Fiction in translation
Jon Fosse wins The Nobel Prize in Literature 2023
The Nobel Prize in Literature 2023 has been awarded to the Norwegian author Jon Fosse.
The Swedish Academy awarded Fosse the prize 'for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable'.
His immense oeuvre written in Norwegian Nynorsk and spanning a variety of genres consists of a wealth of plays, novels, poetry collections, essays, children’s books and translations. While he is today one of the most widely performed playwrights in the world, he has also become increasingly…
A spotlight on translated fiction this month
This month we're reading fiction translated from Japanese, Korean, German and Chinese.
Before We Say Goodbye by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (translated from Japanese by Geoffrey Trousselot)
Toshikazu Kawaguchi's poignant Before We Say Goodbye explores the age-old question: what would you do if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?
The regulars at the magical Cafe Funiculi Funicula are well acquainted with its famous legend and extraordinary, secret menu time…
Thoughts on translated fiction from a member of our Teen Advisory Board
by Scarlett, Teen Advisory Board memberScarlett from our Teen Advisory Board discusses (and recommends!) fiction in translation.
One of my favourite genres is translated literature! It provides fresh perspectives, from all around the world, on issues individuals and society are facing. This gives readers like me a more holistic view of the world they live in and expands our perspective of humanity.
As a child, I grew up learning from my Mum the struggles she had to endure from escaping an unsafe home country, but…
A spotlight on translated fiction this month
This month we're reading fiction translated from German, Swedish, Japanese, Korean and Spanish!
Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck (translated from German by Michael Hofmann)
Berlin. 11 July 1986. They meet by chance on a bus. She is a young student, he is older and married. Theirs is an intense and sudden attraction, fuelled by a shared passion for music and art, and heightened by the secrecy they must maintain. But when she strays for a single night he cannot forgive her…
A spotlight on translated fiction this month
This month we're reading novels translated from Spanish, Danish and Japanese.
Cousins by Aurora Venturini (translated from Spanish by Kit Maude)
At the age of 85, Aurora Venturini stunned Argentine readers when her darkly funny and formally daring novel, Cousins, won Pagina/12’s New Novel Award. She had already written more than thirty books – but it was only then, in 2007, that she was widely recognized as a radical voice in Spanish-language literature.
Widely regarded as Venturini’s masterpiece, Cousins…
These books have something in common
It's satisying to find the common threads that tie books together, especially if they're not immediately apparent from the titles. This list of books has one thing in common – can you figure it out?
You'll find the answer at the bottom of the list.
Honeybees and Distant Thunder by Riku Onda, Philip Gabriel (trans.)
In a small coastal town just a stone’s throw from Tokyo, a prestigious piano competiton is underway. Over the course of two feverish weeks, three…
A spotlight on translated fiction this month
This month we're reading novels translated from German, Korean, Japanese and Bulgarian.
The Fire by Daniela Krien (translated from German by Jamie Bulloch)
How can two lovers find a way back to each other, when the pain of the past stands between them? With plans adrift after a fire burns down their rented holiday cabin, Rahel and Peter find themselves unexpectedly on an isolated farm where Rahel spent many a happy childhood summer. Suddenly, after years of navigating careers, demanding…
A spotlight on translated fiction this month
This month we're reading novels translated from Japanese, Chinese, German and Italian.
Honeybees and Distant Thunder by Riku Onda (translated from Japanese by Philip Gabriel)
In a small coastal town just a stone’s throw from Tokyo, a prestigious piano competiton is underway. Over the course of two feverish weeks, three students will experience some of the most joyous – and painful – moments of their lives. Though they don’t know it yet, each will profoundly and unpredictably change the others…
The 2023 International Booker Prize shortlist
The International Booker Prize has revealed the shortlist of six novels in contention for the 2023 prize, which celebrates the finest works of translated fiction from around the world.
The prize is awarded every year for a single book that is translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland. It aims to encourage more publishing and reading of quality works of imagination from all over the world, and to give greater recognition to the role of translators.The contribution…
A spotlight on translated fiction this month
This month we’re reading novels translated from Dutch, Spanish, Korean and Hungarian.
What I’d Rather Not Think About by Jente Posthuma (translated from Dutch by Sarah Timmer Harvey)
What if one half of a pair of twins no longer wants to live? What if the other can’t live without them?
This question lies at the heart of Jente Posthuma’s deceptively simple What I’d Rather Not Think About. The narrator is a twin whose brother has recently taken his own…
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