Skip to main content
Outdated Browser

For the best experience using our website, we recommend upgrading your browser to a newer version or switching to a supported browser.

More Information

Essays & Interviews on Translation

A selection of writing about the art of translation for National Translation Month 2022

Tower of Babel by Anton Joseph von Prenne
Public domain image of Anton Joseph von Prenner's Tower of Babel, courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Throughout Words Without Borders‘ nearly twenty-year history, the magazine has published many interviews and essays on the subject of translation itself. In commemoration of National Translation Month 2022 this September, we’ve selected some of our favorite pieces from the archive on the task of the translator, racial equity and inclusion in translation, and the role the critic plays in the circulation of literature around the globe.

Edith Piaf (left) and David Bowie (right) at the microphone
Édith Piaf and David Bowie, Wikimedia Commons.
The Milky Way is pictured above Earth's atmospheric glow blanketing Earth's horizon
Photo by NASA, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Multilingual