

Posted by Mark on 25 March 2020

Review: Donatella di Pietrantonio, A Girl Returned

Translated from Italian by Ann Goldstein (Europa Editions, 2019) A Girl Returned is an intense and affecting account of how a life can change forever in a single day. The...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 19 March 2020

Review: Europa28 – Writing by Women on the Future of Europe

Edited by Sophie Hughes and Sarah Cleave (Comma Press, 2020) Europa28 is a ground-breaking anthology of women’s voices from across Europe, commissioned in response to the UK’s decision to leave...

Posted by Mark on 13 March 2020

International Women’s Day 2020: Each for Equal

This year’s theme for International Women’s Day, “Each for Equal”, ties in with the emphasis on intersectionality that is key to any kind of progressive feminism. Since “intersectional feminism” is...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 8 March 2020

Review: Yolande Mukagasana, Not My Time To Die

Translated from French (Rwanda) by Zoe Norridge (Huza Press, 2019) Not my Time to Die is the true story of a woman whose overwhelming courage and tenacity help her survive...

Posted by Mark on 4 March 2020

Review: Fernanda Melchor, Hurricane Season

Translated from Spanish (Mexico) by Sophie Hughes (Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2020) Fernanda Melchor’s Hurricane Season is a torrential vision of people on the margins of society, and a rage against a world...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 19 February 2020

Review: Intan Paramaditha, The Wandering

Translated from Indonesian by Stephen J. Epstein (Harvill Secker, 2020). The Wandering is an innovative, thought-provoking twist on the Choose Your Own Adventure genre. Written in a compelling second-person narrative, it...

Posted by Mark on 12 February 2020

Building Bridges interview series: Nicci Praça

Nicci Praça has had a long and successful career in publishing: she was Head of Publicity for Quercus, where she launched MacLehose Press and did the PR for Stieg Larsson’s...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 5 February 2020

Review: Ivana Dobrakovová, Bellevue

Translated from Slovak by Julia Sherwood and Peter Sherwood (Jantar Publishing, 2019) Bellevue is the first novel of award-winning Slovak writer Ivana Dobrakovová, and it is a harrowing account of...

Posted by Mark on 29 January 2020

Review: Loop, Brenda Lozano

Translated from Spanish (Mexico) by Annie McDermott (Charco Press, 2019) This debut novel by Brenda Lozano is a clever, innovative book, an erudite observation of the everyday, a genre-smashing static...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 22 January 2020

20 books to watch out for in 2020

2020 looks set to be an exciting year for women in translation: if, like me, you’re thinking about what your reading year will hold in terms of new releases, here...

Posted by Mark on 15 January 2020

Best of 2019

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 23 December 2019

Best of 2019

Posted by Mark on 23 December 2019

Translating Women conference: reflections on activism in action

For some time now, I’ve been lucky to work with feminist translation studies scholar Olga Castro on projects close to both our hearts: the most recent of these was organising...

Posted by Mark on 16 December 2019

Building Bridges interview series: Charlotte Coombe

Charlotte Coombe has been translating for over twelve years: having started out translating creative texts in gastronomy, the arts, travel and tourism, lifestyle, fashion and advertising, her love of literature...

Posted by Mark on 10 December 2019

Building Bridges interview series: Sophie Lewis

Sophie Lewis is a translator from French and Portuguese. She has pursued a career in publishing alongside translation, running the UK office at Dalkey Archive Press, then working as Senior...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 2 December 2019

Review: Ahlam Bsharat, Trees for the Absentees

Translated from Arabic by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp and Sue Copeland (Neem Tree Press, 2019) Trees for the Absentees is the second of Ahlam Bsharat’s works published in translation by Neem...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 25 November 2019

Building Bridges interview series: Antonia Lloyd-Jones

Antonia Lloyd-Jones is a prizewinning translator from Polish, and recipient of the Transatlantyk award for the most outstanding promoter of Polish literature abroad (awarded in 2018). She is a long-term...

Posted by Mark on 19 November 2019

Building Bridges interview series: Carolina Orloff, Charco Press

Charco Press is an award-winning young independent publishing house based in Edinburgh. Run by Carolina Orloff and Samuel McDowell, Charco publishes the most exciting new fiction from Latin American in...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 12 November 2019

Building Bridges interview series: Nicky Harman

Nicky Harman is a translator from Chinese. She is co-Chair of the Translators Association (Society of Authors), and closely involved with Paper Republic, an online publication initiative promoting Chinese writing...

