What We’re Reading This Summer
It’s that time of year. No, not that That Time of Year. It’s summer, season of mixtapes, sunscreen, and overly ambitious reading plans. On that last point, we’ve definitely got ’em. Scroll down to see what books we here at the Center for the Art of Translation plan to dig into to the steady tune of the a/c’s humming.
Erin Branagan, Communications & Development Director
Beside Myself by Sasha Marianna Salzmann, translated by Imogen Taylor (Other Press)
“This was one of the books in my indie bookstore care package around the holidays and I am determined to get to it this summer! Written by a German author, it focuses on four generations of a Turkish family and travels between Germany and Turkey and explores the idea of identity and belonging.”
Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich, translated by Bela Shayevich (Random House)
“Ever since we hosted an event a few years ago with Bela Shayevich I’ve had Secondhand Time and Voices from Chernobyl (translated by Keith Gessen) in the back of my mind. I love the descriptions of Alexievich’s method of converting hundreds of hours of interviews into a coherent storyline, whether it’s about the infamous accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant or an oral history of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. And I appreciate that she often focuses on women’s stories as integral to our understanding of history. Not exactly a typical beach read, but I’m looking forward to it.”
CJ Evans, Editorial Director
études by Friederike Mayröcker, translated by Donna Stonecipher (Seagull Editions)
“I’m writing this just a couple of days after the death of the Austrian poet Friederike Mayröcker—I loved her book Scardanelli(opens in a new tab), translated by Jonathan Larson, which is packed with big thoughts and people and objects and breaks every rule but still leads the reader so gently along with its incredible, friendly voice. I’m now planning to read the rest of her books available in English, starting with études, translated by Donna Stonecipher. I hope a lot more of her work finds its way to English soon.”
Purgatorio by Dante Alighieri, translated by Mary Jo Bang (Graywolf Press)
“Mary Jo Bang’s translation of Dante’s Inferno(opens in a new tab) brought back (or brought up-to-date) the fun of that classic, the biting playfulness of it, but without sacrificing the poetry. I’m really excited for her Purgatorio, coming in July, which feels to me—perhaps oddly, but I make no apologies—like the perfect post-pandemic beach read.”
Chad Felix, Sales & Marketing Manager
Peach Blossom Paradise by Ge Fei, translated by Canaan Morse (NYRB Classics)
“I wandered bright eyed through the first installment of contemporary Chinese writer Ge Fei’s historical trilogy just last month. It immediately became an all-time favorite. A contemplative but plot-driven novel rooted in a fascinating moment in Chinese history (but never reliant upon the reader’s knowledge of those particulars), Peach Blossom Paradise is a coming-of-age story steeped in the promise of youth, scholarship, and revolutionary politics, coaxed into levitation by Ge’s and Morse’s luminous renderings of the meditative powers of poetry, gardening, madness, and the passing of time. Highly recommended for fans of Eka Kurniawan, Victor Serge, and Anna Seghers.”
Kin by Miljenko Jergović, translated by Russell Scott Valentino (Archipelago Books)
“Speaking of historical novels (’tis the season?), I’ve just received in the mail my copy of Miljenko Jergović‘s Kin, a much-anticipated doorstop ‘ode to Yugoslavia’ built out of everyday items like beekeeping journals and wartime lighters and jackets, as well as gossipy and historical anecdotes. With promising section titles such as ‘The Mushroom Prayer; or The Use of Learning’ and ‘For the Love of Your Goddamn Mother,’ I’m straining to imagine not savoring every single one of its 877 pages. I suspect (and hope) it lands somewhere in between Daša Drndić’s Trieste and my favorite novel, Wiesław Myśliwski’s Stone Upon Stone(opens in a new tab).”
Michael Holtmann, Executive Director & Publisher
Pessoa: A Biography by Richard Zenith (Liveright)
“The first translations of Fernando Pessoa I ever read were by Richard Zenith, so I am eagerly awaiting Zenith’s massive and massively ambitious forthcoming book, Pessoa: A Biography.”
Imagine Us, The Swarm by Muriel Leung (Nightboat Books)
“I’m also looking forward to reading Muriel Leung’s Imagine Us, The Swarm. I’m drawn to Leung’s lyric voice and this collection that ‘contemplates vengeance, eschews forgiveness, and cultivates a desire for healing beyond the reaches of this present life.’”
Kelsey McFaul, Public Fellow
River by Esther Kinsky, translated by Iain Galbraith (Transit Books)
“A woman moves to a London suburb and takes long, solitary walks along the River Lea, writing of her surroundings, the people and objects she encounters, and the other rivers of her memory. Often compared to Sebald, this meandering novel feels like a perfect refreshing breeze for the hot summer months.”
Malambo by Lucía Charún-Illescas, translated by Emmanuel Harris II (Swan Isle Press)
“Also set along a river, this one in Peru, Malambo is the story of a Yoruba painter whose artwork transforms him into a griot for indigenous and Black diaspora communities in the Spanish colony. I was surprised to learn that the historical novel—Charún-Illescas’s debut—is the first work of fiction by an Afro-Peruvian woman and one of the very few Afro-Hispanic novels translated into English.”
Jessica Sevey, Managing Editor
When the Whales Leave by Yuri Rytkheu, translated by Ilona Yazhbin Chavasse (Milkweed Editions)
“Set in Siberia, this mystical, poetic novel brings to life the origin story of the Chukchi people and their relationship to their environment. Relevant to the times in which we live, this book reminds us of the beauty of life around us and the importance of our physical and spiritual connection with the natural world.”
On Time and Water by Andri Snær Magnason, translated by Lytton Smith (Open Letter Books)
“I look forward to being inspired by this work of narrative nonfiction that takes on the topic of climate change. As Magnason states in his first chapter, ‘When it comes to discussing issues that affect all water on Earth, all Earth’s surface, the planet’s entire atmosphere, the issue’s enormity absorbs all meaning. The only way to write about the subject is to go past it, to the side, below it, into the past and the future, to be personal and also scientific and to use mythological language.’”
Winona Wagner, Business Manager
Migratory Birds by Mariana Oliver, translated by Julia Sanches (Transit Books)
“I can’t wait to read Mariana Oliver’s collection of essays, Migratory Birds, translated by Julia Sanches. After the long pause that Covid forced upon the world, I am looking forward to reading about movement, migration, and travel as the world slowly opens and I begin to move a little more. After such a long time staying still, it will feel fitting to tuck this book into my travel bag.”
