Reading List: National Translation Month

As part of our calendar celebrating national heritage months and observances, explore these selected works in translation.

Collage by Kanya Kanchana

Explore works in translation, many presented bilingually and introduced by the translator:

• • Poems by Hong Kong Poet Chung Kwok-keung translated from the Chinese by May Huang
  • Poems by Pekuakamishkueu poet Marie-Andrée Gill, from Spawn, translated from the French by Kristen Renee Miller
  • Poems by Lara Solórzano Damasceno translated from the Spanish by Ignacio Carvajal
  • Poems by George Seferis translated from the Modern Greek by Jennifer R. Kellogg
  • Poems by Anzhelina Polonskaya translated from the Russian by Andrew Wachtel
  • Poems by Mariangela Gualtieri, from Bestia di gioia, translated from the Italian by Olivia E. Sears
  • Poems by Şükrü Erbaş translated from the Turkish by Derick Mattern
  • José Ardila’s short story “The House” translated from the Spanish by Matthew Shorter
  • Inés Garland’s short story “The Old Dog” translated from the Spanish by Richard Gwyn

• Amar Mitra’s short story “The Old Man of Kusumpur” translated from the Bengali by Anish Gupta

• Hebe Uhart’s essay “A Trip to La Paz” translated from the Spanish by Anna Vilner

Explore these special portfolios of literature in translation in our print issues:

• Each spring The Common features a portfolio of contemporary Arabic fiction in translation; explore stories from Jordan (Issue 15), Syria (Issue 17), Sudan (Issue 19), and Morocco (Issue 21), as well as Issue 11, entirely dedicated to fiction from across the Arab world. 

• Issue 20’s portfolio: Writing from the Lusosphere, features numerous poems, essays, and short fiction translated from the Portuguese.

• Issue 16’s portfolio: De Puerto Rico: Un año después de la tormenta (From Puerto Rico: One Year After the Storm) features poems, essays, and short stories, many in translation from Spanish and some presented bilingually.

Classroom Resources:

Literary Translation: Readings, Interviews, and Resources, including selections to accompany our Arabic fiction portfolios

Sample Lesson Plan: Living with an Author and a Translator

Image courtesy of Pexels user Carolina Grabowska.