Accolades
What Others Are Saying about WLT
“World Literature Today is one of my favorite go-to’s for exquisite and daring writing about exquisite and daring writers. WLT is one of the very best literature magazines ever!”
—Tess O’Dwyer, Chair of the Academy of American Poets, June 2023
“[WLT] is absolutely the most welcome reading I’ve found in years. I can’t believe I tried to live my life,
pretending knowledge and posing intelligently, without these volumes.”
—Maya Angelou
“No other journal begins to do what WLT does routinely. . . . Extraordinary.”
—Joyce Carol Oates
“If WLT were not in existence, we would have to invent it.”
—Czesław Miłosz
“The only publication of its kind, keeping faith with the all-important task:
the promotion of international understanding.”
—Thomas Mann, Books Abroad, Winter 1952
“I have been a reader of WLT for more years than I can remember. I am your biggest fan. I wanted to say that because of the nature of your publication, I feel that I am a better person for having read it . . . and will continue to grow with it in the future.”—Fredda Music, Pompano Beach, Florida, July 2024
“WLT’s work just gets better, broader, more important with each day, each crisis, each division, each war . . . and each poem, story, essay. WLT is a landmark and a treasure.”—Kim Stafford, Portland, Oregon, April 2024
“It’s inspiring to see WLT confront head-on the cascade of crises in this world, insisting that literature matters more than ever and has something urgent to say about tolerance and empathy. WLT is living up to its name with courage and resilience.”—Ray Waddle, Nashville, Tennessee, April 2024
“You do such important work, and with such grace. In a world of frequent dark attrition, WLT is a light.”—Kim Stafford, Portland, Oregon, December 2021
“Thank you for your vision and courage in producing the ‘Palestine Voices’ issue of WLT. Despite the very difficult times that both Palestine and the world are going through, across so many different dimensions these days, projects of solidarity and creativity maintain one’s faith in the future.”—Lena Jayyusi, Amman, Jordan, July 2021
“I find the work of WLT to be essential, not duplicated elsewhere, and therefore indispensable.”—Fred Dings, Columbia, South Carolina, February 2021
“WLT is one of the absolutely top-tier journals in literary studies.”—Eric Ziolkowski, Lafayette College, December 2020
“Thank you for making WLT a platform for marginalized voices from all corners of the world. It is one of the most exciting literary platforms I know, and it is an honor to work with you and to bring some of the silent/silenced yet important voices to global attention. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be part of this meaningful cause.”—Fatemeh Shams Esmaeili, Philadelphia, February 2020
“Thank you for enriching—and humanizing—our world. At no time in the history of our world is your kind of editorial policy more urgent, more inspiring, than now, with all manner of artificial walls going up all over the place, and the voices of severance approaching an ominous crescendo. Yes, on your pages, let the poets of the world keep singing a new song. In the words of a Yoruba prayer, may your path continue to be clear.”—Niyi Osundare, New Orleans, April 2019
“WLT is probably the most essential journal of its kind in the world, fostering global understanding, peace, and justice through literary conversation. It brings environment and culture together in a healing exchange.”—John Kinsella, Cambridge University, March 2019
“Please know that your magazine is an inspiration. with poignant, thoughtful, important articles and poems. Any vehicle to help promote international understanding is to be celebrated!”—Barbara Eler, New Milford, Connecticut, November 2018
“As always, I am entranced with the pages in WLT’s latest issue. I even love to smell them. Thanks to your team for enriching my thinking life.”—Sandra Soli, Edmond, Oklahoma, January 28, 2018
“I’m reading the current issue—‘New Native Writing: From Wounded Knee to Standing Rock’—and must say that I’m in awe of the work you have presented in this edition. The featured poems documenting the journey and struggle of Native Americans are very powerful in expression, inspiring me to translate them into Hindi. Thank you for this amazing issue.”—Kalpna Singh-Chitnis, Irvine, California, July 12, 2017
“As an excellent example of global trends in literature, World Literature Today celebrates diversity, culture, and language from around the globe.”—Jenny Mark, NewPages, April 2017
