women in translation month (all year long) + translated women's poetry

I want to do a better job at remembering the bookish year's calendar of events, and this post is a few week's late, but I think we should be reading women in translation all year long.

CLMP- "the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses" did a wonderful job or curating some fantastic work by women in translation. 

Here's a link for clmp's WIT reading list (including so much beautiful poetry) for 2026.

Pen America (The Freedom to Write) 

Keep your eyes on women writers and writers in translation. 

I will be ending August with a read of Elena Knows. It's been on TBR for years now, and I am excited to get to it.

my kindle fire edition

Publisher's Synopsis:

From the ‘Hitchcock of the River Plate’ (Corriere della Sera) comes Piñeiro’s third novel, a unique tale that interweaves crime fiction with intimate tales of morality and search for individual freedom.

After Rita is found dead in the bell tower of the church she used to attend, the official investigation into the incident is quickly closed. Her sickly mother is the only person still determined to find the culprit. Chronicling a difficult journey across the suburbs of the city, an old debt and a revealing conversation, Elena Knows unravels the secrets of its characters and the hidden facets of authoritarianism and hypocrisy in our society.:

Happy reading ☕️ 

women in translation month 2025

I absolutely love reading women writers in translation. There is something magical that happens when I read translated literature.

My most recent translated purchase happened at McNally Jackson in the city after a long few days of visiting. The magic that happens only in bookstores brushed across me and I spent some time with a few bookstore workers looking for the last copy of Hunchback. This slim novel has started off with a bang and I adore it. 

My choices for Women in Translation Month 2025:

Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa 
Translated by Polly Barton

The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector
Translated by Giovanni Pontiero

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
Translated by Megan Backus

Apple in the Dark by Clarice Lispector
Translated by Benjamin Moser

Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro
Translaed by Frances Riddle 

my stack

I had a focus this year for reading more Clarice Lispector and this is a great month to hone in on that. I'm also always reading Jane Austen and Persuasion is up to bat. Whenever I step away from Austen for too long, I can feel the call of her sarcastic wit and dry humor to keep me anchored down.

Reading really is a religious experience for me, and my life runneth over with stress. I find my solace between the pages of books, and I am so grateful to have shelves filled (though I constantly donate and cull my shelves) with the words of authors I love and read and re-read from.

Rereading is my love language

I reread as much as I read new works to me, and as I usher out summer (IN the dead of summer), I am preparing my shelves for some of my favorite Fall rereads. I will squelch my joy and share that at a later date. I know some people loathe those of us who rush the Fall to come, but loathe as you will... I'm done with this heat and humidity and am eagerly anticipating slower days :)

Wishing you a happy Women In Translation Month and happy reading ☕️ 

favorite read of january

 

I absolutely loved these stories. I felt Not only is this a beautiful book and edition, I found myself stopping to just stare at the wall as I read through the stories. 

I wasn't a huge fan of The Premonition- because I am never a fan of reading about adult/child relationships (be forewarned), but I can't deny that her writing is phenomenal. 

As I read through the stories, I was reminded of how the most simple stories of lived experiences become so deeply emotional when described in a deep way. 

"I felt that I was being handed the perspective that had been borne of his experience". (p. 98)

Yoshimoto has a way of writing that speaks to something intangible, but it shows us how we are capable of truly feeling our way into our stories. Her writing makes me want to write. They make me want to consider how I remember. It reminds me of how inspired I was when I finished all 7 volumes of Proust's The Search. I wanted to pay more attention to my life in order to remember it better.

my book journal

Banana Yoshimoto remains one of my favorite authors, and this set of stories is described perfectly by Brandon Taylor as, "Strange. Melancholy and Beautiful".

Happy reading. ☕️ 

women in translation month 2024

 

I am always reading women in translation, but I do long August where the bookish community collectively highlights the stories and voices of women in translation.

While in the city a few weeks ago, I grabbed a beautiful hardcover of Banana Yoshimoto's 1988 novella The Premonition- translated by celebrated Asa Yoneda. I love her writing, and I can see sitting to read this on a long and slow morning with lots of coffee at hand.

The internationally beloved author of Kitchen and Dead-End Memories returns with a beautiful and heartfelt story of a young woman haunted by her childhood and the inescapable bitterness that inevitably comes from knowing the truth.

Yayoi, a nineteen-year-old woman from a seemingly loving middle-class family, has lately been haunted by the feeling that she has forgotten something important from her childhood. Her premonition grows stronger day by day and, as if led by it, she decides to move in with her mysterious aunt, Yukino.

No one understands her aunt's unusual lifestyle. For as long as Yayoi can remember, Yukino has lived alone in an old gloomy single-family home, quietly, almost as though asleep. When she is not working, Yukino spends all day in her pajamas, clipping her nails and trimming her split ends. She eats only when she feels like it, and she often falls asleep lying on her side in the hallway. She sometimes wakes Yayoi at two in the morning to be her drinking companion, sometimes serves flan in a huge mixing bowl for dinner, and watches Friday the 13th over and over to comfort herself. A study desk, old stuffed animals--things Yukino wants to forget--are piled up in her backyard like a graveyard of her memories.

An instant bestseller in Japan when first published in 1988, The Premonition is finally available for the first time in English, translated by the celebrated Asa Yoneda.

Eight African Women to Read for WIT Month

source: center for the art of translation

Eight African women to read for WIT month

A few translated books that I've loved 

This is only a few of the novels I've loved over the years, but usually if it's rated about 3.1-3.5 stars online, I will most likely love it :) 

Happy translated reading ☕️ 

Women In Translation Month (August 2023) TBR

I am always reading women in translation, but I love helping to bring attention to them during the month of August.

I'm pretty removed from the online book world, but I don't see many announcements for it. It's okay, I won't be doing any prompts. :) 

I'm having a really tough time in life and I am working to make my reading as relaxed and am only seeking 5 star experiences.

I actually loathe the star rating system, but that's another story for another time :)

There are 23 weeks left in this year and I have a ton to do before the  year is out. I am being very particular about what books I am choosing during the next 5 months.

I'm excited about each one of these...

If you don't normally seek out female translated authors, see this as an invitation to do so. 

I'll make sure that I make suggestions of previous books I've read during the month of August.

Happy translated reading