All My Languages
Ariel Saramandi on Mauritius, identity, and the languages in which she writes, thinks and dreams.
english
english – PEN Transmissions
An ‘archival identity’
This week PEN Atlas hears from Carmen Bugan, daughter of Romanian dissident Ion Bugan, on the discovery of previously classified files about her family that were kept by secret police during the 1980s in Romania. A fascinating and moving account about dissidence, family and identity.
To some I have talked with by the fire
PEN Atlas this week features Taiwanese author Wu Ming-Yi, who takes us through the Great Pacific Trash Vortex, indigenous island tribes, and the ancient practice of storytelling - all of which inspired his first novel to be translated into English
Translations and Mutations
Adam Thirlwell takes us through the utopian goals and surprising results of Multiples, an experiment in translation. Charting dozens of countries, languages and authors, this anthology is playful yet subversive, questioning the purpose of translation, the idea of style and the future of the novel
On #OccupyGezi, the Turkish Government prefers conspiracy theories to engagement
Our man in Berkhamsted
Kaya Genç introduces PEN Atlas readers to Şavkar Altınel: travel writer, inspiration for a famous literary character, translator of famous British poets and resident of Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. But above all Altınel is a poet in his own right, comparable with Larkin for his 'dry lyricism' and nostalgia.
Writing in the Language of ‘the Other’
In another fascinating piece for PEN Atlas, Gazmend Kapllani recounts his journey through languages, the difficulties and opportunities of being a multi-lingual author and how the language of the Other goes back to Homer and the birth of storytelling
Recommended Summer Reading in Translation from PEN Atlas
Need a good book to go with the good weather? In the lead-up to this evening's English PEN Summer Party, Marina Warner, James Meek, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Blake Morrision, and many more offer their tips for what to read in translation this summer.
The Achebe I Knew
Ahead of the Africa Writes festival 2013 (5-7 July) PEN Atlas hears from African writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o on his friend and mentor Chinua Achebe. Ngũgĩ will appear in conversation with his son Mukoma wa Ngũgĩ on Saturday 6 July at the British Library.
The present of the past of things
Patricio Pron writes a moving piece for PEN Atlas, about an encounter in a small German city that made him reflect on collective guilt, individual responsibility and the nature of the past - both for a person and a country
The Art of the Novella
In this week's second PEN Atlas dispatch, Meike Ziervogel from Peirene Press makes the case for the novella, charting the history of the form, and reflecting on her experience publishing great novellas in translation from around Europe
The Walnut Tree of Gezi Park
Following recent events, PEN Atlas is running an additional dispatch this week from Turkey. Kaya Genç writes for us about Nâzım Hikmet Ran, whose poem 'The Walnut Tree' has taken on a prophetic turn and an inspirational one in light of Gezi Park
The Sounds of Istanbul
In the latest of our literary dispatches from Turkey, Mario Levi contemplates the sounds of the city he grew up in, and the stories that lie behind them for those willing to listen
Taking a stand
Oray Egin reports on the continuing protests in Turkey, why they began in Gezi Park and what the writers of the country owe to those marching on the streets
The Tale of Two Adrians
Strange coincidences bring together two literary traditions in today's PEN Atlas piece by Oksana Zabuzhko, which explores Ukrainian and Eastern European authors, their debt to history and their unjustly hidden classics
Turning up the volume
Yasmine El Rashidi, contributor to the PEN-award-winning title Writing Revolution: The Voices from Tunis to Damascus, tells PEN Atlas about growing up learning English: exile and community, being alienated and finding her voice
What’s authentic about global literature?
Michele Hutchison investigates what the future might hold for the 21st Century novel: provincial literature with a global reach, or the literature of the cosmopolitan flâneur?
What is a country?
Following her visit to the UK last week for the London Book Fair Turkey Market Focus, Ece Temelkuran reflects on 'Writing Turkey' and what the term 'country' has come to represent for her.
