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Interviews

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.
Telling the Stories of China’s “Illegal Children”: Shen Yang and Roseann Lake in Conversation
By Shen Yang & Roseann Lake
“Excess-birth” or “illegal” children (usually girls) were those born to a family who already had a child during the years when China’s one-child policy, in force from the…
Portrait of Meena Kandasamy
Image Copyright © Varun Vasudevan
The Poetry of Radical Female Fighters
By Suhasini Patni
When you are not held back by any fear, you can write songs of liberation.
The Privilege of Language: Manon Steffan Ros on Self-translation, Welsh Literature, and Her New Book
By Casi Dylan
Manon Steffan Ros was nervous about presenting Llyfr Glas Nebo to the world. Before it won the 2018 National Eisteddfod Prose Medal and the 2019 Wales Book of the Year, before it became a best seller,…
Children’s Literature in Translation: Gecko Press
By Words Without Borders
In recent years, a proliferation of books in translation for children and young adults has brought imaginative stories from around the world to new readers. We’re speaking with some of the extraordinary…
Carl de Souza on Mauritian History, Multilingualism, and the Events that Inspired “Kaya Days”
By Jeffrey Zuckerman
In the weeks after riots shook the seemingly tranquil island of Mauritius in 1999, the novelist Carl de Souza began writing a short, dense text that would become a nearly real-time depiction of that unreal…
Doves Wailing in the Same Great Tree: An Interview with Khalid al-Maaly, Founder of al-Kamel Verlag
By Safwan Khatib
Born in 1956, Khalid al-Maaly is an Iraqi poet, publisher, and translator. After leaving Iraq in 1979, in the wake of the Ba'ath regime's crackdown on leftists and intellectuals, he spent time…
Translated by Safwan Khatib
The Translator Relay: Jayme Costa Pinto
By Words Without Borders
WWB’s Translator Relay features an interview with a different translator every few months. The current month’s translator will choose the next interviewee, adding a different, sixth…
“The Wellspring That Relieves My Thirst”: Kim Bi on Writing Queer Literature
By Victoria Caudle
Translator Victoria Caudle interviews a pioneer of queer Korean literature, Kim Bi.
Translated by the author
“You Belong Nowhere”: Leïla Slimani on the Trauma of Colonialism and Her Forthcoming Novel
By Madeleine Feeny
Leïla Slimani is an international literary star, a poster-woman of French multiculturalism and a leading voice on human rights. Born in 1981 to a surgeon mother and economist father in Rabat, she…
Cabo Verdean President Jorge Carlos Fonseca: Poetry Is the Only Instrument of Radical Change
By Shook
Translator Shook talks with President Jorge Carlos Fonseca about contemporary Cabo Verdean poetry, his influences, and the relationship between literature and politics.
“Language Is a Code”: Ali Feruz on Prison Literature, Exile, and the Power of Journalism
By José Vergara
During the January 2021 pro-Navalny demonstrations that swept Russia, hundreds of protestors were rounded up, brutalized, and jailed. Some of them ended up in the Sakharovo Detention Center for Foreign…
On Fantasy and the Poetry of the Past: An Interview with Sofia Samatar
By Safwan Khatib
Born in a small town in northern Indiana in 1971, Sofia Samatar is the author of the forthcoming memoir The White Mosque (Catapult Books, 2022). Her first novel, A Stranger in Olondria, for which she…
The Translator Relay: Karen Sherwood Sotelino
By Words Without Borders
WWB’s Translator Relay features an interview with a different translator every few months. The current month’s translator will choose the next interviewee, adding a different, sixth…
Power Resides within It: Louise Law Lok-Man and Jennifer Feeley on Hong Kong Literature
By Jennifer Feeley & Louise Law Lok-Man
In the wake of the anti-extradition protests in 2019 and the implementation of the National Security Law in June 2020, Hong Kong—and, consequently, its literature—has increasingly been in…
Portrait of writer Sinan Antoon
Photo © Koutaiba al-Janabi
The City and the Writer: In Baghdad with Sinan Antoon
By Nathalie Handal
I don’t live (t)here, but it lives in me still.
Subverting Gendered Language: Hannah Kauders on Translating Iván Monalisa Ojeda’s “Las Biuty Queens”
By Shoshana Akabas
In 2019, translator Hannah Kauders stumbled on a copy of Las Biuty Queens, the second book of short stories by Chilean writer Iván Monalisa Ojeda, and fell in love. Kauders immediately set out…
A Call to Break Boundaries: An Interview with the Editors of the Bilingual Indian Journal “Hakara”
By Varun Nayar
Among the many online literary and arts journals published in India, हाकारा । hākārā occupies a rather unique position, embedded in a strong linguistic…
Children’s Literature in Translation: Epigram Books
By Words Without Borders
In recent years, a proliferation of books in translation for children and young adults has brought imaginative stories from around the world to new readers. We’re speaking with some of the extraordinary…
Translating the World Undone: An Interview with Translator Nicholas Glastonbury
By Anton Hur
Last month, literary translator Nicholas Glastonbury, who translates from Turkish and Kurdish, posted a Twitter thread about the failings of the publishing industry when it comes to translated literature.…
A Poetry Revival: Three Poets on Ethiopia’s Thriving Amharic Poetry Scene
By Linda Yohannes
There were always spies coming to attend our events.
