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Contributor

the Editors

Contributor

the Editors

Susan Harris is the editorial director of Words Without Borders. With Ilya Kaminsky, she coedited The Ecco Anthology of International Poetry.

Eric M. B. Becker is digital director and senior editor of Words Without Borders. He is also an award-winning translator of Portuguese-language literature.

Nina Perrotta is an editor at Words Without Borders.

Articles by the Editors

Left, author Shariar Mandanipour; right, translator Sara Khalili
Left, Shariar Mandanipour, photo © Danial Mondanipour; right, Sara Khalili, photo © Miriam Berkley
The National Book Award Interviews: Shahriar Mandanipour and Sara Khalili
By the Editors
“There have been times when we have spent hours discussing a single phrase and how to give it the same life and soul in English.”
Left: Mohammed Hasan Alwan; Right: William M. Hutchins
The National Book Award Interviews: Mohammed Hasan Alwan & William M. Hutchins
By the Editors
I thought he was in search for something meaningful and, thus, he was exposing himself to conditions he hoped would light the way for a coming revelation.
Portraits of Jon Fosse and Damion Searls
Left: Jon Fosse, photo by Tom Kolstad Samlaget; Right: Damion Searls, photo by Beowulf Sheehan
The National Book Award Interviews: Jon Fosse & Damion Searls
By the Editors
“To me writing is an act of listening. And if I am writing well then what I write will necessarily be new to me as well. Writing is a journey into the unknown.”
Portraits of Yoko Tawada and Margaret Mitsutani
The National Book Award Interviews: Yoko Tawada & Margaret Mitsutani
By the Editors
We’re living in a world where both languages and people are constantly in flux. In this novel, I wanted to focus on a small group of people making their way through that world.
Portraits of Mónica Ojeda and Sarah Booker
The National Book Award Interviews: Mónica Ojeda & Sarah Booker
By the Editors
I always say to myself that Jawbone came to me as a nightmare, a vision full of fear and desire, but I really can’t remember how it started.
Portraits of Samanta Schweblin and Megan McDowell
Left: Samanta Schweblin, photo by Alejandra Lopez; Right: Megan McDowell, photo by Camila Valdés
The National Book Award Interviews: Samanta Schweblin & Megan McDowell
By the Editors
I’m always a little amazed at the subtlety of Samanta’s language, how much she can convey in so few words—that hasn’t changed over all the books of hers I’ve translated.
At left face of French language translator Mark Polizzotti and at right face of French Rwandan...
The National Book Award Interviews: Scholastique Mukasonga & Mark Polizzotti
By the Editors
“One thing that makes 'Kibogo' such a compelling work is the critical distance it maintains from all the power structures it describes.”
Portraits of Olga Ravn and Martin Aitken
Left: Olga Ravn, photo credit: Lærke Posselt; Right: Martin Aitken
The National Book Award Interviews: Olga Ravn & Martin Aitken
By the Editors
I think my task was less linguistic than it was a matter of representing the environment in my mind and sensing its moods emotionally, entering that strange atmosphere so it could seep through into the translation.
Portraits of Saša Stanišić and Damion Searls
Left: Saša Stanišić, photo by Katja Sämann; Right: Damion Searls, photo by Beowulf Sheehan
The National Book Award Interviews: Saša Stanišić & Damion Searls
By the Editors
I started working on [the book] in 2016 when my grandmother was showing the first serious signs of dementia. I wanted to create an archive of sorts, in which her life was told in stories.
Portraits of Bibiana Mas and Aina Marti
Bibiana Mas (left); Aina Marti
An Interview with Two New Publishers of Women in Translation
By the Editors
I thought I could create a space for sharing women’s global experiences through literary fiction. 
Woman reading book with bookshelves and colorful book spines behind her
The New Words Without Borders: The Future of Reading the World
By the Editors
Nearing its twentieth anniversary, the premier publication for international literature reimagines what is to come.
