When I wrote my round-up of 2020, I had no idea that 2021 would be another year of restrictions and adaptations. I haven’t read as much as I’d have liked to this year, and I leave 2021 with several unread… Continue Reading
Translated from Spanish (Argentina) by Annie McDermott (Charco Press, 2021) Brickmakers is the second in Selva Almada’s “trilogy of men”, and was recently released by Charco Press. The first in the trilogy was the magnificent The Wind That Lays Waste… Continue Reading
Translated from French by Tina Kover (Europa Editions, 2021) No Touching is a story of everyday drudgery and unexpected empowerment, dealing with questions of female agency, desire in all its forms, and the extent to which self-worth comes from the… Continue Reading
Translated from German by Abigail Wender (The Bureau of Past Management) and Katy Derbyshire (Madgermanes), V&Q Books, 2021 The autumn V&Q offering includes two excellent books by women, one that deals with inherited guilt from the Nazi era and the… Continue Reading
Translated from Danish by Jennifer Russell (Lolli Editions, 2021) The Dolls is a collection of four stories, all populated with estranged or exiled characters navigating surreal situations. Each story invites us into an uncomfortable world and gives few clues about… Continue Reading
Translated from Swedish by Deborah Bragan-Turner (MacLehose Press, 2021) Buckle up and brace yourself, because The Antarctica of Love is an excellent book, but a devastating one. It is narrated by Inni, a woman who has been savagely murdered, and… Continue Reading
Les Fugitives, 2021 No. 91/92: notes on a Parisian commute is the first book Les Fugitives have released that wasn’t originally written in French. It is, though, steeped in both the language and the context: Lauren Elkin explores Paris in… Continue Reading
August has come and gone, and with it another Women in Translation month. Instigated by Meytal Radzinski in 2014 to encourage more people to read women’s writing in translation, Women in Translation month has grown in both reach and momentum… Continue Reading
Translated from Spanish (Argentina) by Frances Riddle (Charco Press, 2021) This is the Charco book I was most looking forward to this year (and, if you know my love of Charco Press, you’ll know this is no idle hyperbole). Elena… Continue Reading
Translated from French by Mark Hutchinson (Les Fugitives, 2021) After publishing the uniquely provocative exploration of unconventional sexuality The Governesses in 2019, Les Fugitives return with another collaboration between Anne Serre and Mark Hutchinson: The Fool and Other Moral Tales.… Continue Reading