Spotlight on Translation: October Edition

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!

To Love a Language: On Jhumpa Lahiri’s Transformations
Jacqui Cornetta examines Jhumpa Lahiri’s journey to Italian and back again.
Sep 29, 2021
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.
Sep 14, 2021
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.
Sep 28, 2021
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.
Sep 16, 2021
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...
Sep 13, 2021
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.
Sep 9, 2021
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.
Oct 5, 2021
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.
Sep 30, 2021
Whom?: On Frédéric Gros’s “Disobey!”
A guide to disobedience that leads us into the woods.
Sep 28, 2021
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...
Sep 26, 2021