The 2016 Best of the Blog: Women in Translation, Interviews with Award Winners, and more
By the Editors
Before the year is out, catch some of our most-read WWB Daily articles of 2016, including interviews with award-winning writers and translators, international women writers to add to your reading…
Our Favorite International Reads from 2016 (and What We’ll Be Reading in 2017)
By the Editors
As the year draws to a close, our team, board members, and friends of WWB select favorite works-in-translation of 2016 and look ahead to the exciting reads forthcoming in 2017. Eric M. B. BeckerEditorIn…
In Memoriam: Gregory Rabassa, 1922–2016
By the Editors
Image: Earl Fitz with Gregory Rabassa. Photo courtesy of Ezra E. Fitz.The great translator Gregory Rabassa died June 13 at ninety-four. You can read an excerpt from his memoir, If This…
Help WWB Inspire Global Readers
By the Editors
June 6–17, Words Without Borders is raising support for its new online education program, WWB Campus, with a crowdfunding campaign to #InspireGlobalReaders. Find out more about WWB Campus and…
From the Contributor: fs, Poet and DJ
By the Editors
You already know that October issue contributor fs is a poet. (You can find his poem “[i wish there was a god]” from this month's issue of Estonian literature here.) What you may not have…
As It Happened: Translation at the Brooklyn Book Festival
By the Editors
This year's Brooklyn Book Festival feature two presentations by the PEN Translation Committee of the PEN American Center in New York. If you couldn't make it, fear not: Words without Borders was…
WWB’s Holiday Reading List
By the Editors
hr {margin:4em 0;background-color:white;}Still looking for the perfect gift for your international literature-loving friends and family? Let WWB's editors, reviewers, and contributors help!Susan HarrisThe…
WWB Celebrates Its 2014 Gala and the First Annual Globe Trot
By the Editors
The 2014 Words without Borders Gala Join us for the 2014 Words without Borders Gala on October 28, 2014 at Tribeca Three Sixty. We will honor Carol Brown Janeway with the 2014 Ottaway Award for the…
WWB’s Holiday Reading List
By the Editors
Having a hard time choosing between all the great books in translation available this time of year? Let WWB's staff, reviewers, and contributors guide you through the best books in translation we…
From the Editors: On “Words without Borders: The Best of the First Ten Years”
By the Editors
As part of our ongoing celebration of our ten-year anniversary, we're delighted to share this behind-the-scenes look into the making of our tenth-anniversary e-anthology Words without Borders:…
Join WWB for its Tenth Anniversary Gala
By the Editors
Words without Borders invites our readers to join us for our Tenth Anniversary Gala on October 29, 2013 from 6-9 PM, at Tribeca Three Sixty in New York City. Ticket information can be found on our…
We Have a New Executive Director!
By the Editors
We’re pleased to welcome Karen Phillips as the new executive director of Words without Borders. She joined us in late September and has hit the ground running with preparations for our upcoming…
Day Three at the London Book Fair
By the Editors
The highlight of the third and final day at the Literary Translation Center was a conversation among poets, editors, and translators about an exciting new book of contemporary Chinese poetry.  The…
Day Two at the London Book Fair
By the Editors
The London Book Fair runs from April 16-April 18, and WWB brings it to you from the Literary Translation Centre, a seminar dedicated to all aspects of literary translation.  Follow us each day…
Day One at the London Book Fair
By the Editors
The London Book Fair runs from April 16-April 18, and WWB brings it to you from the Literary Translation Centre, a seminar dedicated to all aspects of literary translation.  Follow us each day on…
From the London Book Fair, Day 3
By the Editors
In a morning session at today’s London Book Fair, Daniel Hahn asked a group of translators and translation advocates what it is exactly that makes a good translator. An “open-ended and impossible”…
From the London Book Fair: Myths and Myth-busting
By the Editors
Some welcome myth-busting about translation today at day two of the Literary Translation Center.  During the opening session, called “Translation Intelligence: Surveys, Reports, Statistics—What’s…
