August is Women in Translation Month, an annual tradition that started in 2014 and seeks to celebrate and promote the work of women writing in languages other than English around the world. Consider reading one of these works of translated fiction by a female author.
To Go on Living by Narine Abgaryan was originally written in Armenian, then translated into English by Margarit Ordukhanyan and Zara Torlone. This collection of linked short stories is set in an Armenian village in the 1990s, in the immediate aftermath of war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The villagers go about their daily tasks and interactions while recovering from the trauma of war and loss, giving voice to the hope that exists after extreme tragedy.
Continuing with historical fiction, Tunisian author Amira Ghenim originally wrote A Calamity of Noble Houses in Arabic; Miled Faiza and Karen McNeil translated it into English. This multiple perspective novel follows two wealthy families in 1930s Tunisia, linked by marriage and torn apart by an explosive letter, the contents of which remain a mystery throughout much of the novel. The 11 narrators share their versions of what led up to the letter’s reveal and the aftermath exposing lies, betrayals, and social unrest.
My choice for this year’s Disability square in Book Bingo was Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa, translated from the Japanese by Polly Barton. Both Ichikawa and Shaka, the main character of Hunchback, were born with a congenital muscular disorder and use a wheelchair for transportation and a ventilator for breathing. Shaka has a vibrant online social life, taking virtual courses, writing erotica, and posting provocative messages on social media. When a male nurse at her care home accepts her offer to have sex with her for money, Shaka’s real life starts to emulate more of her fantasies.
I loved Ann-Helén Laestadius’s adult fiction debut, Stolen, so I was excited to see Punished come out this year, translated from the Swedish by Rachel Willson-Broyles. Laestadius is Sámi and writes about the experiences and discrimination of the Indigenous Sámi community. Punished follows five Sámi children, taken from their families and forced to attend a government-run boarding school in 1950s Sweden. Forced to speak Swedish, renounce their culture, and subjected to abuse, the children are deeply traumatized by the experience and are revisited 30 years later, when they all deal with their tragic past in different ways.
Mexican author Cristina Rivera Garza explores autofiction and serial killers in Death Takes Me, translated from the Spanish by Sarah Booker and Robin Myers. The main character is also a literature professor named Cristina Rivera Garza, who stumbles upon a castrated man while jogging. As more victims are discovered, all with their genitals cut off and found with lines from Argentine poet Alejandra Pizarnik, Garza is brought in to help make sense of the strange cases.
~posted by Jane S.