Spotlight on Translation: October Edition

In this spotlight you’ll find essays and reviews, excerpts and interviews covering work translated from Chinese, French, Russian, Norwegian, and Spanish.

In this, our eighth monthly spotlight, you’ll find essays on Jhumpa Lahiri’s linguistic transformations and on translating a transgressive, “overpoweringly masculine” novel by a Moroccan author while pregnant; reviews of fiction by Norwegian, French-Senegalese, Russian, and Belarusian authors, a classic work of Chinese fantasy, a collection by a Mexican essayist, and a work by a French political theorist; as well as an excerpt from a memoir by a Ukrainian author who was held prisoner by separatist forces.

— 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!

A Chinese Classic Journeys to the West: Julia Lovell’s Translation of “Monkey King”
Minjie Chen on “Monkey King: Journey to the West” by Wu Cheng’en, translated by Julia Lovell.
Minjie ChenOct 5, 2021
- Around the World
The Sorrow of Homecoming: On Mariana Oliver’s “Migratory Birds”
The author’s debut essay collection offers an assortment of meditative vignettes on displacement and belonging.
Farah AbdessamadSep 30, 2021
- Memoir & Essay
To Love a Language: On Jhumpa Lahiri’s Transformations
Jacqui Cornetta examines Jhumpa Lahiri’s journey to Italian and back again.
Jacqui CornettaSep 29, 2021
- Fiction
- Memoir & Essay
Revenge of the Minor Character: On Dag Solstad’s “Novel 11, Book 18”
The Norwegian novelist explores the existential predicament of a middle-aged, middle-class bureaucrat.
Dan ShurleySep 28, 2021
- Fiction
Whom?: On Frédéric Gros’s “Disobey!”
A guide to disobedience that leads us into the woods.
jacob s. foremanSep 28, 2021
- Philosophy & Religion
Violence and Hope in Ukraine: Stanislav Aseyev’s “The Torture Camp on Paradise Street”
Stanislav Aseyev reflects on his time as a prisoner of separatist forces in an excerpt from his new book, “The Torture Camp on Paradise Street,” and in an interview with Kate Tsurkan.
Kate Tsurkan, Stanislav AseyevSep 26, 2021
- Around the World
A Moral No-Man’s Land: On David Diop’s “At Night All Blood Is Black”
As a meditation on war, race, and colonialism, Diop’s novel cuts like a dull knife.
Samuel Fury Childs DalySep 16, 2021
- Fiction
Rage and Rapture: On Translating Mohamed Leftah’s “Captain Ni’mat’s Last Battle”
Lara Vergnaud reflects on translating “Captain Ni’mat’s Last Battle,” Mohamed Leftah’s posthumous 2011 novel.
Lara VergnaudSep 14, 2021
- Fiction
Caught Out: On Alexei Remizov’s “Sisters of the Cross” and “The Little Devil and Other Stories”
Fiona Bell is both captivated and disturbed by the narratives of violence in “Sisters of the Cross” and “The Little Devil and Other Stories” by Alexei Remizov.
Fiona BellSep 13, 2021
- Fiction
Memory Speaks: On Sasha Filipenko’s “Red Crosses”
Magdalena Miecznicka is captivated by “Red Crosses”, Sasha Filipenko’s first novel to be translated into English.
Magdalena MiecznickaSep 9, 2021
- Fiction