Bezoar and Other Unsettling Stories is a collection of short stories from Mexican writer, Guadalupe Nettel, translated from the Spanish by Suzanne Jill Levine. Nettel is a prolific writer who has had her work featured in both Spanish and French language publications. Bezoar and Other Unsettling Stories is Nettel’s most recent work to be translated into the English language, published by Seven Stories Press.
August is Women in Translation month; a month to celebrate women whose work has been translated from languages other than English, into the English language.
This year I wanted to take some time to celebrate work by women who are typically underrepresented in the translation field.
According to a 2018 Diversity Report, this includes women who are writing in the Russian language.
Russian is an East Slavic language. It is the official language of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, as well as being widely used in the Baltic states, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
When suggesting 20 Great Russian Novels, Qwiklit says: “the Russian literary tradition rivals most if not all countries, and its consistent ambition to define (and even redefine) social conditions has kept even it’s oldest works relevant in the public sphere.”
While compiling this list of Russian language translations, I noticed this in the literature I was finding: a desire to redefine the boundaries of literature and push the reader to view the world through a critical lens.
With that said, here are 25 recommendations for books by women in translation from the Russian language.
August is Women in Translation month; a month to celebrate women whose work has been translated from languages other than English, into the English language.
This year I wanted to take some time to celebrate work by women who are typically underrepresented in the translation field.
As I was researching this, I found that the term ‘Chinese language’ could be seen as reductive, not taking account of the wide range of languages and dialogues that make up the Chinese language family.
With this in mind, I have here chosen to highlight Chinese women in translation, regardless of what language the work was originally written in.
Books and Bao recognise that Chinese women are drastically underrepresented in the translation field: “the Chinese novels of male authors are still far more in abundance than those of women.”
I have been interested in Chinese culture and politics for quite some time. As a young adult, I read Adeline Yen Mah’s ‘Chinese Cinderella’ and listened to her speak at Edinburgh Book Festival. I studied Chinese politics briefly in high school and then, in 2012, I went on to study “China as a World Superpower” at a summer school in Prague.
It was, then, with curiosity and excitement that I learned of these female writers whose work has made its way into English language translation.
Of all of the spotlights I have done, this one was the trickiest to find recommendations for and I’m extremely grateful to all my friends on Instagram who contributed recommendations to this list. I’ve credited them all and I hope you’ll consider checking out their accounts for more recommendations.
With that said, here is a list of 23 books by Chinese women in translation.
August is Women in Translation month; a month to celebrate women whose work has been translated from languages other than English, into the English language.
This year I wanted to take some time to celebrate work by women who are typically underrepresented in the translation field. According to fellow blogger, Translationista and poetry translator John Keene, that includes Black women.
In recent months we have seen a lens shone on the way Black authors are treated in the UK and US publishing industries, with such hashtags as #PublishingPaidMe revealing the stark disparities in advance payments, and many Black writers speaking out about the multiple layers of gatekeepers that they are faced with before they even broker a publishing deal.
In my eyes, this makes it all the more essential that Black writers work is consciously sought out in such months as Women in Translation month, and that their writings are approached with excitement and intrigue.
August is Women in Translation month; a month to celebrate women whose work has been translated from languages other than English, into the English language.
This year I wanted to take some time to celebrate work by women who are typically underrepresented in the translation field.
According to a 2018 Diversity Report, this includes women who are writing in Arabic.
The Arabic language is a Semitic language which is spoken by approximately 422 million people, including those living in North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and other parts of the Middle East.
LitHub describe Arabic literature: “There is perhaps no other literature so closely allied to the history of its people as is that of the Arabs.”
In recent years, Arabic fiction has been receiving some much-deserved attention and celebration.
With Jokha Alharthi’s Celestial Bodies winning the International Man Booker Prize in 2019 and the International Prize for Arabic Fiction drawing more and more attention from a global audience every year; Arabic fiction could be set to be the next hot literary trend.
With that in mind, here are 17 book suggestions for women in translation from the Arabic language; to read during August and beyond.
![Bezoar and Other Unsettling Stories by Guadalupe Nettel, translated by Suzanne Jill Levine [Review]](https://readingwithkt.home.blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/bezoar-igsize.jpg?w=256&h=256&crop=1)
READING WITH KT 