Found in Translation

Hayden's Ferry Review started printing an International Section of translated literature in issue #37 back in 2005. Great literature, of course, doesn't all come from America, and we're happy to publish what we can and contribute to the body of translated work available here. So we were very heartened by the post Translate This Book! we saw at the Quarterly Conversation recently. It's a manifesto put together by translators, publishers, agents, and foreign language journalists. Each of them names a book that is not translated into English but should be, with a little explanation about what makes this book so special. There's also some facts about translation in the intro to the post that illuminate just how little of the rich breadth of international literature we actually read. Add in the opinion of the worldwide literary community about American interaction with foreign authors, and the picture looks quite dismal. So the Quarterly Conversation decided to speak out to change that.

We here at HFR couldn't agree more. At least six of the translators in the article have already appeared in HFR, together with the work in its original language by the original author. They include Margaret Jull Costa, Fady Joudah, Ilya Kaminsky, Andrea Lingenfelter, and Idra Novey.

Check out some of our new translated literature from issue #45 here, and read International Editor Brian Diamond's blog post on the disappearing languages the issue features. You can also subscribe, and that way won't miss anymore of the great international work we have planned for the future.