I’ve recently read two excellent, hilarious stories by Indonesian author Rio Johan (listed below). They are part of a larger collection, not yet translated into English, called Genetically Modified Fruit, about a bio-engineering corporation that produces exotic fruits…with some very peculiar consequences (like world-dominating cherries!!). Hopefully, someone will translate and publish this entire collection, if
Pink Slime by Fernanda Trías, translated from the Spanish by Heather Cleary (Scribner, July 2) In a city ravaged by a mysterious plague, a woman tries to understand why her world is falling apart. An algae bloom has poisoned the previously pristine air that blows in from the sea. Inland, a secretive corporation churns out
translated by Christopher Moseley original publication (in Estonian): 2007 this edition (in English): Black Cat, 2015 442 pages grab a copy here or through your local independent bookstore or library First, I’d like to dwell on the fact that this is the first novel translated from the Estonian that I’ve ever read. For those of
“The Reflection of Sand” by Tan Gang, translated from the Chinese by Emily Jin (Clarkesworld, June 1) Wafers by Ha Seong-nan, translated from the Korean by Janet Hong (Open Letter, June 4) This 2006 collection of short stories is in line with the unsettling, engrossing style of Ha’s other two collections that have been translated
translated by Anne Milano Appel original publication (in Italian): 1960 first English edition: 1962, Secker & Warburg (titled Larger Than Life) this edition: 2024, NYRB Classics 136 pages grab a copy here or through your local independent bookstore or library *spoilers* Not until a third of the way through this short, dark, mysterious novel do
“Renting to Killers” by Elena Pavlova, translated from the Bulgarian by the author and Kalin M. Nenov (Asimov’s, May/June) Woodworm by Layla Martinez, translated from the Spanish (Spain) by Sophie Hughes and Annie McDermott (Two Lines Press, May 14) The house breathes. The house contains bodies and secrets. The house is visited by ghosts, by angels that
translated by the author original publication (from the Gikuyu): 2004 this edition: Pantheon, 2006 grab a copy here or through your local independent bookstore or library “Sprawling” is the best way to describe Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s Wizard of the Crow, a multi-layered, complex, and hilariously absurd magical realist book about the deeply corrupt
translated by Chris Andrews original publication (in Spanish): 2022 this edition: New Directions, 2024 grab a copy here or through your local independent bookstore or library “Liliana Colanzi’s first collection in English, Our Dead World (2017), was so intriguing and strange that, when I found out about her second collection, You Glow in the Dark,
Here’s the second installment of my joint-SFT review with Joachim Boaz over at Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations, this time on Vladimir Colin’s short story “The Contact” (1966, tr. 1970). Check it out here!
translated by Ranya Abdelrahman and Sawad Hussain original publication (in Arabic): 2023 this edition: Restless Books, 2024 grab a copy here or through your local independent bookstore or library “Reading a book about reading books is like entering a hall of mirrors: the experience is at once fascinating and disturbing. Like other stories about books
