Want some expert advice on what to read in translation? Then look no further. Top writers, literary scouts, critics and festival directors recommend books to give - and devour - during the festive season. Enjoy!
David Wheatley writes about the genius of mistranslation, Finnegans Wake syndrome, and being a judge on The Popescu Prize for poetry in translation, which was awarded this year to Alice Oswald
Ciwanmerd Kulek charts the ongoing struggle for the Kurdish language, and whether being a language that is now more written than spoken threatens it in new and troubling ways
Journalist-turned-freedom-fighter Mikail Eldin writes for PEN Atlas on his experience of the Chechen wars, and how writing a memoir is a way to honour fallen friends, who risked their lives to ensure he might live to tell their story
Following his recent award of the 2013 Jan Michalski Prize, Mahmoud Dowlatabadi answers questions from Tasja Dorkofikis for PEN Atlas, charting the works, influences and world-view of Iran’s most important living writer.
Sahar Delijani charts the career of Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, winner of the 2013 Jan Michalski Prize, and how his work has forged the conscience of his nation. Sahar’s PEN Atlas piece precedes an exclusive Q&A with Mahmoud Dowlatabadi.
Jacek Dehnel writes a taxonomy of the literary event attendee, including 'the star', 'the obsessive', 'the well-meaning person' and 'the fixer', all of whom keep life interesting - and strange - for the travelling author
Selma Dabbagh returns to PEN Atlas, and to Ramallah, to stay at the Guest House of the Qattan Foundation. In this dispatch, she writes about the physical and bureaucratic walls that divide the territory, records the sounds of the Old City, and explores the impact of the Oslo Peace Accords on Palestinian literature
What happens when an oral culture is colonised and dominated by a written one? Laura Burns explores the Native authors of North America, and how their work crosses and transcends the boundary between the written and spoken, with stories that reinvigorate the present with the past
Maria Margaronis writes for PEN Atlas on the complex and at times chaotic relationship between Greek media and the people of Greece, and what their future together might hold
Nepotism, sinecures, blackmailing paedophiles, bribing officials... Juan Pablo Villalobos writes for PEN Atlas this week, explaining how a writer can expose and enable the general corruption of his country
What does the future hold for the publishing of literature in translation? Stefan Tobler from And Other Stories takes us through the independents, small presses, social enterprises and community interest companies using innovative ways to publish work from around the world