Translation, Revolution, and Pedagogy
Following her appearance at the Literary Translation Centre for London Book Fair 2013, Samia Mehrez writes about working collaboratively on the book Translating Egypt’s Revolution: The Language of Tahrir, which uses multiple perspectives to translate the linguistic and cultural meanings of the momentous events in her country
New frontiers for translated fiction
Jonathan Ruppin writes for PEN Atlas about the shortlist for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, what it can tell us about the context of translated fiction in the present and which names to keep an eye out for in the future
What is Official? Turkish writing, from state discourse to civil literature
As part of our ongoing series of PEN Atlas dispatches from Turkey, Kaya Genç describes the struggle for the soul of his country's literature between state officials and independent creative writers
PEN Atlas Q&A – Gerbrand Bakker, author of The Detour
PEN Atlas Editor, Tasja Dorkofikis talks to Gerbrand Bakker about his novel, The Detour, walking in Wales for two weeks, and translating Emily Dickinson
No offence meant
Award-winning translator Antonia Lloyd-Jones experiences extreme reactions to the latest crime novel she has translated on a recent trip to Poland...Here she tells the PEN Atlas of her time in Sandomierz, where she visits the setting of the novel by Zygmunt Miłoszewski.
PEN Atlas – Editor’s Round Up February 2013
PEN Atlas editor Tasja Dorkofikis reviews the first few months of 2013 for the Atlas; offering up a few personal highlights so far and drawing our attention to upcoming translation Prizes and literary events and festivals.
Ghentish Talent – Graphic Novels from Flanders
Michele Hutchison takes us on a far-ranging tour of the European comics scene, with a focus on the beautiful, moving and innovative graphic novels coming out of Belgium
Tadeusz Różewicz and The Struggle for Poetry
Basia Howard writes about Tadeusz Różewicz, Poland's most translated author
Past Events Disperse like Smoke
PEN Atlas contributor Gregor Benton looks at revolution, resistance and the Beijing University literature class that harboured three of China's best-known intellectual and political adversaries, in light of his forthcoming translation of Mei Zhi's prison memoirs F: Hu Feng's Prison Years.
Jeet Thayil reports from the Jaipur Literature Festival
Fresh from winning the 2013 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, Jeet Thayil writes about his experience returning to the Jaipur Literature Festival following the dramatic events of last year
Publishers’ highlights in 2013: part 2
In part 2 of our Publishers' Highlights for PEN Atlas, we find out about Japanese crime fiction from Little Brown, Balkan stories from Istros Books, Iranian memoirs from Oneworld Publications, and many more
Geography of Secrets
Nihad Sirees, author of the PEN award-winning The Silence and the Roar, writes for PEN Atlas about his memories of growing up in Aleppo, Syria, and the way his sensual memories of the past now struggle with the violence and horror of the present
Publishers’ highlights for 2013
This week PEN Atlas asks UK publishers about the translated books they are excited about publishing in 2013 - an intriguing list of books to look forward to this year, so clear your bookshelves!
High Impact from the Low Countries
We begin PEN Atlas in 2013 with Michele Hutchison, who reports on the 'High Impact' tour that will bring Dutch authors to the UK later this month
Yule love these books in translation
Writers, scouts, literary festival directors, translators & publishers recommend great literature in translation
PEN Atlas Q&A – Juan Gabriel Vásquez, author of The Sound of Things Falling
PEN Atlas editor Tasja Dorkofikis talks to critically acclaimed writer Juan Gabriel Vásquez
Of Poets and Aviators: Tagore, Neruda, Césaire
Colombian author Santiago Gamboa writes for PEN Atlas, telling the amazing story of his poet friend and what he was asked to do one day in his job as an air traffic controller
Walking the Tightrope: Globalisation and Localism
Michele Hutchison explores the globalisation debate for PEN Atlas. Do authors consciously write for an international market and, if so, what does that means for authenticity?
