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April 2010

PEN World Voices

The PEN World Voices Festival launches its sixth annual celebration of global literature at the end of this month, and we're kicking off the party with a sampler of new writing from a selection of the participants. From an orphan’s rage to a widower’s serenity, in bleak housing projects and luminous seaside resorts, writers explore topics local and universal. See how Alina Bronsky, Assaf Gavron, Valter Hugo Mãe, Quim Monzó, Sofi Oksanen, Atiq Rahimi, Andrzej Stasiuk, and Jean-Philippe Toussaint create their own worlds in strikingly varied voices. And don’t miss WWB’s panel discussion featuring Quim Monzó, Peter Schneider, and Jean-Philippe Toussaint discussing the essay on Saturday, May 1, from 5:30 to 6:30, at Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue.

Words without Borders gratefully acknowledges Amazon.com for its grant in support of the publication of the April 2010 PEN World Voices issue.

from “Purge”

By Sofi Oksanen

She was just going to make a tour of a country that she’d never seen before

Translated from Finnish by Lola Rogers

from “Dukla”

By Andrzej Stasiuk

July hung over the village like a sheet of blue metal.

Translated from Polish by Bill Johnston

from “Almost Dead”

By Assaf Gavron

I climbed aboard the Little No. 5 as I did every morning on my way to work.

Translated from Hebrew by Assaf Gavron & James Lever

from “Broken Glass Park”

By Alina Bronsky

I hate men. Anna says good men do exist. Nice, friendly men who cook and help clean up and who earn money.

Translated from German by Tim Mohr

Prague

By Jean-Philippe Toussaint

Let’s not talk about Prague.

Translated from French by John Lambert

from “the workers’ apocalypse”

By Valter Hugo Mãe

at night maria da graça dreamed that souvenirs of life on earth were on sale outside the gates of heaven.

Translated from Portuguese by Kenneth Krabbenhoft

Imaginary Return

1984 It was night. The ninth night. The most silent, the most oppressive. Under the whiteness of snow, in the darkness of time, the edges of the earth were lost. It was night. The ninth night. The smuggler…

Translated from French

from “Why Translation Matters”

By Edith Grossman

Why translation matters: the subject is so huge, so complex, and so dear to my heart that I have decided to begin my approach to it by answering the implicit question with another question, using the…

A History of Condo Sales

And so our company’s gigantic neon sign escapes your sight, perched atop an eighteen-story condominium.

Translated from Chinese by Kevin T.S. Tang

Mr. Beneset

Mr. Beneset’s son arrives at the geriatric home and greets the girl at reception

Translated from Catalan by Lisa M. Dillman

Honesty

The nurse walks into Room 93 pushing a cart carrying a tray with a glass of water, a jar of capsules, a thermometer, and a file folder rest.

Translated from Catalan by Mary Ann Newman

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