August is Women in Translation Month! These all provide great writing and interesting perspectives, cultural and otherwise. Most links support indie bookstores!
(I know Africa is underrepresented, but many of the authors I do know, like Oyinkan Brait...
Sections
5
Asia
South America
Europe
Middle East
Africa
Asia
Touches on femininity and (anti)natalism in two connected yet separate sections.
Breasts and Eggs
Short but memorable read.
Convenience Store Woman
Kinda spooky, a little gross, pretty great!
Cursed Bunny: Stories
from Taiwan. major content warning for r*pe.
Fang Si-Chi's First Love Paradise: A Novel
90 pages that speak to disability and sexuality. Would advise against reading if you’re very squeamish about sex/bodily fluids. But I really enjoyed it!
Hunchback: A Novel
National Book Award finalist.
The Memory Police: A Novel
A reflective novel about a woman struggling to find enjoyment in the working world.
There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job
Author won the Nobel Prize in literature in 2024!
The Vegetarian: A Novel
South America
Short story collection from an Argentine author/journalist.
The Dangers of Smoking in Bed: Stories
Skip if you can’t read anything gory. Otherwise, don’t miss this modern classic from Argentina!
Tender Is the Flesh
Europe
Winner of the 2020 European Union Prize for Literature. Debut novel from Yugoslav-born writer.
Catch the Rabbit
From Poland. Winner of many prestigious prizes.
Flights: Nobel Prize and Booker Prize Winner
Short dystopian novel published in the nineties in Belgium.
I Who Have Never Known Men
Made into the HBO series.
My Brilliant Friend
Organized into “constellations,” sections centered on different topics such as family and travel. From the perspective of a child of deaf parents, although other topics are touched upon as well. Translated from Italian.
Strangers I Know: A Novel by Claudia Durastanti, Paperback
Middle East
A novella about a Palestinian woman who becomes obsessed with a death from decades ago—that of a woman brutally killed by Israeli soldiers.
Minor Detail by Adania Shibli, Paperback
Africa
Takes place across many generations of a cursed clan, portraying Uganda’s history along the way.
Kintu (Anniversary Edition) by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, Paperback
