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Family

Photo by Maria Sol Ponce on Unsplash

A Brand-New Language

By Dinçer Güçyeter

In this excerpt from Dinçer Güçyeter’s autobiographical novel, a kindergartener does his best to support his Turkish guest-worker parents as they adapt to life in Germany.

Translated from German by Lucy Jones

Sticks, leaves, and other foliage reflected in the surface of a pond

Photo by Ran Liwen on Unsplash

At the Edge of the Marsh

“Uncle Ji is a sore point with your dad,” Mama said.

Translated from Chinese by Karen Gernant

A subtle spiderweb pattern on a greenish-gray background

Sidewall - sample. Gift of Dorwin L. Starr. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Public domain.

Story—Late Summer or Early Fall

By Yoo Heekyung

The spider is hiding, why don’t you try touching the spiderweb

Translated from Korean by Stine An

MultimediaMultilingual

A cargo ship in a dock.

Photo via Rawpixels. Public domain.

The Haves and the Have-Nots

By Kristian Lundberg

When you’re a kid, being poor is hell on earth.

Translated from Swedish by Helga Edström

A merry-go-round spins in the darkness.

I Shall Live in the Night

By Olivia Duchesne

I say: I’m lying for you, Lisé. You say: You’re lying for your mother, Nesta.

Translated from French by Siân Robyns

A close up of the corner of stacked papers and folders on a table.

Photo by Isaac Bowen on Flickr licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

The Myth of Gravity: A Small Act of Social Defiance

By Xavier Stanziola

One day you’re a revolutionary, and the next you’re a civil servant.

Translated from Spanish by Alexander Aguayo

Collection of pearl necklaces on a black background

Photo by Brian Wangenheim on Unsplash

Shakharbanu’s Curse

Whenever I think of the old woman, I remember her not as my great-grandmother but as the first person I learned to loathe.

Translated from Kazakh by Mirgul Kali

Breathtaking image of a temple in Nepal with snowy mountains in the background

Photo by Sebastian Pena Lambarri on Unsplash

Nepal

By Marina Gudelj

Mom was like, ‘The Himalayas? She’s never even climbed the Mosor, right here on her doorstep.’

Translated from Croatian by Ena Selimović

MultimediaMultilingual

A woman looks out the windows of a slightly dilapidated white brick building.

Kalpana Raina stands in the window of her uncle's former home. Photo by Tanveer Ajsi.

Reclaiming Memories: Returning to Kashmir

By Kalpana Raina

How is it possible that a place you haven’t seen for decades can match your memory when you finally visit it?

Multimedia

A bed of red and yellow busy lizzies

Photo by Michael Elliott Photography

A Mother’s Voice

By Silvia Arazi

Over coffee, my brother pulls up his chair and discreetly asks me if I’m going to write that book about our mother.

Translated from Spanish by Charlotte Coombe

A nitrate negative of Gaza

"Gaza. (Ghuzze). Section near the mosque" by American Colony in LOC.

Afterwords

By Sinan Antoon

After our house in Jabalia was destroyed we hid in the UNRWA school. But the bombs followed us there too . . .

Translated from Arabic by the author

Multimedia

A cluster of green and flowering cacti

Photo by Brandon Hoogenboom on Unsplash

Far Beyond the Sun

By Denise Phé-Funchal

Grandma goes inside the house and a few minutes later comes out with a small ax in her hand.

Translated from Spanish by David Unger

MultimediaMultilingual

Cobwebs outside of a house

Photo by Pierre Bamin on Unsplash

Morning Procession

Everybody knew that reading strange books was Shaam’s only hobby.

Translated from Hindi by Vaibhav Sharma

Family in a tunnel

Photo by Lute on Unsplash

Because of a Woman: Two Poems

By Babeth Fonchie Fotchind

I would praise your bravery when you were twenty-eight / when you boarded an airbus a330 a child in tow

Translated from Dutch by Michele Hutchison

Shadows in a dark room

Photo by Parker Coffman on Unsplash

Ancestors: Two Poems

By Alfred Schaffer

well you’re right we’re stone dead / nothing to worry about

Translated from Dutch by Michele Hutchison

MultimediaMultilingual

Empty train tracks disappearing into the horizon in a dry landscape

Photo by Robert Linder on Unsplash

The Kettledrum

By Siddique Alam

In the forest, between the acacia, mulberry, and stinging nettle bushes, where snakes shed their skin, she searched for Mangru’s footprints.