“I am OBSESSED with World Literature Today, and if one of your reading resolutions for 2017 is to read more diverse books, this bimonthly magazine definitely needs to be your first stop. The absolute best international literature and culture magazine out there (IMO), WLT publishes interviews, essays, poetry, fiction, and book reviews, and is a great way to get a sense of what is going on in literature all over the world, in a multitude of global languages.”—E. Ce Miller, Bustle, December 2016
“WLT is very close to my heart. A most beautiful and comprehensive lit-mag.”—Geet Chaturvedi, Bhopal, India, October 6, 2016
“WLT is definitely the deepest and most professional window on world literature we have in the country.”—Margaret Randall, Albuquerque, New Mexico, September 2015
“World Literature Today is more than just a book review magazine and overview of world literature; rather, the features take a look inside the changing face of the writing and publishing industries, exploring these ideas from a global perspective. . . . WLT takes the time to pay tribute to the literature of the world, acknowledging the diversity and excellence in literature the world over. It is a fantastic resource for discovering new authors, and a good place to start if you’re looking for some good foreign literature to sink into.”—Raelke Grimmer, Adelaide, Tongues.com, August 2015
“Beyond ‘global’ authors sanctioned by American/Western publishers, where do we turn? A fine place to start is [a] publication—nay, oracle—that’ll fill up your what-to-read-next card: World Literature Today. WLT comes as a blessing for translators, international writers, and latitudinarian readers.”—Nichole Reber, Columbus, Ohio, The Review Review, April 2015
“I honestly think WLT is one of the most diverse and intelligent literary publications in the world. The magazine is amazing at finding new writers and poets from all over the world, absolutely true to its name.”—Dinah Assouline Stillman, Norman, Oklahoma, May 2015
“Wonderful people at WLT, please know that the entire world is blessed by your actions of heart and mind and immense dedication to the good word and human integrity.”—Ibtisam Barakat, Columbia, Missouri, October 2014
“I personally have been so enriched by WLT. The articles, reviews, and especially the Nota Bene selections have had me chasing down superbly enlightening and beautiful literature. . . . I do not travel any more, but the world literature I read has made me more informed about the world than my friends who sit hours on airplanes to reach countries where their passports are stamped. The authors take me to meet the people of the world instantly from any chair I find.”—Dorothy Mikuska, Oak Brook, Illinois, May 2014
“I believe WLT is one of the most vibrant literary magazines in the world and, with its particular sophistication, one of the most elegant.”—Marjorie Agosín, Wellesley College, May 2014
“WLT is absolutely wonderful. It is like Christmas six times a year. . . . Since I can’t get ‘out and about’ in the world as I would like, please accept my subscription renewal because WLT brings the world to me.”—Jaye Jenkins, Burlington, Ontario, April 2014
“The presentation of Queer Lit in the 21st Century in your September 2013 issue is startling and critical. Startling because although gay and lesbian folk have always maintained that ‘we are everywhere,’ their stories, told in their own voices, have not always been told. Hence the adjective ‘critical,’ a word I find life-saving for all those gay and lesbian people who have just about given up hope—especially young people and old people. . . . Thanks for bringing the work of Abdellah Taïa to us, for bringing him into the light, for truly, truly, silence does equal death.”—Frank Stock, Cherry Valley, New York, September 2013
“World Literature Today always packs an exciting table of contents, one that makes me want to spring up off my couch and catch the first international flight. I see the shining achievement of WLT in the editors’ ability to balance what is innovative and cutting edge with what is well established and relevant. Its unique content distinguishes it from most mainstream literary magazines, giving it vitality and spunk. The March 2013 special double issue, which treats photography as a modern narrative form, is simply stunning.”—Cara Bigony, NewPages, April 2013
“I am writing to say congratulations to you and your staff on the stunning March/April photography issue. The photos and the words of the photographers are breathtaking and open up windows to parts of our world which have too long been closed. It is a beautiful production in every way and I am grateful to have it.”—Mary Smith, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, March 2013
