Mauritania, its geography, and its women come to life in vivid detail in this poem by Mariem Mint Derwich. You will tell them, my country, you will tell them of your daughter, daughter among your daughters, daughter among your men, you will tell them of the winds that engendered her, your winds of the East and your winds of the sea. You will tell them that around her ankles she wears your dunes, your tales, your griots, your notes of the moon, your notes of the sun. You will say to them...

Poet Bios Diallo connects Mauritania’s struggle to form a united national identity with similar conflicts elsewhere on the continent.   And Say to the tomb, without pride Here the poem ends Here identities, prayers bleed And, look Here also the nation is reborn   And since a country has but one language That of its future, of its people             I will brandish my own...

On a strange island uninhabited by adults, danger lurks in this story by Thórdís Helgadóttir.   Words Without Borders · Thórdís Helgadóttir reads "Hafið Gefur Okkur Börn" ("The Sea Gives Us Children") Listen to Thórdís Helgadóttir read "The Sea Gives Us Children" in the original Icelandic. There are no boats on the island. Sometimes, Guðrún and I go down to the beach, just to let the wind...

After his wife’s sudden departure, Böddi speaks to his brother over coffee in this story about regret, love, and family by Björn Halldórsson.   Words Without Borders · Björn Halldórsson reads "Eiginmaðurinn og bróðir hans" ("The Husband & His Brother")   Listen to Björn Halldórsson read "The Husband and His Brother" in the original Icelandic.   Jóhann was the first to stand up when the...

Warning: This text includes descriptions of intimate partner abuse and may be disturbing to readers. In this excerpt from Thora Hjörleifsdóttir’s debut novel, Magma, a woman narrates the evolution of an abusive relationship.   Words Without Borders · ChlamydThora Hjórleifsdóttir reads “Klamydía” (“Chlamydia”) from "Kvika" (“Magma”) Listen to Thora Hjórleifsdóttir read...

This month’s issue of Words Without Borders is graced by the art of Galician muralist Joseba Muruzábal, also known as Yoseba MP. The piece, Leiterofilia II, is one of a series of awe-inspiring murals collectively titled Fenómenos do rural (Rural Phenomena) and exhibited across Galicia, an autonomous community of Spain. The murals have garnered attention for their depictions of superpowerful grandmothers, women endemic to the region who have toiled and worked...

The work of German photographer Karl Blossfeldt and his relationship to plants is reimagined in this poem by 2019 Poems in Translation Contest winner Alba Cid from her collection Atlas. Light is choral and comes from another world: we ripple Alba Cid And all I lov’d—I lov’d alone. Edgar Allan Poe   1. A catalog for Karl Blossfeldt. 2. A creation that can only be seen head-on, one which celebrates the detail: fingers plucking petals and sepals to discover...

A mother-daughter conversation and a child's search for her origins lead from the grandiose to the dreary in this poem by Luisa Castro.   My mother works in a cannery. One day my mother said to me: love is a canned sardine. Do you know how canned food is prepared? One day my mother said to me: love is a work of art in a can. My dear, Do you know where you come from? You come from a mussel nursery— canned. Behind the cannery, where the shells rot along with the fish...

Dinara Rasuleva questions received notions of home and national identity in this poem about her relationship to Russia.   Video: This video was created by the Russian-language, Berlin-based TV channel OstWest for a series called "Living Poets Society," which featured contemporary Russophone poets living in Germany. Used with permission from OstWest.   Words Without Borders · Dinara Rasuleva reads "Время...

A Russian pop star’s strange encounter with an airport cleaning lady, cars falling from the sky, and a world-ending fire––three very short stories from Alla Gorbunova find the fantastical in the everyday.   Video: Alla Gorbunova reads "Oy Oy Oy" in the original Russian.   Oy Oy Oy There’s a man lying down in a grave somewhere With the same tattoos as me. Coil In the bathroom of the Krasnoyarsk airport, pop starlet Amanda, passing through on her tour,...