From the London Book Fair–Translations and Liquidity: Crises and Capital
By the Editors
The first day of the Literary Translation Center at the London Book Fair has first and foremost been about asking questions.  This is because one of the organizing themes of the day—and a refrain…
Statement of Intent, by Georges Perec
By the Editors
When I attempt to state what I have tried to do as a writer since I began, what occurs to me first of all is that I have never written two books of the same kind, or ever wanted to reuse a formula, or…
Weekend Reading
By the Editors
“Witness to war: Evelio Rosero on fiction that fights for the truth” on Rosero’s win of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for The Armies, translated from the Spanish by Anne McLean:As…
Weekend Reading: Nawal El Saadawi, Lynne Tillman, and more…
By the Editors
This week’s weekend reading starts with some pieces from the PEN Website where we’ve been spending a lot of time recently gearing up for the PEN World Voices Festival.———————-Nawal…
Weekend Reading
By the Editors
Where we share some of what we’re reading around the net…Enjoy———————-Interview with Daniel Alarcón at La Bloga on the recent Latin American…
Say No to Metro Confiscation and Trial
By the Editors
Say No to “Metro” ConfiscationLast year we published an excerpt from Magdy El Shafee’s Metro, an Arabic graphic novel set in Cairo that deals with the financial and social insecurity…
Resources for Further Reading (and viewing) on Etgar Keret
By the Editors
As a last post in this month's Etgar Keret discussion, we've included some links below for more information on Etgar Keret, his other projects, and also upcoming events (New Yorkers, check out…
Blogging about Graphics in February
By the Editors
As part of our third annual Graphic Novels issue, we’ll be featuring blog posts on the art, inspiration, histories and technical details behind the most exciting graphic narratives out there. All…
For Translators—Vermont Studio Center Deadlines
By the Editors
For all our translator-readers, the Vermont Studio Center has listed the fellowships available as part of its upcoming February 17 application deadline. For more details on the fellowships, application…
“The Literature of Immigration” at FLYP
By the Editors
FLYP takes a look at the “Literature of Immigration” in its latest issue and features short interviews with the participants at the WWB- and Americas Society-sponsored event at the Americas…
Online Book Club for “The Diving Pool” by Yoko Ogawa
By the Editors
This January, we kick off the year in book clubs with an online discussion of Yoko Ogawa’s Diving Pool. Ogawa is one of contemporary Japan’s most celebrated authors, and her collection of…
Ilya Kaminsky Awarded Lannan Literary Fellowship
By the Editors
Ilya Kaminsky, poetry editor at Words Without Borders, has been awarded a two-year literary fellowship by the Lannan Foundation. From their website: The Lannan Literary Awards and Fellowships were established…
Le Clezio wins Nobel
By the Editors
In a decision that none of our in-house bookmakers called, French author J. M. G. Le Clezio has won this year’s Nobel Prize for Literature. Dig into the WWB archives for a look at his work, in this…
Words with Borders…and Borders and Borders
By the Editors
With regrets for the delay in commenting on this, here’s
Mahmoud Darwish Tribute on the Bowery
By the Editors
A tribute to the late Mahmoud Darwish will be held at the Bowery Poetry Club this Sunday, October 5th at 1:30 PM. Readers will include Breyten Breytenbach, Pierre Joris, Ammiel Alcalay, Ghassan Nasr,…
Jabuti Prize for Tezza’s “Eternal Son”
By the Editors
WWB author Cristovão Tezza has won the prestigious Jabuti Prize for his book The Eternal Son. You can read an excerpt from the book in our September issue, over here Our heartiest congratulations…
2009 Susan Sontag Prize for Translation
By the Editors
Translators under 30, this is for you: The Susan Sontag Foundation has announced its annual prize for translation, with a cash award of $5,000. This year the call is for work translated from Spanish into…
Yalo Discussion Forum
By the Editors
Have a comment you’d like to add to the discussion? Add it below. Comments are moderated and may take a while to appear on the forum.
