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December 2008

The Home Front

Natasha Wimmer on Roberto Bolaño’s “2666”
This essay was originally featured in the brochure for Natasha Wimmer and Francisco Goldman's December 4, 2008 discussion of Roberto Bolaño's 2666, held at the Idlewild bookstore in New…
Francisco Goldman on Roberto Bolaño’s “2666”
This essay was originally featured in the accompanying booklet to Francisco Goldman and Natasha Wimmer's December 4, 2008 discussion of Roberto Bolaño's 2666, held at the Idlewild bookstore…
Sofiane B., Age Twenty
By Maïssa Bey
Translator’s Note: Maïssa Bey lost her father in the Algerian war for independence. A grade-school teacher in a small town south of Algiers, and a political organizer for the National Liberation…
Translated from French by Suzanne Ruta
“Arnold . . . !”
By Astrid Roemer
She's wondering how to tell his children when an immense silence numbs her. It's as if her thoughts can no longer be captured in words, as if words are refusing service.The briefcase sits in the…
Translated from Dutch by Laura Vroomen
from “The Remnants”
By Hagop Oshagan
Her parents, like thousands upon thousands of other creatures of their class, lived lives divided between earning their keep and taking care of their children
Translated from Armenian by G. M. Goshgarian
from “Irlanda”
By Espido Freire
My cousin Irlanda was more beautiful than I remembered. As a girl her angelic face had been marred by only two defects—her thin light hair and almost always elusive eyes. But now her hair was nicely done,…
Translated from Spanish by Toshiya Kamei
The Sarima’s Mission
By Miguel Angel Oxlaj
Bulul! Tununun! Bululululu! Tununununun! Bulululululululul! Tunununununununu! The voice of the hill resounded in the blue sky, as if several thunderclaps had occurred at one time, or as if a group of…
Translated from Spanish by Sylvia Sasson Shorris
The Neighborhood Phone
By Gabriella Ghermandi
For seventeen years I had dreamed of what my return to my country would be like.
Translated from Italian by Giovanna Bellesia-Contuzzi & Victoria Offredi Poletto
Martin Hansen’s Outing
By Kjell Askildsen
Walking back to the house one Friday in early August, late in the afternoon, I suddenly felt tired as though I had been carrying something heavy, although all I had been doing was tying up some raspberry…
Translated from Norwegian by Agnes Scott Langeland
The Karma Some Girls Have
By Juan Forn
“This story befuddles expectations and foils them.”—Ariel Dorfman
Translated from Spanish by Marina Harss
White Christmas
By Angelo Cannavacciuolo
It was the night before Christmas Eve. The clock had just struck midnight, and a thick blanket of damp air hung over Villaggio Coppola. The towering cement buildings, crowded as beehives, were barely…
Translated from Italian by Jamie Richards
Summer
By Mercè Rodoreda
She stopped in front of a shop window full of umbrellas, and her friend, who was walking ahead of her, suddenly turned around: “Carme, we'll get separated!” Her name was Carme. He had…
Translated from Catalan by Martha Tennent
Happiness
By Mercè Rodoreda
Last night, before falling asleep, she had realized winter was almost over. “No more cold,” she thought, stretching out between the sheets. As if from a limpid world, the clear sounds of the…
Translated from Catalan by Martha Tennent
Bats
By Lena Kitsopoulou
My cousin and I entered a dense cornfield that was taller than either of us. It was a large tract behind Aunt Tasia’s house. We were only thirteen. We blended in, so we were invisible. Like being…
Translated from Greek by Sidney J. Kornberg
knight from chess set
Copyright © Cyrus Chong
The Knight
By Olga Tokarczuk
Why are you crying? he said. Over chess, over that knight?
Translated from Polish by Jennifer Croft
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