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Publishing

A picture of Moorea's mountains and sea.

Photo from Pickpic

The Flip Side of the Postcard: Francophone Pacific Writing

By Jean Anderson

In this introduction to our collection of writing from the Francophone Pacific, Jean Anderson advocates for a view of the region that encompasses both its linguistic diversity and its interconnectedness.

Marcia Lynx Qualey stands at a podium, making her remarks to rows of guests at the Ottaway Award...

“The Landscape around Us”: Marcia Lynx Qualey’s Ottaway Award Acceptance Speech

By M. Lynx Qualey

On June 4th, Marcia Lynx Qualey accepted the 2024 Ottaway Award for the Promotion of International Literature at a ceremony in New York.

A portrait of Will Forrester

Photo credit: Grace Hutchison

Fostering Bibliodiversity: English PEN’s Will Forrester on the Goals of the PEN Presents Program

By Samantha Schnee

It’s in everyone’s interest to fund the often-unpaid labor of sample translation.

A black and white portrait of writer and editor Khairani Barokka holding a pen

Photo: Derrick Kakembo

“Curiosity and Excitement”: An Interview with Khairani Barokka

By Samantha Schnee

It’s about showing how poetry in translation is intertwined with innumerable parts of society, and can create resonances and collaborations that are precious, that last, that matter.

September-2022-International-Translation-Day-Feature

From left to right: Nicholas Glastonbury, Sawad Hussain, Yilin Wang, Stefan Tobler

What Comes after #NameTheTranslator?

By Yilin Wang, Stefan Tobler, Sawad Hussain & Nicholas Glastonbury

When we celebrate the increasing visibility of translation, we should also ask about what languages and literatures—and, consequently, what human experiences—are afforded visibility.

Portraits of Bibiana Mas and Aina Marti

Bibiana Mas (left); Aina Marti

An Interview with Two New Publishers of Women in Translation

By Words Without Borders

I thought I could create a space for sharing women’s global experiences through literary fiction.

A glowing diamond with light radiating from it

Photo by kirklai on Unsplash

We Need More Speculative Fiction in Translation

By Rachel Cordasco

Despite this recent wave of SFT, there are still a number of barriers preventing more of it from going mainstream in the Anglophone world.

Spanish-language Writing in New York, Then and Now: An Interview with Esther Allen & Ulises Gonzales

By Words Without Borders

While many Latinx writers work in English, there is a longstanding tradition of writers born or raised in this country who work in Spanish.

Who Translates?

By Words Without Borders

In the wake of 2020’s racist violence, and subsequent organizing by the Black Lives Matter movement and others to combat white supremacy, literary magazines and publishers everywhere have, to differing…

The Great White Canceling

Translator Anton Hur takes a wry look at race and translation in this essay.You’re a white translator. I come into your home office and break your computer. I run a bath and drown all your books,…

Privilege, Race, and Translation

By Corine Tachtiris

Scholar and translator Corine Tachtiris reflects on the inherent privilege of translating while White in this essay.And if there are few Black translators, there are few representatives of the possibility…

Barriers, Privileges, and Invisible Labor: A Sino Diaspora Translator’s Perspective

Translator Yilin Wang addresses various forms of bias in translation from Asian Languages in this essay.“You must teach yourself how to carry loan words,tiny seeds gift-wrapped like hand-me-down heirlooms…

Young Russophonia: New Literature in Russian

By Hilah Kohen & Josephine von Zitzewitz

These writings spark immediate conversations through rapid-fire literary texts rather than typical online commentary.

How Can We Better Publish Black Writers in Translation?

By Words Without Borders

This month, WWB took a look back at some of the important writing on race and racism to be found in the magazine's archives.

Publishers Need More Black Translator Friends

By Aaron Robertson

There are obstacles translators must face before the international sections of bookstores reflect the world more equitably.

Respecting the Diversity of Creativity

By Évelyne Trouillot

It would be naive to speak of editorial decisions without taking into account power relationships and established patterns of prejudice that undergird the publishing industry.

Translated from French by Paul Curtis Daw

Developing a Publishing Infrastructure in Mozambique

By Sandra Tamele

Running a start-up publisher in Mozambique is challenging, particularly because sales are low due to a nonexistent distribution network and too few bookshops, all located in the capital city.

A portrait of Arthur Levine, founder of children's book publishing company Levine Querido.

Photo credit: Tess Thomas

Children’s Literature in Translation: Levine Querido

By Words Without Borders

We are acutely aware of the danger of the 'single story.'

Partners in Crime: Bitter Lemon Press

By Laurence Colchester & François von Hurter

Astonishing as it may seem, we haven’t published any crime novels from Scandinavia.

Local Affairs

By Alexander Cuadros

Alexander Cuadros reports from Brazil's Festa Literária Internacional de Parati (FLIP).