Posted by Mark on 4 November 2019

Review: The Jeweller, Caryl Lewis

Translated from Welsh by Gwen Davies, Honno Press (2019) When I received The Jeweller, I was shocked to realise it’s the first book I’ve ever read translated from Welsh. I’ve...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 28 October 2019

Building Bridges interview series: Nicky Smalley, And Other Stories

Nicky Smalley is publicist at the pioneering independent publishing house And Other Stories, who champion translated literature and who publicly took up Kamila Shamsie’s “provocation” to the publishing industry to...

Posted by Mark on 23 October 2019

Building Bridges interview series: Jen Calleja

Jen Calleja is a translator from German to English, and a writer of fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry. She was the inaugural Translator in Residence at the British Library (2017-2019),...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 16 October 2019

The Nobel Prize in Literature: Be More Olga

Yesterday Olga Tokarczuk was announced as the winner of the (delayed) 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature. I’m not going to linger on the reasons for awarding the 2018 and 2019...

Posted by Mark on 11 October 2019

Review: Marina Šur Puhlovski, Wild Woman

Translated from Croatian by Christina Pribichevich-Zorič (Istros Books, 2019). Wild Woman is set in 1970s Yugoslavia, and we meet the narrator on the third day after the end of her...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 7 October 2019

Building Bridges interview series: Becca Parkinson and Zoë Turner, Comma Press

Becca Parkinson and Zoë Turner work at Manchester-based publishing house Comma Press, where Becca is Engagement Manager and Zoë is Publicity and Outreach Officer. Comma Press is dedicated to publishing...

Posted by Mark on 2 October 2019

Building Bridges interview series: Ros Schwartz

Ros Schwartz is an award-winning translator from French; she has translated over 60 titles, and in 2009 she was made Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for her...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 25 September 2019

Shards of memory: Colette Fellous, This Tilting World

Translated from French by Sophie Lewis (Les Fugitives, 2019) The latest release from Les Fugitives is a work by French-Tunisian author Colette Fellous, offered in an elegant and articulate translation...

Posted by Mark on 17 September 2019

Women in Translation month 2019: 8 books reviewed

As many of you probably know, August is Women in Translation month, an initiative started and championed by Meytal Radzinski. In honour of this year’s Women in Translation month, here...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 11 September 2019

Building Bridges: Translating Women interview series 2019

In the springtime this year, I published a remarkable interview with translator Sophie Hughes. Shortly after Sophie’s interview I received a small grant to travel across the UK and turn...

Posted by Mark on 23 August 2019

Humanity in the face of atrocity: Nayrouz Qarmout, The Sea Cloak

Translated from Arabic by Perween Richards (Comma Press, 2019) It’s fair to say that The Sea Cloak is one of my most anticipated books… ever. Comma Press first started advertising...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 20 August 2019

A road trip to remember: Olja Savičević, Singer in the Night

Translated from Croatian by Celia Hawkesworth (Istros Books, 2019) Singer in the Night is the second novel by Croatian author Olja Savičević; the narrator tells us that it is “a...

Posted by Mark on 13 August 2019

5 women writers to discover in translation

Women in Translation month is in full swing, and following on from the individual book recommendations I gave in an earlier post, today I want to focus on authors. I...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 7 August 2019

20 books to inspire your summer reading

I’m off on holiday for a couple of weeks, and by the time I return Women in Translation Month will be in full swing. This is an online event that...

Posted by Mark on 19 July 2019

Resistance in the everyday: Madeleine Bourdouxhe, A Nail, A Rose

Translated from the French (Belgium) by Faith Evans (Pushkin Press, 2019) A Nail, A Rose is a collection of short stories by Belgian writer Madeleine Bourdouxhe, written in the twentieth...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 15 July 2019

Destruction or redemption? The Wind That Lays Waste, Selva Almada

Translated from the Spanish (Argentina) by Chris Andrews It’s new Charco book time, which is always something to get excited about: I have yet to read a dud book from...

Posted by Mark on 9 July 2019

Exploring mental and physical illness: Gine Cornelia Pedersen, Zero, and Maria Gerhardt, Transfer Window

Nordisk Books is an independent publishing house founded in the UK in 2016, with a focus on modern and contemporary Scandinavian literature. I was fortunate to read two of their...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 2 July 2019

Writing between two worlds: Eva Moreda, Home is Like a Different Time

Translated from Galician by Craig Patterson In Home is like a different time, Galician writer Eva Moreda delves into the lived experience of emigrant communities in London in the 1960s...

