Spotlight on Translation: April Edition

In this, our second monthly spotlight, you’ll find reviews of experimental novels and thrillers translated from Spanish, French, Italian, and Russian, of poetry translated from German, of a Croatian scholar’s mediation on the historical significance of bread, and of a new collection of political writings by Frantz Fanon, along with a new story translated from the Armenian. The spotlight also features an essay that, indirectly, testifies to what translation allows: a fruitful, mutually enlightening comparison of works originally written in two languages and translated into a third.

— Boris Dralyuk, Editor-in-Chief

This digest is part of our year-round celebration of our 10th anniversary. To celebrate with us, please visit our anniversary page!

The Poetics of Metamorphosis
Samanta Schweblin and Anna Starobinets are two of the most original horror writers active today.
Muireann MaguireApr 10, 2021
- SF
Written in the Face: On Sergei Lebedev’s “Untraceable”
Robyn Jensen tracks down Sergei Lebedev’s “Untraceable,” a novel centering on a deadly nerve toxin, translated from the Russian by Antonina W. Bouis.
Robyn JensenApr 9, 2021
- Fiction
Dicey Forms: On Durs Grünbein’s “Porcelain”
Alexander Wells considers “Porcelain,” the recently translated poetry collection by Durs Grünbein.
Alexander WellsApr 7, 2021
- Poetry
About a Girl: On Sergio Olguín’s “The Foreign Girls”
Collin Mitchell reviews “The Foreign Girls,” Argentine writer Sergio Olguín’s latest mystery.
Collin MitchellApr 2, 2021
- Noir
Unnurtured and Unloved: On Andrea Bajani’s “If You Kept a Record of Sins”
A superb new English translation of a celebrated contemporary Italian novel out now from Achipelago.
Elaine MargolinMar 31, 2021
- Fiction
Remember the Bread
A major Yugoslav scholar examines the way the bread we eat becomes a vehicle for human relations.
Emina MelonicMar 26, 2021
- Food & Drink
It Will Always Be Sung
Anna DavtyanMar 25, 2021
Fanon Can’t Save You Now
Todd Cronan looks at “The Political Writings from Alienation and Freedom” by Frantz Fanon, edited by Jean Khalfa and Robert J. C. Young.
Todd CronanMar 22, 2021
- Politics
Revenge: A User’s Manual
Is capitalist society nothing more than a series of random acts of senseless violence?
Mikkel Krause FrantzenMar 20, 2021
- Politics
Love and the Literary Leviathan: On Pola Oloixarac’s “Mona”
Yxta Maya Murray dives into the recent English-language translation of Pola Oloixarac’s “Mona.”
Yxta Maya MurrayMar 16, 2021
- Around the World
- Fiction