“We have been enthusiastic fans of World Literature Today since 1997. For twenty years, my husband has been writing and revising World History, a textbook used in colleges all over the country. I have been helping him with contributions about the arts. Your exceptional, unique actually, magazine has been the indispensable tool for me to glean essential information on world literature. Thank you all, and keep WLT as vibrant, serious, and diverse for years to come.”—Yvonne and William Duiker, Southern Shores, North Carolina, February 2013
“Since its inception, Books Abroad / World Literature Today has rendered a splendid service to international literature not only in the English-speaking world but also in scores of other countries. Its coverage is truly universal and its articles, reviews, features, and special issues have created and kept alive a sophisticated awareness of the values of world literature.”—Talât S. Halman, Bilkent University, May 2012
“In the January 2012 issue of WLT, the reader is reminded that the shared experience of poetry and literature between and across cultures ought to be beautiful and mindful. . . . Impressively, the theme of culture and identity through its contemporary texts is subtle within WLT as it percolates slowly, carefully, and completely.”–Lydia Pyne, NewPages, March 2012
“The most consistently exciting magazine in the world.”—Molossus, www.molossus.co, November 2011
“It’s a pleasure to be brought to the brink by reading WLT so deeply, because otherwise I would miss a lot.”–Jim Drummond, Norman, Oklahoma, October 2011
“Without WLT, we Americans would be even more insular than we are. I’m so glad WLT keeps going, spreading the word, when the word is sometimes indecipherable and usually sure to surprise. . . . WLT is a rich international quarterly that brings us news of literature across and around the world as it is being made, in the clash and blaze of revolution and in the silent solitude of poets working in the shadows.”—Virginia Euwer Wolff, April/December 2011
“Every glorious issue of World Literature Today is an argument for print! There is simply no way to duplicate the experience as cyber reading. . . . For my money, there is no way it could duplicate the feel of the glossy paper, the vibrancy of the large- and small-format color and black-and-white photos, the clarity of the illustrations (maps), or the smartly designed pages.”—Sima Rabinowitz, NewPages, January 2011
“Your September 2010 issue of international short stories was outstanding. The collection took my breath away. My hat’s off to you and your publication—you get better each month.”—Fredda Music, Pompano Beach, Florida, October 2010
“What a brilliant jewel in the literary crown.”—Daphne Muse, Oakland, California, July 2010
“Putting together a journal on literature from across the world would be a daunting task, but the editors of World Literature Today have pulled it off wonderfully in the January–February 2010 edition. The journal’s international scope is clear from the cover [and] the overall effect of these works from around the world touching on common themes in their culturally unique ways is truly harmonious.”—Brian Brown, NewPages, March 2010
“Newspapers everywhere are disappearing. Magazines are closing shop. The New York Times is consolidating sections, no more ‘Escapes,’ no more Sunday ‘City.’ Yet, somehow, WLT, as gorgeous as always, manages to survive into its eighty-third year with as expansive and broad a vision as ever. . . . WLT literally does contain the world. . . . WLT reminds us that something is happening to someone, to everyone, every day, everywhere in the world, and we deserve—no, we are obligated—to learn about it.”—Sima Rabinowitz, NewPages, June 2009
“I have been reading the articles, stories, and poems in your July 2009 issue with great interest. By coincidence, I received a copy of the London Review of Books on the same day, and it struck me that WLT is by far the more interesting and open publication of the two!”—Tabish Khair, Aarhus (Denmark), June 2009
“The pages of WLT, issue after issue, offer necessary and rich vistas of literatures and cultures in the twenty-first century. . . . Both original creative writings and critical commentaries put us truly in touch with the world and its literature.”—Margaret Stanfield, London, January 2009
“After five seconds with the Bei Dao issue [November 2008], I instantly see I can’t live without WLT. This magazine is everything I am, everything I write, everything I believe in poetically. I am speechless—this is better and more important than the New Yorker.”—Nicholas Samaras, West Nyack, New York, December 2008