Translated from Urdu by Musharraf Ali Farooqi

A dark kitchen table and chairs seen through a doorway with a single light above them

Photo by Ehud Neuhaus on Unsplash

Anna and Her Daughter’s Partner

By Laksmi Pamuntjak

“In Indonesia there are only two categories,” you replied. “Pacar atau suami—boyfriend or husband.

Translated from Indonesian by Annie Tucker

MultimediaMultilingual

A flowering wisteria branch

Photo by Owen Yin on Unsplash

Black and White: Three Poems

By Nisrine Mbarki

they speak different languages but will learn each other’s

Translated from Dutch by Michele Hutchison

Multilingual

A man paddles a canoe in a river at sunset

Photo by Inu Etc on Unsplash

Roots

By Madhurima Barua

The stench of country liquor assaults her. Her husband is tottering.

Translated from Assamese by Syeda Shaheen Jeenat Suhailey

MultimediaMultilingual

A wagtail perching on a stick by a body of water

Photo by Nikita Nikitenko on Unsplash

A Wagtail’s Song

By Bikash Dihingia

How was it possible that there was another me buried within? And how could someone else feel his presence even before I could?

Translated from Assamese by Harsita Hiya

Multilingual

Photo of a man walking alongside his bike on a tree-lined path

Photo by Akshat Vats on Unsplash

To Loved Ones

By Jayesh Jeevibahen Solanki

The bazaar reveals this to us: / I sell / Get sold / Someone buys me / and I buy someone else

Translated from Gujarati by Gopika Jadeja

Map of German East Africa

Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

German Medicine

By Abdulrazak Gurnah

Her mother was dead, she knew that, but she did not know why her aunt and her uncle were the ones who took her in.

Palm trees along the shoreline in Huahine, Tahiti

Matthew Dillon from Hollywood, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Two Birthdays

For weeks, Ma didn’t feel a shred of warmth for the baby.

Translated from French by Jeffrey Zuckerman

Like Two Drops of Water

By Sergi Pàmies

Tempo, for instance: one drop every so often, always the exact same so often, like a time trial in a bicycle race.

Translated from Catalan by Lisa M. Dillman

The White Tablecloth

Eight years and I’m still not over it.

Translated from Catalan by Mara Faye Lethem

Transcending the Human Viewpoint

By Madeleine Feeny

I allowed myself to be very playful and unafraid, and to try everything.

No One Really Knows Why People Shout

By Mario Michelena

His lips are moist, as though he were stewing on more insults.

Translated from Spanish by Lindsay Griffiths & Adrián Izquierdo

This Language Called Kaaps: An Introduction

By Olivia M. Coetzee

Language is more than just a method of communication. It is about the ability to lay down roots, to settle into an identity, to have a place in history, in the present, and in the future. Language is…

The Wind Blows Where It Wishes and You Hear Its Sound

By Andre Trantraal

It should be patently obvious to anyone but the most resolutely blind that he is not aching with impatience to go to the house of the Lord.

Translated from Kaaps by the author

Grayscale image of a stack lottery scratch cards fanned out

scratch cards

By Shirmoney Rhode

and that which has no use will be discarded

Translated from Kaaps by Andre Trantraal

Multilingual

Snake’s Hill

By Olivia M. Coetzee

JB was the one to start that fire inside my head.

Translated from Kaaps by the author

MultimediaMultilingual

A pile of large chunks of rubble in a field of dirt

Photo by Bournes Senruob on Unsplash

From I Am Alive

The family no longer knew Alexandre, lost for so long in his illness.

Translated from French by Nathan H. Dize

Treasures

By Mohamed Magani

She tapped the photo and said, “When I am dead, this is the photo of me I want you to keep.”

Translated from French by Edward Gauvin

Dark as a Boy

Pretty much everyone knew Saw Ai’s family had problems.

Translated from Chinese by Natascha Bruce

Reckonings: The Queer Issue XII

By Susan Harris

This year we celebrate Pride Month with seven pieces depicting Queer characters confronting decisive moments.

A landscape of dunes in Timimoun under a blue sky

Chettouh Nabil, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A Night in Timimoun

By Nina Bouraoui

It's your skin I feel sliding beneath my soapy palms.