Translating Hong Kong and Taiwan: A Conversation between May Huang and Jenna Tang
By May Huang & Jenna Tang
In this interview, translators Jenna Tang and May Huang discuss their experiences translating contemporary literature in Chinese from Taiwan and Hong Kong. Their conversation touches on the diversity…
The Translator Relay: Adam Morris
By Words Without Borders
WWB’s Translator Relay features an interview with a different translator every few months. The current month’s translator will choose the next interviewee, adding a different, sixth…
Children’s Literature in Translation: Groundwood Books
By Words Without Borders
In recent years, a proliferation of books in translation for children and young adults has brought imaginative stories from around the world to new readers. We’re speaking with some of the extraordinary…
Translation as a Collaborative Mode: An Interview with Sarah Booker
By Alexander Aguayo
I met Sarah Booker virtually in 2018 when she spoke with a graduate student reading group about translating Cristina Rivera Garza's The Iliac Crest. During her virtual visit, Booker…
“Every Choice We Make Is Political”: Natasha Lehrer on Translating “Consent” and “I Hate Men”
By Madeleine Feeny
Natasha Lehrer is a prize-winning literary translator from French to English. She recently translated Consent, Vanessa Springora’s memoir of her teenage relationship with the writer Gabriel Matzneff,…
Portrait of writer Ioana Morpurgo
The City and the Writer: In Bucharest with Ioana Morpurgo
By Nathalie Handal
I love this city against my own better judgment.
More Than a Literary Movement: Susana Sanches Arins and Valentim Fagim on Reintegrationist Galician
By Words Without Borders
WWB's March issue features writing from Galicia, an autonomous region of northwestern Spain that borders Portugal. Though the Galician language shares a common root with modern Portuguese, Galicia's…
Translated by Jacob Rogers
The Translator Relay: Julia Powers
By Words Without Borders
WWB’s Translator Relay features an interview with a different translator every few months. The current month’s translator will choose the next interviewee, adding a different, sixth…
Children’s Literature in Translation: Editora Caixote
In recent years, a proliferation of books in translation for children and young adults has brought imaginative stories from around the world to new readers. We’re speaking with some of the extraordinary…
Portrait of writer Natalie Bakopoulos
The City and the Writer: In Athens with Natalie Bakopoulos
By Nathalie Handal
I’m always a bit shattered by Athens.
“In Another Voice”: Kyra Ho on Creating a Poetry Translation Podcast
By Words Without Borders
In the midst of the COVID-19 lockdown, classmates Kyra Ho and Maria Goikhberg created In Another Voice, a podcast dedicated to poetry in translation. In less than a year, they have…
“A Generation Without Substitute”: Galicia’s Supernatural Grannies
By Alexander Aguayo
This month’s issue of Words Without Borders is graced by the art of Galician muralist Joseba Muruzábal, also known as Yoseba MP. The piece, Leiterofilia II, is one of a series of…
Translated from Spanish by Alexander Aguayo
Multilingual
Twenty Years of Île en île: A Conversation with Thomas C. Spear
By Words Without Borders
From 1998 until January 2021, Professor Thomas C. Spear edited Île en île, an extensive virtual archive of literature from French-speaking islands and their diasporas. Although there will…
A Wave in the Sea: Najwan Darwish on “Exhausted on the Cross”
By Kareem James Abu-Zeid
Born in Jerusalem, Najwan Darwish published his first poetry collection in 2000. He has since become one of the foremost contemporary Arab poets, and one of the most powerful poetic voices to emerge from…
Portrait of writer Christopher Bakken
The City and the Writer: In Thessaloniki with Christopher Bakken
By Nathalie Handal
Dig anywhere in the city and you collide with history.
María José Ferrada and Elizabeth Bryer on Translating “How to Order the Universe”
By Elizabeth Bryer
The precocious seven-year-old protagonist of María José Ferrada’s picaresque novel How to Order the Universe, referred to simply as “M,” is one of the most astute, enchanting,…
Translated by Elizabeth Bryer
The Flower and the Forest: An Interview with Evgeny Vodolazkin
By José Vergara
In Evgeny Vodolazkin’s literary universe, time is always out of joint. His novels feature medieval wanderers who glimpse events centuries in the future, narrative structures that contrast vastly…
“Reality (Unfortunately?) Varies”: A Conversation Between Galina Rymbu and Ilya Danishevsky
By Galina Rymbu
It seems to me—perhaps naively—that poetry has the ability to examine things in a maximally authentic way.
Translated from Russian by Anne O. Fisher & Helena Kernan
Guided by the Bees: Yamen Manai and Lara Vergnaud on Translating “The Ardent Swarm”
By Lara Vergnaud & Yamen Manai
Tunisia’s experience with despotism and revolution is universal.