A Dangerous Occupation
By the Editors
Issue #2 of Triple Canopy has the first ever translation of the “Caracas Speech” that Roberto Bolaño gave when he was awarded the Rómulo Gallegos prize for his novel “The Savage…
“The Assistant” Book Club Discussion
By the Editors
Post your thoughts on Walser or The Assistant below. Comments are moderated, and will appear after a very short delay, so avoid posting twice if you notice that your post doesn’t appear immediately.Have…
Global Gourmet Blogs!
By the Editors
All this month, to celebrate our Global Gourmet issue, the blogs at WWB will feature guest essays by food writers and bloggers from around the world on an aspect of the food culture of their stomping…
Columbia Graduate Student Translation Conference
By the Editors
Sunday marked the end of Columbia’s three-day Graduate Student Translation Conference. Panel discussions revolved around various aspects of the work, business and craft of translation. Chad Post…
Pan-African Literary Forum in Ghana
By the Editors
The Pan-African Literary Forum announces its Summer Writers’ Conference, as well as two scholarships that will take the winners, with all-expenses paid, to Ghana to attend. The conference will gather…
And the Winners Are! (Publishers, sign these folks up…)
By the Editors
Hot off the presses…the winners of the 2008 PEN Translation Fund grants…PEN Translation FundAnnouncement of 2008 Grant RecipientsThe PEN Translation Fund, now celebrating its fifth year of…
HERBERT: POET OF DESPONDENT HOPE
By the Editors
Raport z oblężonego miasta Report from a Besieged City by Cynthia Haven In the final installment in our discussion on Zbigniew Herbert's Collected Poems Cynthia Haven leads us through Herbert's…
Lawrence Venuti Tells us Some More About the Business of Translation
By the Editors
Earlier this month, Words Without Borders featured a piece by Lawrence Venuti on the business side of publishing books in translation. Venuti’s article was written for the Frankfurt Book Fair Panel…
“I will oppress you with my strange love”: Andrzej Franaszek discusses the friendship of Zbigniew
By the Editors
Andrzej Franaszek is a literary critic and cultural editor of the Polish weekly Tygodnik Powszechny. He is the author of Ciemne źródło (Dark Spring), which discusses the subject of suffering…
“Emigration, Displacement and Loss in Polish Poetry: An Interview with Anna Frajlich”
By the Editors
by Anna FrajlichCynthia Haven talks to Anna Frajlich about exile, aesthetics, ethics and more in the work of Zbigniew Herbert. You can read Anna Frajlich’s essay on Herbert’s “Apollo…
“The Truth of Human Suffering”: Anna Frajlich on “Apollo and Marsyas”
By the Editors
by Anna FrajlichAnna Frajlich talks about aesthetics and ethics in Herbert's “Apollo and Marsyas.” Anna Frajlich has been called “the best Polish poetess of her generation.”…
Expanses of the Unspoken: An Interview with Peter Dale Scott
By the Editors
by Peter Dale ScottCynthia Haven interviews Peter Dale Scott, one of the earliest translators of the work of Zbigniew Herbert. You can find James Marcus’s introduction to the poet over here.—EditorsPeter…
January Book Club— the “Collected Poems” of Zbigniew Herbert
By the Editors
We’re delighted to launch the year in book clubs with a fantastic new club on the Collected Poems of the Polish poet Zbigniew Herbert. Conducting interviews, holding forth on individual poems and…
Final Thoughts on Laye
By the Editors
In the final installment of our book club discussion of Camara Laye’s The Radiance of the King, Laila Lalami discusses the ways in which Laye’s book went against the literary conventions of…
Sandy Taylor (1931-2007)
By the Editors
Alexander (Sandy) Taylor was a brilliant publisher of literature in translation whose Curbstone Press, co-founded with his wife, Judith Doyle, is an inspiration to us all. For those who didn’t know…
Kafka and Laye—Literary Influences in “The Radiance of the King”
By the Editors
In this installment of our discussion of The Radiance of the King, Laila talks about the influences at play in Laye’s work, the contentious issue of the book’s authorship and the ways in which…
Landing on an Unknown Coast—the Story of “The Radiance of the King”
By the Editors
In the second post in our December book club on The Radiance of the King, Laila Lalami talks about the story of The Radiance of the King and the unique ways in which it addresses the protagonist’s…