Translated from French by Aneesa Abbas Higgins

In the Shadows

By Olivia M. Coetzee

The rhythmic flow of Shadow Heights was something she often missed and longed for while she was in Joburg.

Translated from Kaaps by the author

Gustavo

By Xavier Stanziola

My departure had nothing to do with you or your brother.

Translated from Spanish by Alexander Aguayo

The ruins of a running track after the Chi-Chi earthquake that hit Taiwan in 1999.

Oregon State University, CC BY-SA 2.0 Wikimedia Commons

Solo Dance

From that day on, her memories of Danchen were frozen.

Translated from Chinese by Natascha Bruce

Multimedia

Adabai

Their nayffara is a flutelike instrument heavy with history, deeply immersed in sorrow.

Translated from Arabic by Sawad Hussain

The Sea Gives Us Children

By Thórdís Helgadóttir

Karen says she’s seen it when the souls begin their perambulations.

Translated from Icelandic by Larissa Kyzer

MultimediaMultilingual

The Husband and His Brother

By Björn Halldórsson

When Böddi came back to Iceland a month later, he was engaged.

Translated from Icelandic by Larissa Kyzer

MultimediaMultilingual

Writing Against Estrangement in Galicia

By Scott Shanahan

No doubt a few Galicians will think it in very bad taste to inaugurate this issue with a likeness to their higher profile southern neighbors, but because there may be a great many glad for the comparison,…

And They Say

By Susana Sanches Arins

i come from a family built on longing.

Translated from Galician by Kathleen March

Voracious

By Emma Pedreira

Even though I hate her, my mother probably wrote me letters that she never sent.

Translated from Galician by Kathleen March

[My mother works in a cannery]

By Luisa Castro

Love is a work of art in a can.

Translated from Galician by Laura Cesarco Eglin

Multilingual

Munkar and Nakir

By Alisa Ganieva

Driving here, did you know you'd die today?

Translated from Russian by Sabrina Jaszi

New Voices: Afghan Women Writers

A nation’s upheaval cannot be understood without women's perspectives.

The Decision

At that moment, there was another whistling sound, followed by a huge explosion.

Translated from Pashto by Zarghuna Kargar

Khurshid Khanum, Rise and Shine

By Batool Haidari

She could not have known that the caller at the other end of the phone was about to faint.

Translated from Dari by Parwana Fayyaz

Turn this Air Conditioner On, Sir

By Maryam Mahjoba

It is one of those days when the winter sun is gorgeous, and you don’t want to even think of death.

Translated from Dari by Parwana Fayyaz

Daughter Number Eight

By Freshta Ghani

Is it a boy or a girl?

Translated from Pashto by Zarghuna Kargar

The Final Stretch

The old woman refused to wear any clothing she had not sewn herself.

Translated from Spanish by Julie Hempel

Song for My Father

By Filinto Elísio

The music played / on Apollo 11, it turned out, was “Georgia / On My Mind,” sung by Ray Charles.

Translated from Portuguese by Jethro Soutar

Multilingual

Time-Travelers, Fisherwomen, and Sleuths: Arabic Young Adult Literature

By Elisabeth Jaquette

While Arabic publishing has historically focused on literature for adults and young children, recent years have seen an increasing number of titles aimed at a young adult readership.

Mossy rocks at the edge of the coastline in Gaza

Photo by Emad El Byed on Unsplash

Against the Tide

By Taghreed Najjar

Who ever heard of a fisherwoman in Gaza, much less a young girl?

Translated from Arabic by Elisabeth Jaquette

Oil panting of two women drinking coffee at home

"Two Women Drinking Coffee, c. 1893" by Edouard Vuillard (artist) French, 1868 - 1940 in the Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection in the National Gallery of Art

Thunderbird

“It seems that Noor set fire to another student’s backpack.”

Translated from Arabic by M. Lynx Qualey

Black Saturday

By Djamila Morani

Soothsayers tell the truth even when they’re lying.

Translated from Arabic by Sawad Hussain

Deceptive Simplicity: International Children’s Literature

I often feel that adults forget what children’s stories are capable of.

Heaven Can Wait

By Angelika Glitz

“Look, this forklift even has an electric motor.”

Translated from German by Melody Shaw