“The joy in reading a publication like WLT is the introduction to a globally wide range of authors and works. . . . I cannot imagine ever having been able to travel so far in so few pages in my life. And in a world of so much disconnect (regardless of all our technology), how heartening to find the strength of connection through literature.”—Denise Hill, NewPages, July 2008
“I was thrilled to read WLT for this first time a couple of years ago. Since then I’ve tried to read it whenever I could. The selection of poems is excellent. Through WLT we learn so much about the American experience. Now we are gradually moving toward other experiences of mankind in the newer issues. . . . I have rarely felt so elated reading a magazine as I have done whenever I’ve read WLT. Keep it up. We love the magazine.”—L. R. Sharma, Allahabad, India, May 2008
“WLT is manna from heaven. Your poetry is exceptional, and your articles remind me how the world is so much larger than my little corner. Thank you for an aesthetically attractive magazine with content. A rare commodity in our present culture.”—Colette Jonopulos, Eugene, Oregon, March 2008
“I just wanted to take a moment to let you know how much I’ve enjoyed WLT this year. Over the years, each issue has always been at a very high level, but I think this is the best year I can ever remember since I’ve been a subscriber. . . . I can’t wait till next year because the magazine just gets better and better. It is hard to believe that 2008 could be better than 2007, but I’m sure it will be. I’m really looking forward to future issues.”—Robert J. Dougherty, Norman, Oklahoma, March 2008
“WLT ambitiously considers the ways in which language and art are defined by culture, emphasizing that our own culture can only be enriched by exposure to others. In this way, it speaks against xenophobia, not through polemics but by its mere presence. . . . I could complain that WLT lacks unity: so many languages, genres, directions. But that would be like complaining there are too many dishes at the banquet. . . . A reminder of how complex and nuanced the world really is, WLT seeks to bring us words, rhythms, stories, and lives that need to be salvaged. And we didn’t even know that they do.”—Deborah Diemont, NewPages, January 2008
“Your China issue (July 2007) was superb! Congratulations on putting together such an informative and appealing special section. . . . Keep up the good work!”—Jeffrey C. Kinkley, St. John’s University, January 2008
“I recently picked up WLT from a newsstand and found myself hooked. . . . Thank you for your efforts and imagination in compiling this wealth of knowledge.”—Joan E. Morse, Santa Fe, New Mexico, September 2007
“I am pleased to see WLT continue to explore the significant themes of our times. In your July-August 2006 issue, there is so much to comment on—and such a wide range of possibilities to reflect on for the future of our planet—that I could have chosen at will from the various essays, interviews, and literary examples.”—E. A. Mares, Albuquerque, New Mexico, March 2007
“I’ve been a loyal reader of WLT for many years. . . . WLT has always been an invaluable resource for me. It has been a key resource for discovering authors from around the globe and for access to informative reviews of new works. No other resource has ever competed with WLT, in terms of quality and quantity of reviews of international literatures.”—Faye Christenberry, University of Washington Libraries, January 2007
“The September/October ‘Censorship Issue’ of World Literature Today travels the globe from Albania to Zimbabwe and back to the United States to find out how, why, and where politics, religion, and language spur the repression of freedom of expression. Excerpts from banned novels, articles on country-specific censorship issues, and banned-book reviews dovetail with fascinating tidbits like the ‘10 Most Censored Countries.’”—Elizabeth Oliver, www.utne.com, September 2006
“WLT continues to fulfill a noble and absolutely necessary role on the American literary scene of throwing a bridge between cultures and thus bringing more understanding between men. . . . There is no question that WLT is number one in its field in this country. Please accept my warm congratulations on the eightieth anniversary of this most valuable and truly outstanding publication.”—Jerzy Maciuszko, Baldwin-Wallace College, November 2006
“If I created the syllabus for a comprehensive historical literature course, World Literature Today, published bimonthly at the University of Oklahoma, would be required reading.”— Miriam Skurnick, www.utne.com, July 2006
“Your publication is a great addition to literature—everywhere searching us out—to teach and delight us.”—James W. Donaldson, Twisp, Washington, March 2006
“World Literature Today is no magazine; whoever reads it touches lives from many cultures and countries and has his/her life touched in turn.”—Guiyou Huang, St. Thomas University, January 2006