December Book Club—Laila Lalami on Camara Laye’s The Radiance of the King
By the Editors
This month, Laila Lalami heads our book club discussion of Camara Laye’s The Radiance of the King. Laila is the author of the 2005 collection of fiction Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits and you…
Cogwheels
By the Editors
As we come to the end of our book club on Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s short story collection Mandarins, Michael tackles Cogwheels, another posthumously published story by the author. We’d like to…
The Life of a Fool
By the Editors
As we near the home stretch of our discussion of Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s Mandarins, Michael Orthofer offers up some ruminations on The Life of a Fool, Akutagawa’s posthumously-published collection…
Akutagawa—the Writer, the Works
By the Editors
As we near the end of our discussion of Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s The Mandarins this month, Michael Orthofer dwells a little on our ideas of the author and his work. Earlier posts can be found here:…
Literary Influences and East Meets West
By the Editors
Michael Orthofer continues with yet another post for this month’s book club, on the next of the stories from Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s collections Mandarins.We began the month with an introduction…
An Evening Conversation
By the Editors
Plowing ahead, we have the next post in this month&#39s book club discussion on Ryunosuke Akutagawa&#39s Mandarins. In this post, Michael Orthofer discusses the discursive narrative of Akutagawa&#39s…
What’s with the title?—and a look at “Mandarins”
By the Editors
Michael Orthofer kicks off discussion of Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s short-story collection Mandarins in this post with a discussion of the titular story from the collection and a rumination on the murky…
November Book Club—Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s “Mandarins”
By the Editors
We’re very pleased to bring you the first installment in this month’s book club, dedicated to Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s Mandarins. This month, discussion will be headed by Michael Orthofer,…
Arthur Philips on “The Rebels”, “Embers” and Gyula Krúdy
By the Editors
Arthur Phillips was born in Minneapolis in 1969 and educated at Harvard. He has been a child actor, a jazz musician, a speechwriter, a dismally failed entrepreneur, and a five-time Jeopardy! champion.…
David Leavitt Responds to Mark Sarvas in Our Book Club
By the Editors
Renowned novelist David Leavitt (The Indian Clerk, The Body of Jonah Boyd) doubles as the editor of Subtropics, the literary journal of the University of Florida. In Issue 3, Leavitt included the opening…
Mark Sarvas Talks about Fathers and Sons in “The Rebels”
By the Editors
Leading a book group discussion on Sándor Márai’s The Rebels, one is faced with an interesting dilemma, one to which Arthur Phillips politely alluded to in his excellent New Yorker…
October Book Club–“The Rebels” by Sándor Márai
By the Editors
This October, we're delighted to host a new installment in the WWB-Reading the World Book Clubs with a feature on Hungarian author Sándor Márai's The Rebels. Discussion will be headed…
Teacher’s Forum
By the Editors
This forum is for teachers of world literature to exchange ideas on using WWB in the classroom. Tell us your favorite story to teach, activities you’ve used for teaching literature in translation,…
Translation Talk
By the Editors
This forum is for you, our readers interested in translation, practitioners of translation, and others, to ask questions, exchange ideas, and share thoughts on the topic of translation. If you wish to…
Discussions On Translation
By the Editors
Words Without Borders presents forums on literature and translation.
Job Announcements
By the Editors
Use this forum to post your job openings, internships and other opportunities for writers, editors and translators.
Events Calendar
By the Editors
Please announce your upcoming events here.
Words Without Borders Book Groups
By the Editors
Tired of the same six titles on display at the store and want some recommendations on what to read next? Looking for a few, cool people to talk about the newest titles from the international scene? If…