August is Women Writers in Translation Month
more books to add to your TBR pile
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August is Women in Translation Month, so I thought I’d share some books in translation written by women. Click on the links to learn more or to purchase.
Translation is an art and I think it’s important to include the translator’s name when talking about books in translation. It’s not just about translating a word from one language to another, but the translator has to invoke the literary feel of the book and translate the prose in a way that replicates the mood, the cadence of the language, etc. I’d imagine this is very difficult work, so kudos to translators everywhere!
I’ve starred the one’s I’ve read.
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein
A lifelong friendship between two women from Naples beginning in the 50’s.
*The Story of My Teeth Valeria Luiselli, translated by Christina Macsweeney
An elegant, witty, exhilarating romp through the industrial suburbs of Mexico City and Luiselli's own literary influences.
The End of August by Yu Miri, translated by Morgan Giles
An extraordinary, ground-breaking, epic multi-generational novel about a Korean family living under Japanese occupation.
*The Memory Police Yoko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder
On an unnamed island, objects are disappearing and no one is able to recall them for fear of the draconian Memory Police.
Mouthful of Birds Samanta Shweblin, translated by Megan McDowell
In this short story collection, Schweblin's writing has the feel of a sleepless night, where every shadow and bump in the dark take on huge implications, leaving your pulse racing, and the line between the real and the strange blurs.
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones
Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. In a remote Polish village, Janina devotes the dark winter days to studying astrology, translating the poetry of William Blake, and taking care of the summer homes of wealthy Warsaw residents. Then a neighbor turns up dead. And another. And another.
*Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori
This is the heartwarming and surprising story of thirty-six-year-old Tokyo resident Keiko Furukura. Keiko has never fit in, neither in her family, nor in school, but when at the age of eighteen she begins working at the Hiiromachi branch of "Smile Mart," she finds peace and purpose in her life.
Nineteen Claws and a Blackbird by Agustina Bazterrica, translated by Sarah Moses
This collection of nineteen brutal, darkly funny short stories takes into our deepest fears and through our most disturbing fantasies.
*The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, translated by Alison Anderson
In an elegant hotel in Paris, Renee, the concierge, is all but invisible. Paloma is a talented and precocious twelve-year-old who lives on the fifth floor. After a wealthy Japanese man named Ozu arrives, they will begin to recognize each other as kindred souls.
*The Lover Marguerite Duras, translated by Barbara Bray
Set in the pre-war Indochina of Marguerite Duras' childhood, this is the haunting tale of a tumultuous affair between an adolescent French girl and her Chinese lover.
Do you have any books in translation by women you’d like to add to this list? Feel free to contribute your favorites in the comments below!