Women in Translation Month Recommendations

A short post recommending some books!

August is Women in Translation Month:

“The Women in Translation movement (WIT) is a global effort centered around the idea that women who write in languages other than English deserve to be widely read and appreciated. WIT was sparked in late 2013 by a series of independent observations as to the dearth of women writers in translation, by translator Alison Anderson and later by blogger Meytal Radzinski. As the movement has grown, an increasing number of literary voices - amateur, academic, and industry - have joined together to both understand where the publishing imbalance comes from, as well as find solutions and promote existing writers.”

Publishers that focus on translated literature often run discounts for August, as Open Letter is doing (40% off).

For more recommendations for WITM, substacks from Michael Patrick Brady, Kolina Cicero’s thread, Clara.

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My Recommendations, in no particular order:

Everything by Jazmina Barrera, translated from Spanish by Christina MacSweeney; available in a bundle from Two Lines Press. On Lighthouses is particularly delightful. *Learned there’s a new one forthcoming in November! The Queen of Swords.

Everything by Vigdis Hjorth, our Norwegian queen of sitting in the uncomfortable, translated by Charlotte Barslund and available from Verso.

The three books in translation that most impacted me this year are:

HUNCHBACH by Saou Ichikawa translated from Japanese by Polly Barton (Hogarth);

ON THE CALCULATION OF VOLUME BOOK II by Solvej Balle translated from Danish by Barbara J. Haveland (New Directions);

and OWLISH by Dorothy Tse translated from Chinese by Natascha Bruce (Graywolf)

If you are thinking of going to a writing residency:

MONA by Pola Oloixarac translated from Spanish by Adam Morris, published by FSG

If you thought your childhood was bleak:

THE COPENHAGEN TRILOGY by Tove Ditlevsen, translated from Danish by Tiina Nunnally (first two) and Michael Favala Goldman (third), published by FSG

The book in translation I’m going to preorder is Emi Yagi’s new book WHEN THE MUSEUM IS CLOSED, translated from Japanese by Yuki Tejima, publishing with Catapult in January 2026

Do you have recommendations to share?

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