Personal and interior worlds bleed into everyday experiences in these three short poems by Ksenia Zheludova.   Words Without Borders · Ksenia Zheludova reads "древняя бабья забава" ("an age-old female pastime") Listen to Ksenia Zheludova read "an age-old female pastime" in the original Russian.   an age-old female pastime: bringing home in one’s hem...

Translator’s note: As the Russian-Ukrainian war was launched in 2014, Xenia Emelyanova posted this recording of herself reciting this poem to the Facebook page of an antiwar activist. It was an act of great personal bravery.   Destined from birth. What’s destined from birth? That when they took you from your mother mucus-covered, dove-colored, somewhere up there, in the heavenly spheres, it’s already known where you’ll lay your head forever. And while the...

A routine day turns suddenly violent in this excerpt from Rania Mamoun’s novel Son of the Sun.   Words Without Borders · Rania Mamoun Reads "في المقهى" ("At the Coffee Shop") Listen to Rania Mamoun read "At the Coffee Shop" in the original Arabic.   The frenzied football fan banged on the table with a force that knocked the tea over. One glass shattered as it hit the ground. He shot up, angrily screaming at...

Ann El Safi presents a bird’s-eye view of violence and unrequited love.   Words Without Borders · Ann El Safi reads "حرية الطيران" ("Freedom of Flight") Listen to Ann El Safi read "Freedom of Flight" in the original Arabic.   Your days are swallowed by the road, your feet yearn for freedom. The smell of absence seeps into the carnage around me. She has left her bedroom window open. The wall...

The residents of Al-Nar Street coexist with demons and djinns from a nearby swamp in this excerpt from Zeinab Belail’s novel The Cactus Plant.   Words Without Borders · Zeinab Belail reads "شارع النار" ("Al-Nar Street") Listen to Zeinab Belail read "Al-Nar Street" in the original Arabic.   Al-Nar Street is one of the longest streets that any of the city’s residents has ever set foot in. Long and...

"Birds in Flight, 1965" is one of four winning poems selected by David Tomas Martinez for the 2020 Words Without Borders—Academy of American Poets Poems in Translation Contest.   Words without Borders · Poems-in-Translation Contest: "Birds in Flight, 1965, " by Enrique Villasis, tr. Bernard Capinpin Listen above to Bernard Capinpin read his translation of Enrique Villasis's "Birds in Flight, 1965"   Not as a multitude, but as one. Caught in...

Words without Borders · Poems in Translation Contest: "Trial Run, " by Yau Ching, tr. Chenxin Jiang Listen above to Chenxin Jiang read her translation of Yau Ching's "Trial Run"                        as a door-nail            and gone          to the world            air           broke drop nothing is...

"Pegasus Autopsy" is one of four winning poems selected by David Tomas Martinez for the 2020 Words Without Borders—Academy of American Poets Poems in Translation Contest.   Words without Borders · Poem-in-Translation Contest: "Pegasus Autopsy, " by Julio Pazos Barrera Listen above to Bryan Mendoza read his translation of Julio Pazos Barrera's "Pegasus Autopsy"   It’s a spacious chamber. Well lit. A light that refracts the distant...

"Learning Late Letters" is one of four winning poems selected by David Tomas Martinez for the 2020 Words Without Borders—Academy of Americans Poets Poems in Translation Contest.   Words Without Borders · Poems in Translation Contest: "Learning Late Letters," written and translated by Nguyen Hoang Quyen Click above to listen to poet Nguyễn Hoàng Quyên read the English translation of "Learning Late Letters"   The dead don't...

In two poems, Julia Wong Kcomt reflects on what it means to be a Peruvian with Tusán (Chinese) heritage.​ The Red Rooster To Wata, in memoriam Peru dies. Like garlic bulbs this whim of blouses cut so masterfully. The iron windows. Baroque. Relentless. Paint staining my ovaries. Sushi is now the language of the people and my mighty noodles wait in a forgotten pot. Papá told me to detest the Japanese like everyone says to hate Chileans. But with so much love, I find...