Where to Kim? / May 31, 2021

In the short story collection Cursed Bunny, Bora Chung will amuse you with all the unusual things that are considered perfectly ordinary. Location: South Korea Cursed Bunny synopsis Cursed Bunny is a genre-defying collection of short stories by Korean author Bora Chung. Blurring the lines between magical realism, horror, and science-fiction, Chung uses elements of the fantastic and surreal to address the very real horrors and cruelties of patriarchy and capitalism in modern society. Anton Hur’s translation skilfully captures the way Chung’s prose effortlessly glides from being terrifying to wryly humorous. Winner of a PEN/Heim Grant.

bookriot / August 20, 2021

August is Women in Translation Month! Roughly 30% of books published in English translation are written by women, according to numbers pulled from the translation database started by Three Percent and Open Letter and now hosted by Publishers Weekly. Founded by literary blogger Meytal Radzinski and now in its eighth year, Women in Translation Month was started to promote women writers from around the world and combat this dreadfully low statistic. As summer rolls around each year, I go through catalogs and read a stack of galleys and pick out some of the titles by women in translation I’m most excited about published in June, July, and August. And it’s another great summer for books by women in translation. Exciting debuts, literary thrillers, powerful social novels, and so much more. And whether it’s just something about publishing this summer or the books I’ve been drawn to recently, but there are a lot of new short story collections. So if you’d like to dip in and out of some incredible short fiction — or for the nonfiction fans, a stunning collection of essays — in these last days of summer, you’re in luck. Check out these hot summer 2021 new releases by women in translation!

Forbes / September 27, 2021

For National Translation Month, I interviewed three freelance translators who work in various languages: Jennifer Croft, who translates from Polish, Ukrainian and Argentine Spanish, Anton Hur, who translates in Korean and English, and Arunava Sinha, who translates in Bengali and English.* They discussed what makes a good translation, translator royalties, receiving credit on book covers, and issues within the publishing related to the treatment of translators. See part one on their education in languages, how they get work as translators, and how they approach their translating work.

Guardian / March 10, 2022

Tomb of Sand by Indian writer Geetanjali Shree has become the first book translated from Hindi to be nominated for the International Booker prize. The judges praised the “loud and irresistible” tale of an elderly woman who gains a new lease of life after her husband’s death.

The Bookseller / March 10, 2022

The longlist for the 2022 International Booker Prize has been revealed with publisher Tilted Axis, founded by former winner Deborah Smith, appearing for the first time with three titles.  The 13 longlisted works on the list are translated from 11 languages and originate from 12 countries across four continents, including the debut nomination for a Hindi title.   This year’s list includes previous winners Olga Tokarczuk, Jennifer Croft, David Grossman and Jessica Cohen, alongside authors translated into English for the first time. 

Independent / March 10, 2022

The International Booker Prize 2022 longlist has been revealed, just days after the Women’s Prize for Fiction’s 16-strong list was announced. This signals that we are very much back in literary award season, and we couldn’t be more excited.

Vogue India / March 27, 2022

If you have been binge-watching Korean dramas and films since Parasite’s Oscar win, followed Yoon Se-ri on her journey through Crash Landing on You, or obsessively discussed Ali’s choices in Squid Game with your friends, here’s a definitive list of contemporary Korean books in translation from the land of talented storytellers that should be on your 2022 reading list.

CBC / April 11, 2022

The International Booker Prize has announced the six titles on their 2022 shortlist. The annual award celebrates the best works of fiction from around the world that have been translated into English and published in the U.K., or Ireland. The £50,000 (approx. $84,540 Cdn) grand prize is divided equally between writer and translator.

The New Indian Express / April 29, 2022

KOCHI: Everything Korean is vogue now — Kpop to Kdrama. The world seems to romantacise the life and lisfetyle of Koreans. However, Korean literature, which has been enjoying a growing readership lately, has a different story to tell. It reveals a dark and brutal world which is polar opposite to the one potrayed by popular culture. Case in point, Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, which has been shortlisted for The Booker Prize this year.

Inquirer Lifestyle / May 25, 2022

A head pops out of the toilet, a woman gets pregnant from birth control pills — South Korean Booker Prize nominee Bora Chung’s short stories are full of horror, inspired by her own lonely life. An academic specializing in Slavic literature, Chung was considered a “genre writer” and excluded from South Korea’s mainstream literary scene. Until recently, she was relatively unknown to local readers.