Women in Translation: 8 Translated Works to Discover this Month
Now in its tenth year, August marks Women in Translation (WIT) month. This project seeks to “rectify the imbalance in world literature” by promoting translated works by female writers worldwide.
Translated work always has an added element of mystery - how much is lost in translation? Language and languages are complex, filled with nuances and cadences that can be impossible to transcribe into English.
Which is why it’s even more important to seek out such works and feel the stories behind them.
From Bengali to Chinese, Korean to Russian, below are some of my favourite translated reads I’ve already dived into this year, and a few more I’m eager to devour.
Pink Slime by Fernanda Trías, translated by Heather Cleary
Publisher: Scribe Publications
Winner of the Uruguayan National Literature Prize for Fiction, the Bartolome-Hidalgo Fiction Prize and the Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz Literature Prize, Trías’ ominous and emotionally driven science fiction novel begins during a toxic plague. The river has filled with toxic algae, and a deadly 'red wind' blows through the city – those exposed fall inexplicably ill. The rich move further inland, while the poor shelter in place. Amidst blackouts, food shortages and the dissolution of society, a black market economy takes over. Our unnamed narrator is one of those left behind, caring for a young boy as her world collapses around her. During the chaos, she begins to reflect on her past and what the future might hold. With “striking prose and vivid characters,” Pink Slime is an astute look at what binds us together and what happens to our ideas of being when the world deteriorates.
Owlish by Dorothy Tse, translated by Natascha Bruce
Publisher: Scribe Publications
Owlish (2023) by Dorothy Tse is the second of her works to be translated into English. Taking place in the “shimmering, mirrored facades” of a city called Nevers, a semi-fictional representation of Hong Kong, Tse creates a world that appears smooth and functional but, like a room of funhouse mirrors, the reality is something much more distorted and unnerving. Our protagonist is an ageing, self-involved “hack teacher” we know only as Professor Q. Passed over for tenure twice, unfulfilled by his marriage to government employee Maria and overall quiet life, Professor Q harbours a secret: his collection of vintage dolls. When he is drawn to a life-sized doll called Aliss and finally secures her as his own, he discovers he has claimed something much more than he bargained for. With a sharp lens on the historical and contemporary narratives of Hong Kong, Tse uses magical realism to incisively explore what drives the Nevers city - and the dark underbelly that awaits.
Read our full review here.
Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur
Publisher: Honford Star
Shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize, Cursed Bunny is a genre-defying collection of short stories from Korean author Bora Chung. Across ten chilling stories that subvert the lines between magical realism, horror and science fiction, Chung explores the intersection of female experiences, the patriarchy and capitalism in modern society. With unflinching and often gruesome narratives (a talking head made out of a narrator's bodily waste, a fatherless pregnancy that leads to persecution, and following voices into the dark), Chung also demonstrates the right balance of restraint to keep readers engaged - we follow her into the stories compulsively despite knowing the darkness that awaits. Fans of Mariana Enriquez, Sayaka Murata and Ludmilla Petrushevskaya will want to get their hands on this.
We Had to Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets, translated by Emma Rault
Publisher: Pan MacMillan
In Dutch writer Bervoets’ slim but punchy novella, Kayleigh, a broke but resilient young woman, takes a job as a content moderator for a global social media platform. Her role is simple: review flagged content and decide whether it should be removed or is allowed to stay up based on the black-and-white guidelines she has been trained to follow - and consequently adopted into her psyche. Easy, right? But soon Kayleigh, her colleagues and her new girlfriend begin to realise the job is so much more than they anticipated and will shape them irrevocably. Bervoets' well-researched narrative will introduce you to a world you’ve never considered before and is an exacting reflection on the consequences of vicarious trauma in a world obsessed with media consumption.
Blue Hunger by Viola di Grado, translated by Jamie Richards
Publisher: Scribe Publications
The fifth novel from award-winning Italian writer and translator Viola di Grado, this short but electrifying book captures the life of a young Italian woman in Shanghai as she becomes enthralled by a beautiful, enigmatic woman named Xu following the death of her twin brother. The two begin an on-again, off-again relationship that pushes our narrator to the brink “as pain and pleasure mingle with an overpowering sense of grief: grief that creates an all-encompassing need to be distracted, touched, eaten.” Described as “a dark, sensual study in grief and codependency”, di Grado delves into how grief, loss and solitude can tear us apart - and all the ways we might seek to make ourselves whole again.
Read our full review here.
Wound by Oksana Vasyakina, translated by Elina Alter
Publisher: Quercus Books
This meditative novel of grief, loss and love, translated from Russian by Elina Alter, explores a young queer woman’s artistic awakening following her mother's death. Blurring the lines between fiction and reality, our narrator - also called Oksana - decides to return her mother's ashes to their working-class hometown in Siberia. Across the journey, she reflects on her memories of her mother and her experiences of love, loss and home. “Powerful, lyrical and precise”, this illuminating narrative offers a journey through grief towards “love, happiness and creative fulfilment.”
Hospital by Sanya Rushdi, translated by Arunava Sinha
Publisher: Giramondo Publishing
Translated from Bengali by award-winning Indian translator Arunava Sinha, Hospital follows the experiences of a Melbourne-based research student as she is hospitalised following her third episode of psychosis. Caught in a medical model that “seems less than convincing”, our narrator is called to question the diagnosis and definitions of sanity - or insanity - in modern society. However, questioning also seems to be at the heart of her psychosis as she repetitively interprets signs, gestures, thoughts and emotions - and readers are left uncertain of what is real and imaginary. Based on real-life events, Rushdi calmly and unflinching details the experiences of psychosis, treatment and sanity in contemporary Australia.
Clan by Soon Ai Ling, translated by Yeo Wei Wei
Publisher: Balestier Press
In this expertly crafted collection of short stories, Yeo Wei Wei’s transcreation and adaption of Soon Ai Ling’s work brings a richly woven set of narratives to life. Exploring how the past and future are inexplicably entwined, Ai Ling dives into familiar relationships and obligations as they “strive for freedom to love, freedom from fate.” Connection drives these stories: a family mourn the disappearance of a flamboyant uncle; a teacher looks forward to a reunion with an old apprentice; and a teenager tries to save her baby by refusing to give birth. This creative development of work combining Ai Ling’s writing prowess and Wei Wei’s translative capabilities brings together a new reading experience that will stay with readers long after closing this collection.
Elaine Chennatt is a writer, educator and psychology student currently residing in nipaluna. She has a special interest in bibliotherapy (how we use literature to make sense of our lives) and is endlessly curious about the creative philosophies of others. She lives with her husband and two bossy dachshunds on the not-so-sunny side of the river (IYKYK). Find her online at wordswithelaine.com.