Posted by Mark on 25 June 2019

Exquisite self-portraits in a digital age: Sylvie Weil, Selfies

Translated from the French by Ros Schwartz (Les Fugitives, 2019) Selfies is a thoughtful take on a modern obsession: in it, Sylvie Weil offers a series of vignettes inspired by...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 17 June 2019

“A city haunted by many ghosts”: The Book of Cairo

Edited and with an introduction by Raph Cormack (Comma Press, 2019) This is the first of Comma Press’s “Reading the City” books I’ve read, and I was drawn to The...

Posted by Mark on 10 June 2019

“I don’t want an ending like this”: Selja Ahava, Things That Fall from the Sky

Translated from the Finnish by Emily Jeremiah and Fleur Jeremiah (Oneworld, 2019) This year Oneworld Books have released four books by women in translation (see bottom of page for full...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 5 June 2019

The human side of a humanitarian crisis: Olga Grjasnowa, City of Jasmine

Translated from the German by Katy Derbyshire (Oneworld, 2019) City of Jasmine – the title referring to Damascus – is a soaring, searing representation of the Syrian refugee crisis, following...

Posted by Mark on 29 May 2019

Changing the status quo: the 2019 Man Booker International prize

Tonight the winner of the 2019 Man Booker International prize will be announced, and it’s something of a landmark year for women in translation. I want to talk about how...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 21 May 2019

Desire, disgust, maternity and monstrosity: Ariana Harwicz, Feebleminded

Translated from the Spanish by Annie McDermott and Carolina Orloff (Charco Press, 2019) Ariana Harwicz was longlisted for the 2018 Man Booker International Prize for her first novel Die, My...

Posted by Mark on 10 May 2019

Stories of intimacy and alienation: Rania Mamoun, Thirteen Months of Sunrise

Translated from the Arabic by Elisabeth Jaquette (Comma Press, 2019) It’s no secret that I’ve been excited about Thirteen Months of Sunrise, the first major translation into English of a Sudanese...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 1 May 2019

Intimate encounters in historical turbulence: Anne Richter, Distant Signs

Translated from the German by Douglas Irving (Neem Tree Press, 2019) Neem Tree Press is a new UK-based independent publisher, and I was fortunate to receive a review copy of...

Posted by Mark on 23 April 2019

On The Remainder, equality, and throwing out the rulebook: an interview with Sophie Hughes

I’m delighted today to bring you an interview with Sophie Hughes. Sophie is the translator of Alia Trabucco Zerán’s The Remainder, which was published by And Other Stories as part of...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 16 April 2019

The Chilli Bean Paste Clan: author Yan Ge and translator Nicky Harman debate their novel and its anti-hero

Following on from last week’s review of The Chilli Bean Paste Clan (Balestier Press, 2018), I’m delighted to bring you this exclusive interview with author Yan Ge by translator Nicky Harman. Set in...

Posted by Mark on 9 April 2019

A dysfunctional Chinese dynasty: Yan Ge, The Chilli Bean Paste Clan

Translated from the Chinese by Nicky Harman (Balestier Press, 2018) This is the first of a double feature on the Translating Women blog: today I’m reviewing The Chilli Bean Paste...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 2 April 2019

A Feminist Fairytale? Anne Serre, The Governesses

Translated from the French by Mark Hutchinson (Les Fugitives, 2019) The Governesses launches the 2019 catalogue of Les Fugitives, and is the first of six exciting-looking titles they’ll be releasing...

Posted by Mark on 27 March 2019

The Man Booker International 2019 longlist: picks, celebrations, and regrets

The picks Last week saw the announcement of the Man Booker Prize longlist, and with it a remarkable and welcome surge of women in translation: more than half of the...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 21 March 2019

International Women’s Day: some thoughts on Women in Translation

I remember the first time I celebrated International Women’s Day: I was an earnest PhD student, my feminist sensibilities just awakening, and I went to a screening of a film...

Posted by Mark on 8 March 2019

Historical horror, supernatural stories, and a gentle gem: three books reviewed

Jenny Erpenbeck, Visitation, tr. Susan Bernofsky (Portobello Books) Mariana Enriquez, Things We Lost in the Fire, tr. Megan McDowell (Portobello Books) Leonard and Hungry Paul, Rónán Hession (Bluemoose Books) Jenny...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 4 March 2019

The Susanna Roth Competition, Czech–English Translation and Bianca Bellová’s ‘The Lake’

I’m delighted to welcome a new guest contributor to the blog: Julia Sutton-Mattocks won the 2017 Susanna Roth Translation Competition for her translation of Bianca Bellová’s The Lake, and is...

