That’s right—your favorite online translation journal turns four this month and world-class writers, translators, and artists like Yoshitomo Nara, who especially made us the drawing above, will be helping us celebrate in a grand way! From now till January 29, we invite you to join us here on the blog as we showcase our proudest achievements and commemorate the most important projects in our four years of promoting world literature. Our brand-new Winter issue then goes live on January 30.
Naturally, you can celebrate our birthday virtually (ICYMI: one need only dig through our archives or explore our world map), but if you’ve got a hankering for a real-life Asymptote meetup, toast one of Entropy‘s 20 Best Journals of 2014 (the only world literature journal on the list!) alongside real-live Asymptote fans, contributors, and staff members at our New York event this Saturday, January 17. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door—it pays to think ahead.
And if you’re feeling generous, give the gift of literature to yourself and the rest of the globe by donating to our all-important Indiegogo campaign. As of this moment, we’ve already collected $9,158 from 116 donors (thank you!), which means we have $15,842 left to fundraise before our campaign ends on January 29. Our Chinese branch has also pitched in with a fundraising campaign of their own, collecting ¥7035 (or $1,137) from 114 donors so far. If we hit our goal of $25,000, we will be able to continue operating beyond January 2015 and keep bringing you the best world literature has to offer.
Indulge us for a moment: Asymptote means a lot of different things to different people. Novelist Valeria Luiselli has said: “Every time I think of Asymptote I stop fearing for the future of translation.”
But what happens when you fear for Asymptote?
A journal that is—according to Can Xue—”well on its way to becoming the premier meeting ground for English and Chinese litterateurs,” which Sven Birkerts calls “cosmopolitan and generous in the deepest sense”; one that Prix Goncourt winner Jonathan Littell affirms “like translation itself, [Asymptote] is a fluid web, reaching out to all sides, shifting, contracting, expanding again, and above all, bringing texts and readers together, through the most improbable and marvelous of connections”—this marvelous merging capacity is in danger.
Fortunately, one need only take a look at the diversity and breadth of readers who recognize that translation is key in promoting all literature.
Here’s Pulitzer winner and past contributor Lloyd Schwartz:
There’s Uthis Haemamool, a Thai supporter, who learnt of us via our Thai editor-at-large, Mui Poopoksakul:
Frankfurt-based reader Jacob Thomas was moved to make this awesome video testimonial:
Thrillingly, Singaporean past contributor Teng Qian Xi is even rallying for our campaign by posting an article from our archive each day!
She provided this testimonial:
By presenting translated work from a staggeringly diverse range of regions, languages and aesthetics, Asymptote rightfully forces us to redefine common assumptions about ‘great literature’ in the English language. In the process of reading literature translated from languages ranging from Ahtna to Yiddish, English-language readers are startled into seeing and hearing the world in ways beyond those championed by New York and London. Asymptote’s admirable commitment to giving readers free access to each issue deserves our financial support—we need to help the team continue keeping this treasurehouse of writers and cultures open to anyone with an internet connection.
So, what are you waiting for? Head over to our campaign right now to check out the great perks on offer, and make your donation today to help us ring in our fifth year!