“Congratulations! World Literature Today has done it again. Reading the issue devoted to children’s literature, and especially about the new NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature, has filled my heart with joy. . . . WLT continues to cover literary issues and to publish incisive and valuable essays for critics and writers alike. . . . Bueno, sin más, I offer my best wishes and look forward to upcoming issues of WLT. I know I will not be disappointed. ¡Gracias!”—Norma E. Cantú, University of Texas, San Antonio, September 2005
“World Literature Today is an excellent source of writings by and about contemporary authors from around the globe. It features interviews, essays, poetry, and short fiction by authors who write as if their lives depend on it. Each issue includes over a hundred English-language reviews of books published in other languages.”—Chris Dodge, www.utne.com, January 2005
“I wish to express my special gratitude for your publication, which continues to educate many, across regional boundaries, on contemporary issues in world literature and culture.”—Basil Njoku, African Heritage Press, May 2004
“Those of us in the Academy who teach film have argued for years that it is an ‘art,’ that movies are ‘texts,’ and that film is literature. Thank you, WLT, for recognizing this. It was a pleasure to read your special section on international film, edited by Stephen Prince, in the October-December 2003 issue. . . . For the lay reader, your authors gave valuable historical backgrounds on Chinese, African, Brazilian, Indian, and Balkan cinema, and I can only hope that future issues will look at additional countries and regions of the globe. . . . Thank you again for this issue. I hope it is just the beginning of many more explorations of this international language.”—Joanna E. Rapf, University of Oklahoma, May 2004
“With enthusiasm, I’ve been reading the July-September 2003 issue of WLT. It’s a publication I’ve followed for a long time, particularly in the recent period. The WLT number I’ve been examining seems to me an outstanding example of the challenging work this journal had long performed—work, moreover, that isn’t duplicated anywhere else in American periodicals.”—Richard Terdiman, UC Santa Cruz, January 2004
“I would like to congratulate World Literature Today for the special issue in honor of Roberto Fernández Retamar. A poet and critic, Fernández Retamar is one of the most important contemporary Cuban writers. . . . Congratulations for always making World Literature Today a great forum for discussing many contemporary issues.”—Fernando Valerio Holguín, Colorado State University, July 2003
“The exciting ‘new vision of literature’ and expanded availability makes it possible for your venerable publication to touch—and change—more lives. The summer/ autumn 2002 issue was yet another example of eye-opening, challenging fare, boldly offered.”—Leslie A. Wootten, Casa Grande, Arizona, April 2003
“From its inception, World Literature Today has been one of the great promoters of Latin American Literature, and I am happy to see that the journal is continuing this tradition by foregrounding not only Latin American literature but also the literature of its diaspora.”—Stephanie Alvarez, University of Oklahoma, Summer 2002
“An absolute delight to read and extremely difficult to put down. . . . The new WLT suggests that there is a highly sophisticated reading public outside academe, one not interested in the specificity of most literary and cultural journals that originate within the university, but that nonetheless has an appetite for serious engagements with literary discourse.”—2002 Phoenix Award citation, Council of Editors of Learned Journals, www.celj.org
“Maybe the most cosmopolitan magazine in the United States . . . a remarkable enterprise.”—Gail Pool, Christian Science Monitor, 1 March 1985
“One of the best edited and most informative literary publications that I know.”—Lars Gyllensten, Swedish Academy
“The only literary journal that covers the entire world.”—La Quinzaine Littéraire, February 1982
“We heartily welcome a new publication sent us from the University of Oklahoma. . . . Books Abroad will be valuable for editors and general readers as well as for teachers. There was no such magazine before. We greet it not only for that reason but because it comes out of Oklahoma, whose university, at least in this department, is definitely a center of usefulness and light.”—The Nation, 23 March 1927 [see also Chicago Evening Post, 1929; Saturday Review of Literature, August 22, 1931, in Western History Collections archive]
View a list of all our awards.
