ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½

It’s Best Translated Book Award build-up time, which lasts, like four months . . . Anyway, here’s Kasia Bartoszynska’s overview of a number of exciting titles vying for the BTBA 2019!

The holiday season is not yet upon us, but for us judges, thereÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s an exciting new gift in the mail almost daily, in the form of packages of books from various presses marked BTBA 2019. WeÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™re diving joyfully into our reading, still at the stage where the utter insanity of how many books there are to get through hasnÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™t hit us yet.

IÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™ve always loved being assigned reading, so one of the thrills of being a judge, for me, is that I now have a ton of homework. Often as not, itÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s an obligation to read something I wanted and intended to check out anyhow, but there is also the joy of discovery, having to read things IÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™d never have heard of, let alone read, otherwise. Like, hereÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s the back of , translated by Austin Woerner, from Small Beer Press:

Lu Beiping is one of 20 million young adults the Chinese government uproots and sends away for agricultural re-education. Bored and exhausted, Lu pines for romance but instead finds himself married off to the foremanÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s long-dead daughter so that her soul may rest. Then the foreman exiles him up on Mudkettle Mountain on cattle duty. On the mountain, Lu meets an outcast polyamorous family led by a matriarch, Jade, and one of her lovers, Kingfisher. The are woodcutters and practice their own idiosyncratic faith by which they claim to placate the serpent-demon sleeping within the mountains. Just as LuÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s bosses get wind of LuÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s secret life, a typhoon rips through the valley, and deep in the jungle, a giant serpent may be stirring.

Did I mention that thereÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s a laudatory blurb on the front from Ha Jin? Yeah, I am so stoked to read this.

Have you been following Emma RamadanÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s wonderful ? If so, then you know why IÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™m looking forward to one of the fruits of her labor, , published by Deep Vellum. IÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™ve already finished another of Deep VellumÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s offerings, , translated by Carol Apollonio. Ganieva is an intriguing rising literary star whose novels are set in Dagestan, and have a vivid sense of its local character. , her previous book, also translated by Apollonio and published by Deep Vellum, was a startling and surreal story, an apocalyptic tale that was moody and scattered. Bride and Groom is more accessible, but an afterword reveals the hidden layers to the story, and immediately makes you want to re-read it.

You may have already heard some of the buzz around , translated by Ellen Elias-Bursać and David Williams and published by Open Letter. If not, to whet your appetite. Independently of my BTBA readings (I know, itÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s crazy, but I also continue to read other things) IÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™ve been slowly making my way through, and very much enjoying, another book of hers, , also from Open Letter, translated by Celia Hawkesworth & Ellen Elias-Bursać, so IÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™m holding off on Fox for another few weeks, enjoying the feeling of a deferred pleasure. UgreÅ¡ić has been touring bookstores around the US recently, so keep an eye out, she may be appearing near you soon!

I just blazed my way through Anne SerreÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s delicious little novel, , translated by Mark Hutchinson and published by New Directions. A sexy, wicked little fairy tale with a neo-Victorian feel, so much fun. Meanwhile, a more traditional Victorian-era novel that I enjoyed far more than I expected to was , translated by Anna GÄ…sienica-Byrcyn and Stephanie Kraft, published by Ohio University Press. ItÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s a fairly classic work of Naturalism (yes, the grim kind), albeit with a strong feminist flair, but itÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s surprisingly moving. It reminds you, too, that itÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s not just the hottest contemporary novels that are crying out to be translated ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½“ itÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s also hidden gems like this, that give us a richer sense of a particular traditionÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s literary history.

IÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™m currently halfway through , translated by Oliver Ready and published by Dedalus Books, and itÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s phenomenal, a strangely riveting story of a group of peasants putting on a Miracle Play. Ready was behind the excellent new version of DostoevskyÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s Crime and Punishment, and so itÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s not surprising that this novel reads like the great metaphysical works of nineteenth-century Russian writing.

Because sometimes I like sticking to a theme, I might check out next, translated by Guy Puzey and published by Graywolf, a fictional imagining of the lives of various marginal characters in the New Testament. Or in a different version of a theme, IÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™ll jump to another translator whose work I admire, Christina MacSweeney, in a different book from Graywolf, , an experimental work of fiction and memoir about a mother and son. Or maybe IÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™ll strike off in a more random direction and pick up , translated by Bruce and Ju-chan Fulton, published by Two Lines Press, because it has an extremely intriguing cover.

So many good things await! And more packages to come! IÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™m eagerly awaiting boxes from Feminist Press, Transit Books, Archipelago, Wakefield, Columbia University Press . . . And all of us judges are looking forward to sharing some of the highlights of our reading with you. Cheers.