Posted by Mark on 25 February 2019

Sharing an “extreme human experience”: Annie Ernaux, Happening

Translated from the French by Tanya Leslie, Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2019 In this short, stark book, Annie Ernaux reconstructs her experience of a clandestine abortion in 1963, supplementing her memory of...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 11 February 2019

Haunting and hypnotic short stories: Samanta Schweblin, Mouthful of Birds

Translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell (OneWorld, forthcoming February 2019) Acclaimed Argentine writer Samanta Schweblin returns with this eerie collection of short stories brimming with murdered wives, abandoned brides,...

Posted by Mark on 5 February 2019

The dark side of the planetary brain, or how a sacred anemone saves the world: Rita Indiana, Tentacle

Translated from the Spanish by Achy Obejas (And Other Stories, 2018) Tentacle was the final book released by And Other Stories in the Year of Publishing Women, and it smashed...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 21 January 2019

Women in translation 2019: reflections and resolutions

I always make new year’s resolutions. Not in a “go to the gym, learn a new skill, tick something off the bucket list” kind of way, but small, attainable goals...

Posted by Mark on 9 January 2019

Women in translation: the best of 2018

End-of-year compilations are abundant at the moment, and after an exciting year – generally, with the Year of Publishing Women, and personally, with the development of this blog – I...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 20 December 2018

Guilt, sexuality and modernity: Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay, Panty and Abandon

Translated from the Bengali by Arunava Sinha (Tilted Axis Press, 2016 and 2017) When I first started browsing the Tilted Axis catalogue, I was intrigued by Panty and Abandon by Sangeeta...

Posted by Mark on 12 December 2018

A profound, lyrical incantation: Hwang Jungeun, I’ll Go On

Translated from the Korean by Emily Yae Won (Tilted Axis Press, 2018) I’ll Go On was the final 2018 release in my Tilted Axis subscription, and I’d been eagerly awaiting...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 5 December 2018

On borders, encounters, and #WiTWisdom

Borders are on my mind right now. I live on an island, and so the borders of my homeland are physical; more importantly, they are also in the hearts and,...

Posted by Mark on 28 November 2018

“No matter where I go I’m still broken”: a tale of displacement and becoming. Carla Maliandi, The German Room

Translated from the Spanish by Frances Riddle (Charco Press, 2018) The German Room is the final release of 2018 from Charco Press, and what a year it’s been for them:...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 21 November 2018

Life through a furry lens: Yoko Tawada, Memoirs of a Polar Bear

Translated from the German by Susan Bernofsky (Portobello Books, 2016) Three generations of polar bears talk about their lives in this offbeat gem, winner of the inaugural Warwick Prize for Women...

Posted by Mark on 13 November 2018

Reflections on the Year of Publishing Women: interview with Nicky Smalley of And Other Stories

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of talking to Nicky Smalley, publicist at And Other Stories, about their commitment to the Year of Publishing Women. As many of you...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 7 November 2018

A retirement facility with a terrifying difference: Ninni Holmqvist, The Unit

Translated from the Swedish by Marlaine Delargy (OneWorld, 2018, 2nd edition) As soon as I read The Unit, it went straight down as a “must-read” recommendation on my virtual bookshelf:...

Posted by Mark on 30 October 2018

From Sangria to Bloodletting: translating Brazilian feminisms

I’m delighted to welcome to the blog feminist translator Beatriz Regina Guimarães Barboza. You can find out more about Beatriz and her work on the guest contributor page; today she’s...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 24 October 2018

The Warwick Prize for Women in Translation: 2018 longlist announced

On Monday this week, the longlist was announced for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation. This is the second year of the prize, which was set up by the...

Posted by Mark on 10 October 2018

“I will give you white things”: an exquisite exploration of grief. Han Kang, The White Book

Translated from the Korean by Deborah Smith (Portobello Books, 2017) The White Book is a short meditation on mourning, as Han Kang explores through words a loss that has accompanied...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 2 October 2018

“Can a man write a feminist book?”: Now, Now, Louison, Jean Frémon

Translated from the French by Cole Swensen (Les Fugitives, 2018) In Now, Now, Louison, Jean Frémon offers an extraordinary homage to French sculptor Louise Bourgeois, weaving together fragments of her...

Posted by Mark on 25 September 2018

Alternatives to Patriarchy: Kristín Ómarsdóttir, Waitress in Fall (Carcanet and Partus Press)

I’m delighted to welcome Laurie Garrison to the blog today, with a review of Kristín Ómarsdóttir’s Waitress in Fall. Laurie is the dynamic organizer of the Women Writers Network, and...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 18 September 2018

A murder mystery with a difference: Olga Tokarczuk, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead

Translated from the Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2018 Man Booker International prizewinner Olga Tokarczuk returns with this crime-mystery-noir novel set in rural Poland. Translated by the immensely skilled...