Children’s Literature in Translation: Tapioca Stories
By Words Without Borders
In recent years, a proliferation of books in translation for children and young adults has brought imaginative stories from around the world to new readers. We’re speaking with some of the extraordinary…
Lily Meyer and Mona Kareem Reflect on Close-Up: An Experiment in Reviewing Translation
By Words Without Borders
Today WWB concludes its series Close-Up: An Experiment in Reviewing Translation, in which Lily Meyer and Mona Kareem seek to develop and practice a translation-centric approach…
Portrait of writer Naivo
The City and the Writer: In Antananarivo, Madagascar, with Naivo
By Nathalie Handal
Its name, “the city of thousands,” is synonymous with multitude.
The Translator Relay: Sophie Duvernoy
By Words Without Borders
WWB’s Translator Relay features an interview with a different translator every few months. The current month’s translator will choose the next interviewee, adding a different, sixth…
Portrait of writer Ali Al Ameri
Photo © Satish Kumar.
The City and the Writer: In Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, with Ali Al Ameri
By Nathalie Handal
The desert is the shoulder of the city.
Portrait of writer Maya C. Popa
The City and the Writer: In Oxford with Maya C. Popa
By Nathalie Handal
Oxford is one hidden city layered over another.
Namibian Writing Front and Center: Rémy Ngamije on Doek! Literary Magazine
By Susannah Greenblatt
Doek! Literary Magazine, Namibia’s first online literary magazine, was named Brittle Paper's Literary Platform of the Year on Monday. It was founded in 2019 by Rémy…
The Translator Relay: Jack Jung
By Words Without Borders
WWB’s Translator Relay features an interview with a different translator every few months. The current month’s translator will choose the next interviewee, adding a different, sixth…
Portrait of writer Angelo Cannavacciuolo
The City and the Writer: In Naples with Angelo Cannavacciuolo
By Nathalie Handal
Naples is the city of a hundred cities, of a hundred satellites all orbiting the unique, massive planet that is memory.
Translated by Alta L. Price
Multimedia
Children’s Literature in Translation: Levine Querido
By Words Without Borders
In recent years, a proliferation of books in translation for children and young adults has brought imaginative stories from around the world to new readers. We’re speaking with some of the extraordinary…
The City and the Writer: In Mexico City with Carmen Boullosa
By Carmen Boullosa
The city has devoured itself over and over again.
Translated by Samantha Schnee
“We Are Always Present in What We Write”: An Exchange between Emmanuel Carrère and Daniel Mendelsohn
By Raphaëlle Leyris
They’ve read and admired one another for ages, but they’d never had an occasion to talk to each other. Emmanuel Carrère and Daniel Mendelsohn are among those writers who, over the past…
Translated by Émanuel Grenier-Benoit
Conjuring Up a Nocturnal Montreal: Stéphane Larue and Pablo Strauss on Translating “The Dishwasher”
By Pablo Strauss & Stéphane Larue
When Stéphane Larue’s The Dishwasher won the 2020 Amazon.ca First Novel Award (formerly the Books in Canada First Novel Award), it was the first translated novel selected in the prize’s…
Translated by Pablo Strauss
Sexism and Science Fiction: An Interview with Tang Fei
By Nicky Harman & Natascha Bruce
Tang Fei (the pen name of Wang Jing) was born in 1983 in Shanghai. She is well known as a writer of science fiction and fantasy and is also a literary critic and essayist. Tang Fei was one of our star…
Translated by Nicky Harman
The City and the Writer: In Athens with Amanda Michalopoulou
By Nathalie Handal
Athens is about instant decisions, constant change, boldness and confusion and nerve.
An Interview with WWB Poetry Contest Winners Enrique Villasis and Bernard Capinpin
By Words Without Borders
“Birds in Flight, 1965” by Enrique Villasis, translated from Filipino by Bernard Capinpin, was one of four winners of WWB’s 2020 Poems in Translation contest, presented…
“This Catastrophe That Is Called Lebanon”: A Conversation with Mazen Kerbaj
By Words Without Borders
Lebanese comics artist and musician Mazen Kerbaj first appeared in Words Without Borders in February 2008, in our second graphic novel issue. Since then he’s contributed six more pieces, most recently…
An Interview with WWB Poetry Contest Winners Yau Ching and Chenxin Jiang
By Words Without Borders
“Trial Run” by Yau Ching, translated from Chinese by Chenxin Jiang, was one of four winners of WWB’s 2020 Poems in Translation contest, presented in partnership with the Academy…
The Translator Relay: Don Mee Choi
By Words Without Borders
WWB’s Translator Relay features an interview with a different translator every few months. The current month’s translator will choose the next interviewee, adding a different, sixth…
An Interview with WWB Poetry Contest Winner Bryan Mendoza
By Words Without Borders
Bryan Mendoza’s translation of Julio Pazos Barrera's “Pegasus Autopsy” was one of four winners of WWB’s 2020 Poems in Translation contest, presented in partnership…