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Book cover of Bathhouse and Other Tanka by Tatsuhiko Ishii, translated by Hiroaki Sato

The Rustling of a Life: A Review of Tatsuhiko Ishii’s "Bathhouse and Other Tanka"

“I will take these poems' clatters and failures, if it means I can have their light,” writes critic Ricardo Frasso Jaramillo.
A photograph of Bornholm's rocky seashore and cliff
Photo by Julia Caesar on Unsplash
Sandvig Beach
By Hubert Klimko-Dobrzaniecki
A fraught parent-child relationship emerges in this excerpt from Hubert Klimko-Dobrzaniecki’s novel Bornholm, Bornholm, in which a middle-aged man speaks to his comatose mother about their visits to the beach during his childhood.
Translated from Polish by Jonathan Baines
Multilingual
A painting of a street scene in sixteenth-century Lisbon
Chafariz d’el Rey, c. 1570-80, Anonymous Flemish painting, in the Berardo collection, Lisbon, Portugal
A Majestic Knight Rides Past
By Joaquim Arena
Cape Verdean writer Joaquim Arena paints a picture of the life of Afro-Portuguese nobleman João de Sá Panasco in this excerpt from his memoir-history hybrid Under Our Skin, out now from Unnamed Press.
Translated from Portuguese by Jethro Soutar
Read the World
Travel through Literature
Tony Webster from Portland, Oregon, United States, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

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Words Without Borders in the News
By Words Without Borders
Read coverage of WWB in the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and more.
A tile cover of the books in the November Watchlist: Pedro and Marques Take Stock, Strangers in...
The Watchlist: November 2023
By Tobias Carroll
New this month: Tobias Carroll recommends eco-dystopia, a modern picaresque, innovative autofiction, and more, translated from Arabic, Armenian, Hebrew, Italian, Korean, and Portuguese.

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Nobel Prize Winners
Fiction
Nonfiction
Poetry
Drama
Graphic Literature
Contributors
Nobel Prize Winners
Fiction
Nonfiction
Poetry
Drama
Graphic Literature
Contributors

learning with global literature

WWB Campus connects students and educators to eye-opening global literature
A rebozo photographed in black and white.

By Mónica Morales. License: CC by 2.0 Access at: https://flic.kr/p/rP5TJ

Purépecha Mother
By Gilberto Jerónimo Mateo
This poem from an indigenous Purépecha author celebrates the heroism of a seemingly ordinary woman.
Translated from Spanish by Earl Shorris & Sylvia Sasson Shorris
Learn
A white chick.
Photo by Osman Kahraman on Unsplash.
It’s a Chick, Not a Dog
By Jar al-Nabi al-Hilw
My mother knew he was walking after her. Almost certainly she knew. Do you want me to tell you why?
Translated from Arabic by Marilyn Booth
Learn
L Blog Post Dominican Self Portrait Graffiti Featured Image
A Dominican “Self-Portrait” to Inspire Students’ Self-Reflections
By Nadia Kalman
Which experiences have a greater influence on us—our successes, or the times when we've been hurt?
Find global literature and multimedia learning resources for your students.
Search Learning Resources

REGISTER TO ACCESS hundreds of teaching ideas, discussion questions, and assignment prompts.
DISCOVER MORE about the WWB Learn program.

Featured Collections

The Center of the World: Writing from Cabo Verde
Image: Hélder Paz Monteiro, (in)ver(tido) reflexo, 2018. Courtesy of the artist.
See-the-Sea
By Dina Salústio
Are all of us accidents wandering through other people’s lives?
Translated from Portuguese by Nina Perrotta
On Beginnings
By Filinto Elísio
Translated from Portuguese by Jethro Soutar
Multilingual
A Form of African Identity
By Germano Almeida
Translated from Portuguese by Stephen Henighan
Browse the Collection
Nobel Laureates
Adam Baker, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
From “Night Sings Its Songs”
By Jon Fosse
Leading Norwegian playwright and winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature Jon Fosse takes us deep into one fateful night where a young couple tries to reconnect.
Translated from Norwegian by Sarah Cameron Sunde
Ognosia
By Olga Tokarczuk
Translated from Polish by Jennifer Croft
The Toughest Guy in Utouf
By Naguib Mahfouz
Translated from Arabic by Raymond Stock
Browse the Collection
The Indigenous Writing Project: Contemporary Guaraní Poetry
Osvaldo Pitoe. Untitled (2020). Ink on paper.
Ñe’ ẽ: An Introduction to Contemporary Guaraní Poetry
By Elisa Taber
A real work of Amerindian literature makes perceptible another way of ordering and being in the world.
Dawn
By Miguelángel Meza
Translated from Guaraní by Tracy K. Lewis & Miguelángel Meza
MultimediaMultilingual
My Fire
By Alba Eiragi Duarte
Translated from Guaraní by Tracy K. Lewis & Alba Eiragi Duarte
MultimediaMultilingual
Browse the Collection
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Featured Contributors

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Portrait of writer and translator Jhumpa Lahiri
Jhumpa Lahiri

Jhumpa Lahiri is a Pulitzer Prize–winning writer and translator.

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A portrait of translator Anton Hur
Anton Hur

Anton Hur has received PEN Translates and PEN/Heim grants.

MORE
Portrait of Geetanjali Shree
Geetanjali Shree

Geetanjali Shree is the author of five novels and several story collections.

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Portrait of author Jokha Alharthi
Jokha Alharthi

Jokha Alharthi received the 2019 International Booker Prize.

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Portrait of translator Damion Searls
Damion Searls

Damion Searls is an award-winning translator.

MORE
Portrait of writer and translator Jhumpa Lahiri
Jhumpa Lahiri

Jhumpa Lahiri is a Pulitzer Prize–winning writer and translator.

MORE
A portrait of translator Anton Hur
Anton Hur

Anton Hur has received PEN Translates and PEN/Heim grants.

MORE
Portrait of Geetanjali Shree
Geetanjali Shree

Geetanjali Shree is the author of five novels and several story collections.

MORE
Portrait of author Jokha Alharthi
Jokha Alharthi

Jokha Alharthi received the 2019 International Booker Prize.

MORE
Portrait of translator Damion Searls
Damion Searls

Damion Searls is an award-winning translator.

MORE

Book Reviews

See All
Book cover of Bathhouse and Other Tanka by Tatsuhiko Ishii, translated by Hiroaki Sato
The Rustling of a Life: A Review of Tatsuhiko Ishii’s “Bathhouse and Other Tanka”
By Ricardo Frasso Jaramillo
The cover of Marshland by Otohiko Kaga, translated from Japanese by Albert Novick
Otohiko Kaga’s “Marshland”: Repetition as Strength
By Jack Rockwell
The cover of Lies and Sorcery by Elsa Morante, translated by Jenny McPhee
Elsa Morante’s “Lies and Sorcery”: Lost in Family Lexicon
By Brianna Di Monda
Book cover of Bathhouse and Other Tanka by Tatsuhiko Ishii, translated by Hiroaki Sato
The Rustling of a Life: A Review of Tatsuhiko Ishii’s “Bathhouse and Other Tanka”
By Ricardo Frasso Jaramillo
The cover of Marshland by Otohiko Kaga, translated from Japanese by Albert Novick
Otohiko Kaga’s “Marshland”: Repetition as Strength
By Jack Rockwell
The cover of Lies and Sorcery by Elsa Morante, translated by Jenny McPhee
Elsa Morante’s “Lies and Sorcery”: Lost in Family Lexicon
By Brianna Di Monda