Posted by Mark on 11 September 2018

Holiday reads 2018: One Night, Markovitch; We That Are Young; The Dead Lake; Pure Hollywood

I took four books on holiday with me this year; though only one was a woman writer in translation, I wanted to showcase the diverse stories that accompanied me through...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 4 September 2018

A delightfully subversive feast: Margarita García Robayo, Fish Soup

Translated from the Spanish by Charlotte Coombe (Charco Press, 2018) Fish Soup is one of my favourite discoveries of 2018: in it, Charco Press brings together a collection of novellas...

Posted by Mark on 28 August 2018

A Transnational Network of Women Translators

Today I’m delighted to welcome to the blog manu escrita,a translator and art historian from Lisbon. You can find out more about manu on our Guest Contributors page, and here...

Posted by Mark on 20 August 2018

“Since I’d been born I’d been trying to get my mother to connect to life”: Nora Ikstena, Soviet Milk

Translated from the Latvian by Margita Gailitis (Peirene, 2018) I’ve read a number of books published by Peirene (you can see them all in my virtual bookshelf), and I’ve enjoyed...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 13 August 2018

“An elegant surpassing of the truth”: Valeria Luiselli, The Story of My Teeth

Translated from the Spanish by Christina MacSweeney (Granta, 2015) I’m delighted to welcome another guest contributor to the blog today: Katie Brown has been a great supporter of the Women...

Posted by Mark on 19 July 2018

“Where are the women?” Voicing contemporary Russian womanhood in Before I Croak

I’m delighted to kick off a guest writing series on the blog today, and welcome my brilliant colleague Muireann Maguire to discuss her experience of translating Anna Babyashkina’s Before I...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 16 July 2018

A bittersweet novel with enormous heart: Laia Jufresa, Umami

Translated from the Spanish by Sophie Hughes (OneWorld, 2016). There are very few books that I love completely, unconditionally, evangelically, and Umami is one of them. It’s one of a...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 9 July 2018

Feminism is for everyone: Translating Feminisms and finding a voice

Today I’m kicking off a series of more reflective posts about women, translation, and the publishing industry: these will intersperse the review posts from time to time, to offer some...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 3 July 2018

The collective memory of a generation: Annie Ernaux, The Years

Translated from the French by Alison L. Strayer (Fitzcarraldo, 2018) The opening line of Annie Ernaux’s The Years, “All the images will disappear”, both sets up and sums up her...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 25 June 2018

“I sense a future within me”: coming of age as the wall comes down. Kerstin Hensel, Dance by the Canal

Translated from the German by Jen Calleja (Peirene, 2017) Dance by the Canal was the third book released by Peirene in their “East and West” series, and narrates an unconventional...

Posted by Mark on 18 June 2018

“Something terrible will happen”: Samanta Schweblin, Fever Dream

Translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell (Oneworld, 2017) Usually I think that the phrase “I couldn’t put it down” is just a figure of speech, but in the case...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 12 June 2018

“Pulling apart the threads of destiny”: Jenny Erpenbeck, The End of Days

Translated from the German by Susan Bernofsky (Portobello Books, 2015) Jenny Erpenbeck is hailed as one of Europe’s most highly regarded writers, and in 2015 her stunning novel The End of...

Posted by Mark on 4 June 2018

Man Booker International special: Olga Tokarczuk, Flights

Translated from the Polish by Jennifer Croft (Fitzcarraldo, 2017) In honour of last night’s Man Booker International prize announcement, I’m publishing a special mid-week review post on the winning book,...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 23 May 2018

A thriller in the Israeli desert: Ayelet Gundar-Goshen, Waking Lions

Translated from the Hebrew by Sondra Silverston (Pushkin Press) If ever a book has taught me not to judge it by its cover, this is the one. Not because there’s...

Posted by Mark on 21 May 2018

Being and becoming a woman: Elvira Dones, Sworn Virgin

Translated from the Italian by Clarissa Botsford (And Other Stories, 2015) This book represents many ‘firsts’ for me: most notably, it was the first time I’ve read anything about Albania...

Posted by Helen Vassallo on 14 May 2018

All that was left unsaid: Marie Sizun, Her Father’s Daughter

Translated from the French by Adriana Hunter, Peirene, 2016 This is the first of several novels published by Peirene Press that I’ll be including in this project. Peirene is a...

Posted by Mark on 8 May 2018

Disturbing, dark, and deeply compelling: Han Kang, The Vegetarian

Translated from the Korean by Deborah Smith (Portobello, 2015) This is the novel that kindled a spark that grew into this project. I have a confession to make: despite my...

Posted by Mark on 23 April 2018