Nonfiction by The Editors of Words Without Borders

Editorial Note: Change Is Coming

A note to readers

Interviews by Samantha Schnee

Writing the Universal: A Conversation with Catalan Author Marta Orriols

"I think that people rediscovered reading in that period of calm when everything was standing still, and no one could go out or do anything."

Translated from Spanish by Samantha Schnee

Nonfiction by Jhumpa Lahiri

In Praise of Echo: Reflections on the Meaning of Translation

The myth of Echo and Narcissus is particularly resonant when considered from a translator's point of view.

Dispatch by The Editors of Words Without Borders

Voices from Ukraine: A Reading List

Seven works of poetry and prose from Ukraine to read now.

Fiction by Kseniya Fuchs

Conservation

I knew I was born here and I would die here.

Translated from Ukrainian by Ali Kinsella

Fiction by Maria Borio

Seventh Scene

In the third scene we talk / motionless across a screen in the ether

Translated from Italian by Danielle Pieratti

Poetry by Danyil Zadorozhnyi

The Lights of the Donbas

then there’s the war / that flabby, shriveled, animal word “war”

Translated from Russian by Yuliya Charnyshova and Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler

Nonfiction by Tobias Carroll

The Watchlist: April 2022

Tobias Carroll recommends noteworthy new books translated from Ukrainian, Indonesian, Persian, Japanese, and Spanish.

Poetry by Tuhin Das

Exile Poem

Afterwards, heads of hushed army snipers / pop up on every rooftop.

Translated from Bengali by Arunava Sinha

Dispatch by Nathalie Handal

The City and the Writer: In Manila with Miguel Syjuco

Architectural gems crumble on street corners, shrouded in grit till they’re decreed too ugly to save.

Fiction by Kyung-sook Shin

Something No One Else Has

San feels reassured that Namae’s body is as skinny and pathetic as her own.

Translated from Korean by Anton Hur

Nonfiction by Sergio Chejfec

The Story of a Notebook: Sergio Chejfec on Writing by Hand

One is drawn toward handwritten manuscripts because, unlike more mediated forms of writing (whether produced by typewriters, word processors, or automatic transcription tools), they alone retain the signs of hesitation.

Translated from Spanish by Jeffrey Lawrence

Interviews by M. Lynx Qualey

The Present and Future of Arabic Kid Lit: A Conversation

There are many great Arabic children’s books that haven’t reached their young readers yet.

Fiction by Gogu Shyamala

Ellamma Is Distressed

They may even throw us out of this village.

Translated from Telugu by P. Pavana