Reading List: National Translation Month

As part of our calendar celebrating national heritage months and observances, explore these selected works in translation.

Collage by Kanya Kanchana

Explore works in translation, many presented bilingually and introduced by the translator:

• • Poems by Hong Kong Poet Chung Kwok-keung translated from the Chinese by May Huang
  • Poems by Pekuakamishkueu poet Marie-Andrée Gill, from Spawn, translated from the French by Kristen Renee Miller
  • Poems by Lara Solórzano Damasceno translated from the Spanish by Ignacio Carvajal
  • Poems by George Seferis translated from the Modern Greek by Jennifer R. Kellogg
  • Poems by Anzhelina Polonskaya translated from the Russian by Andrew Wachtel
  • Poems by Mariangela Gualtieri, from Bestia di gioia, translated from the Italian by Olivia E. Sears
  • Poems by Şükrü Erbaş translated from the Turkish by Derick Mattern
  • Poems by Edith Bruck translated from Italian by Jeanne Bonner
  • A poem by Halyna Kruk translated from Ukrainian by Lada Kolomiyets 
  • An updated translation of Rainer Maria Rilke’s “Night Drive” translated from German by Steven Cramer
  • Poems by Milena Marković translated from Serbian by Steven and Maja Teref
  • Poems by Hendri Yulius Wijaya translated from Indonesian by Edward Gunawan
•  
  • José Ardila’s short story “The House” translated from the Spanish by Matthew Shorter
  • Inés Garland’s short story “The Old Dog” translated from the Spanish by Richard Gwyn
  • Mario Martz’s short story “The Wangs’ Other Child” translated from Spanish by Nina Perrotta
  • Amar Mitra’s short story “The Old Man of Kusumpur” translated from the Bengali by Anish Gupta
  • Rossella Milone’s short story “Operation Avalanche” translated from Italian by Laura Masini and Linda Worrell
  • Geet Chaturvedi’s short story “Sindhu Library” translated from Hindi by Anita Gopalan
  • Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar’s short story “Master of the House,” an excerpt from his larger novelette, translated from the original Turkish by Aysel K. Basci
  • Excerpts from Gunnhild Øyehaug’s short story collection, “Evil Flowers,” translated from the original Norwegian by Kari Dickson
•  
  • Hebe Uhart’s essay “A Trip to La Paz” translated from the Spanish by Anna Vilner
  • An excerpt from Maha Hassan’s memoir, “In Anne Frank’s House,” translated by Addie Leak from Arabic.

Explore these special portfolios of literature in translation in our print issues:

• Each spring The Common features a portfolio of contemporary Arabic fiction in translation; explore stories from Jordan (Issue 15); Syria (Issue 17); Sudan (Issue 19); Morocco (Issue 21); Palestine (Issue 23); Kuwait (Issue 25); Chad, South Sudan, and Eritrea (Issue 27); and Amman, Jordan (Issue 29), as well as Issue 11, entirely dedicated to fiction from across the Arab world.
  
• Issue 28’s Portfolio: Contemporary Writing by Catalan Women spotlights the work of three poets and includes many short stories, all translated from Catalan.
  
• Issue 26’s portfolio: Writing & Art from the Farmworker Community features short fiction, poetry, and essays, many of which are presented in the original Spanish alongside an English translation.

• Issue 20’s portfolio: Writing from the Lusosphere, features numerous poems, essays, and short fiction translated from the Portuguese.

• Issue 16’s portfolio: De Puerto Rico: Un año después de la tormenta (From Puerto Rico: One Year After the Storm) features poems, essays, and short stories, many in translation from Spanish and some presented bilingually.

Classroom Resources:

Literary Translation: Readings, Interviews, and Resources, including selections to accompany our Arabic fiction portfolios

Sample Lesson Plan: Living with an Author and a Translator

Image courtesy of Pexels user Carolina Grabowska.