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Orality

A rocky stream in a tropical forest

Photo by Livestart Stiven on Unsplash

Catalina Loango

By Bernardino Pérez Miranda

There was only one way to escape the enchantment: the victim’s godmother had to call her name out loud three times at the door of Palenque’s church.

Translated from Palenquero by Armin Schwegler

MultimediaMultilingual

Reckonings: The Queer Issue XII

By Susan Harris

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

Ñe’ ẽ: An Introduction to Contemporary Guaraní Poetry

A real work of Amerindian literature makes perceptible another way of ordering and being in the world.

Dawn

By Miguelángel Meza

water boils up from grouped stones, grips me.

Translated from Guaraní by Tracy K. Lewis & Miguelángel Meza

MultimediaMultilingual

My Fire

By Alba Eiragi Duarte

At light of dawn I rise and make fire, / and dry in nascent fire-gleam the space where dew once pearled.

Translated from Guaraní by Tracy K. Lewis & Alba Eiragi Duarte

MultimediaMultilingual

A hummingbird at sunset

Photo by Ramona Edwards on Unsplash

Our Father Is Tired

By Susy Delgado

a dark stillness / goes about sowing death.

Translated from Guaraní by Susan Smith Nash & Susy Delgado

Multilingual

Serpent

By Alberto Luna

I alone / plunge my roots / and outstretch my branches.

Translated from Guaraní by Susan Smith Nash & Susy Delgado

MultimediaMultilingual

Xirú

By Damián Cabrera

Silvio wanted to escape, race across the sown fields with his long rhea legs until he reached some place where no one could see him.

Translated from Portunhol Selvagem by Elisa Taber

MultimediaMultilingual

Photo by Denise Jans on Unsplash

Fatoum and Hamoud and Hamed

By Qatari Oral Tradition

The mother sheep would warn her children of the wolf that prowled the town.

Translated from Arabic by Rana Elmaghraby

Al Fisaikra

By Qatari Oral Tradition

Set me free and I'll make you rich.

Translated from Arabic by Kholoud Saleh

The Sunni and His Friend

By Qatari Oral Tradition

Cats. Carry cats!

Translated from Arabic by Tariq Ahmed

Enduring Tales: The Qatari Oral Tradition

By Autumn Watts

The stories are abundant with social wisdom, moral instruction, and cultural knowledge.

Erlina’s Sugilanon

By Tito Genova Valiente

Actually, the night Erlina first saw an Onglo was the night the creature was regenerating his power.

Across Mountains and Valleys: Stories of Migration from the Kinnaur and Spiti Valleys

By Arshia Sattar

Despite their specificity, these tales transcend the places that produced them and throb with a universal appeal.

The Story of Sunni and Bhunku

By Himalayan Oral Tradition

Why, oh why, did you not come back immediately?

Translated from Lahouli by Noor Zaheer

The Girl Who Turned into a Crocodile

By Himalayan Oral Tradition

She struggled and fought back and tried to save herself but could not overcome the great crocodile that had taken hold of her.

Translated from Lahouli by Noor Zaheer

When the Deer Moved Away

By Himalayan Oral Tradition

Deeku refused to understand the close bond between the humans and the deer and their dependence on each other.

Translated from Lahouli by Noor Zaheer