Congratulations to Anjet Daanje and David McKay for winning the Republic of Consciousness Prize! If you're interested in learning about the translation process for THE REMEMBERED SOLDIER, click here: wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...
If you're in Berlin and looking for something to do, check out this event featuring WWB contributor and Booker Prize winner Geetanjali Shree and @grantamag.bsky.social's editor Thomas Meaney.
You can read her work on our website: wordswithoutborders.org/contributors...
#WomanLifeFreedom, published by @wwborders.bsky.social & on our #WomensHistoryMonth list, is “an attempt to create a space for the voices of Iranians who are using their words and their art to document these days as well as protest and fight the system.” wordswithoutborders.org/read/collect...
Grief connects two strangers in Fatema Kay’s "My Khaterah Is No More,” translated from Dari by Zubair Popalzai:
Current events have again pushed Ukraine off the front pages, but for @wwborders.bsky.social I wrote about Ukrainian author and current enlistee Artem Chapeye’s novel THE WEATHERING, trans. by Daisy Gibbons. Among its many timely themes is humanity’s destructive compulsion to always have an enemy.
We're so excited for NOW WE SURRENDER! Álvaro Enrigue is one of our wonderful contributors. Click below and you can read his work for free.
wordswithoutborders.org/contributors...
As a horrified community looks on, a mentally disabled young man squares off against the Taliban. Read Zahedeh’s “Where is Musa?” translated from Dari by Zubair Popalzai: buff.ly/Q9IMsxZ
An image of the author photos for Elahe, Fatema Kay, and Zahedeh to the left of black text that reads: International Women’s Day, Elahe, Fatema Kay, and Zahedeh, In celebration of International Women’s Day, we’re spotlighting the three Afghan women writers in our latest issue. These stories were developed through Paranda, a global initiative from Untold Narratives to connect and amplify the voices of women writers from Afghanistan and those in the diaspora.
Happy International Women’s Day! This year we’re highlighting three Afghan women writers who have courageously used their voices to speak about the conflict in Afghanistan. Check them out in our latest issue, “Afghan Women’s Writing from Untold Narratives”: wordswithoutborders.org/read/collect...
An image of Sawmill (1825) by Théodore Rousseau, overlaid in white text it reads: from the archive: Poetry, A Splinter by Ewa Lipska, translated from Polish by Robin Davidson & Ewa Elżbieta Nowakowska, “Problems begin with a splinter lodged in memory. It is hard to remove it much harder to describe.”
Whittle down your archive reading with Ewa Lipska’s 2007 poem “A Splinter” (tr. Robin Davidson & Ewa Elżbieta Nowakowska). Lipska compares the art of poetry to carpentry, questioning the barriers that prevent us from depicting our experiences. Read it here: wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...
Happy AWP!
What are you reading this weekend?
Orlanda by Jacqueline Harpman!
A rebellious girl finds herself turned over to the Taliban by her own uncle. Read “The Gun Thief” by Elahe, translated from Persian by Zubair Popalzai, here: buff.ly/8qScpAd
Don't miss this outstanding celebration on March 16th!
An image of a hand lifting dirt from the earth, overlaid in white text it reads: “She keeps speaking. ‘I wish the Angel of Death had asked me first: ‘Shall I take your life or your son’s?’ I swear on the soil I would have said, ‘Mine.’ But what’s done is done. He died, his new bride became a widow. Only two months ago, our home was filled with music and joy. Now it’s all in mourning black. No one speaks. Everywhere I go, I hear his laughter, or I think I hear someone calling me.’” Afghan Women’s Writing from Untold Narratives, My Khaterah Is No More, By Fatema Kay, translated from Dari by Zubair Popalzai.
New on WWB: Fatema Kay’s poignant story about two women finding strength in each other following the loss of their loved ones. Translated from Dari by Zubair Popalzai, read “My Khaterah is No More” here: wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...
‘With sumptuous food writing, laugh-out-loud dialogue and metafictional twists, this novel was impossible to put down.’
