Building linguistic worlds, inclement weather resources, and more
News, Reviews, and Interviews
Last weekend, PEN International asked the international literary community to stand in solidarity against censorship, recognizing several authors currently facing imprisonment for their works. This week, the Arabic Literature (in English) blog responds with additional imprisoned authors that deserve similar attention.
Helle Helle, arguably Denmark’s most widely-read author, was interviewed by English PEN this week about her writing process and working with translators, including how a single word can change an entire story.
The KGOU radio interview with 2014 Neustadt Laureate Mia Couto is now available to stream online! Listen now as Couto describes his early life, including memories of the war for independence that would shape his literary career.
This week, translator David Bellos sat down with the Wall Street Journal to talk about his long and fruitful career in translations and to provide advice to aspiring translators everywhere.
At Words Without Borders this week, author Valeria Luiselli describes how, to her, learning a new language is akin to building an entire world.
Dated before The Thousand and One Nights, the stories in Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange have now been translated into English for the first time.
Interested in reading more of the latest Nobel Prize winner, Patrick Modiano? A new translation by Mark Polizzotti is now available from Yale Press.
Translators Susan Bernofsky and Suzanne Jill Levine sound off on what really makes up a bad translation at the Asymptote Journal blog this week.
For Your Calendar
The call for papers for the International Conference, focusing on the literature of smaller European countries, is now open until December 5.
Fun Finds and Inspiration
In the event of inclement winter weather (as we experienced at the WLT offices on Monday), make sure to keep the most important resources close at hand: three days worth of books, of course!
If you ever need a pick-me-up, remember that we’ve set up a Pinterest account where we pin inspiring literary quotes, cozy reading nooks, and our favorite poems and books from around the world.