The Wizard and the Ghetto
Antonia Lloyd-Jones tells the story of a Polish hero, Janusz Korczak, the children's author who ran an orphanage in the Warsaw ghetto
Day of the Dead 2012
To celebrate Day of the Dead, starting today in Mexico and throughout the world, PEN Atlas reports on the history of the festival, the poetry it has inspired, and its ongoing political relevance.
Fiction Uncovered writers and their favourite books in translation
From writers David Park, Cressida Connolly, Susanna Jones, Dan Rhodes, Peter Benson, Doug Johnstone and Jill Dawson
Literary festivals: playground or construction site?
This week's PEN Atlas piece reports from the Tanpınar literary festival in Turkey. Journalist Ece Temelkuran gives her personal response to this year's festival
PEN Atlas recommends: ITD2012 speakers on their favourite translated books
To celebrate the annual International Translation Day symposium, taking place tomorrow at King's Place, London, Tasja Dorkofikis asks speakers to recommend their favourite books and writers in translation
PEN Atlas – Editor’s Round Up
In the first of a monthly series, PEN Atlas editor Tasja Dorkofikis rounds up some of the highlights so far, and suggests some great further reading for our literary travellers
Entertainment for the Middle Classes? – The success of Herman Koch
Over a million copies sold, multiple translations, a stage adaptation - does Herman Koch's The Dinner show us a new way for Dutch literature? Michele Hutchison investigates for PEN Atlas
Scottish Translation
Sold-out duels, ninjas versus saints, and the invisible translator made visible... Daniel Hahn reports from Edinburgh International Book Festival for PEN Atlas
History and hysteria: The private libraries of dictators
In this week’s PEN Atlas piece from Gazmend Kapllani, we hear about the books that were damned and banned during the communist regime in Albania, only to resurface in some unlikely places…
Grammar and Glamour: On Translating Diego Marani’s New Finnish Grammar
Following our previous PEN Atlas piece by Diego Marani, his English translator Judith Landry talks us through the strange music of Finnish and translation as walking a tight-rope
Translation as a Creative Process
In this week's PEN Atlas piece, award-winning Italian writer and European Commission official Diego Marani considers the role of the author in the translation process
Women Writers, Part I
PEN Atlas contributor Krys Lee considers the impact of Kyung-sook Shin's Man Asian Literary Prize win and where Korean women writers stand today
Memories put in mothballs
In his second despatch for the PEN Atlas, Athens's based Gazmend Kapllani looks back to the Greek Civil War and considers what effect Civil War has had on the nation's literature
How international is poetry?
In this week's PEN Atlas piece, Michele Hutchison reports from the 43rd Poetry International festival in Rotterdam, investigating why it is certain poems are more likely to be translated
The Debut Generation
Alisa Ganieva writes about the republic of Dagestan, winning the Debut Prize, and the moment when the identity of the mysterious author Gulla Khirachev was revealed...
Selma Dabbagh reports from the Palestine Festival of Literature: Part 3
In her third PEN Atlas despatch, British Palestinian writer Selma Dabbagh reflects on Palfest, dealing with criticism, and what freedom feels like
Selma Dabbagh reports from the Palestine Festival of Literature: Part 2
In this second PEN Atlas despatch from British Palestinian writer Selma Dabbagh, we are taken deeper into Gaza; into the streets, into darkness.
Selma Dabbagh reports from the Palestine Festival of Literature: Part 1
This week the PEN Atlas hears from British Palestinian writer Selma Dabbagh. In the first despatch, Selma describes her journey into Palestine; the sights, sounds and people she encounters en route.
Great Flemish Voices: Louis Paul Boon and Beyond
In this week's PEN Atlas despatch editor and translator Michele Hutchison introduces some of the greatest Flemish writers...
What We Don’t Know About North Korea
This week's PEN Atlas despatch comes from Krys Lee, who takes a look at the literature from (and about) North Korea that is available in English translation.
Writing In A City That’s Collapsing
English PEN Launches the PEN Atlas with this piece by Athens based writer Gazmend Kapllani.