– #InternationalBooker2026 judges
Out today in UK and Europe, the International @thebookerprizes.com longlisted Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ (tr. Lin King)🍜
We're at AWP26, and we can't wait for this party to get started!
Join us at our first sponsored event at AWP, "Collaborative Translation: Creativity & Practice" starting at 9am! Feat. Cynthia Hogue, Katie Farris, Mary Jo Bang, Nancy Naomi Carlson, Khaled Mattawa
Such a great opportunity!
We'll be reading this on our lunch break!
An image of a candlestick blown out, overlaid in white text it reads: Many Voices: A Life in Translation by Suzanne Jill Levine. “And so the first message I was imparting as a translator/co-author was quite self-reflective: A writer must explore what is not said. She must become an interpreter, a translator, must look through what is said to see the secret design.” from the archive: nonfiction
"Many Voices: A Life in Translation" is a nonfiction essay from our archives about Suzanne Jill Levine’s experience as a translator. From Silvina Ocampo to Jorge Luis Borges, Levine explores how collaboration shapes literary life.
Read it here: wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...
An open door to a building with the sky in the background in Afghanistan, overlaid in white text it reads: “ Nad-Ali lifted his hands to shoulder height in a gesture of approval. Musa pointed the rifle toward the sky, his finger on the trigger, a mocking smile on his lips, as if to say: This isn’t the same Musa who, under the rod, would coil himself tightly like a snake, twisting again and again to snatch it away—and fail.” Afghan Women’s Writing from Untold Narratives, Where is Musa? By Zahedeh, translated from Dari by Zubair Popalzai
A mentally disabled young man’s defiance of the Taliban illuminates the cruelty enacted upon—and by—his village. Read Zahedeh’s “Where Is Musa?” (tr. Zubair Popalzai): wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...
An image of a bonfire at night, overlaid in white text it reads: “Now Zarmina runs with all her might to put distance between herself and Uncle Osman. Uncle Osman shoots a bullet. As the bullet makes its journey into the sky, it turns into a large fishing net, unfurling, and lands across her. Uncle Osman runs toward the net as she flips back and forth beneath it—like a fish out of water.” The Gun Thief By Elahe, translated from Persian by Zubair Popalzai Afghan Women’s Writing from Untold Narratives.
Read “The Gun Thief” by Elahe (tr. Zubair Popalzai) from our newest issue, “Afghan Women’s Writing from Untold Narratives.” This story follows a young girl named Zarmina as she defies, then flees her Taliban uncle: wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...
Wondering where to start with the International Booker Prize 2026 longlist? Maybe we can help. 😈
From gripping page-turners to sweeping epics, books that will make you cry or ones that restore your faith in humanity, the longlist has it all. Take our quiz to find your perfect match. ⤵️
👀
Tobias Carroll reads more books in translation than anyone we know. This month, he recommends six exciting new titles from around the world. Read The February Watchlist here: buff.ly/gxN7jv9
A brilliant essay on Lydia Davis out from the @lrb.co.uk. As a reminder— Davis is also a wonderful translator! We spoke with her in 2016 about translating the classics. Read it here: wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...
Skip your morning playlist and listen to New Caledonian poet Paul Wamo read his poetry!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5kb...
Translated by Jean Anderson here: wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...
a hand spread wide in the dark is / splattered with light
“In its verisimilitude, CITY LIKE WATER reads more like a series of parabolic anecdotes than a sustained historical allegory,” writes critic Michelle Chan Schmidt. Read her review here: wordswithoutborders.org/book-reviews...
An image of a bustling urban market at night, overlaid in white text it reads: from the archive: Poetry Cloth Birds By Dorothy Tse, translated from Chinese by Natascha Bruce “a routine inspection into the cleanliness of laughter a hand spread wide in the dark is splattered with light a carambola tree sprouts branches from stumps its remaining fruits sour and shriveled to stardust swaying in the void”
Read “Cloth Birds” by Dorothy Tse, (tr. Natascha Bruce). A winner of the 2019 WWB—Academy of American Poets Poems in Translation contest, this poem transforms the scene of the urban market into a site of imagination. To read the full poem click here: wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...
