This week, read about the annual conference of the American Literary Translators Association, the new pathways Vietnamese writers and translators are helping to pave in the Anglosphere, as well as the new accolades, conversations, and impact of Central American literatures.
Thuy Dinh, Editor-at-Large, reporting for Vietnam and the Vietnamese Diaspora
Han Kang’s recent Nobel win has spurred lively discussions among writers in Vietnam and the diasporic community on how to sustain and promote Vietnamese literature beyond its national borders. Thiên Kim, co-founder of UK-based Major Books, believes it’s not a quality issue but the scarcity of works being translated into English that has prevented Asian literature from being more widely appreciated.
To rectify the situation, Major Books has teamed up with talented translators Nguyễn Bình, Đinh Ngọc Mai, and Khải Nguyễn, among others, to present a “well-rounded portrait of Vietnam while preserv[ing] the integrity and … originality of each [translated] work.” Titles to be published in 2025-2026 range from a new translation of a beloved national epic (Nguyễn Du’s The Tale of Kiều), a broad satire on sexual mores during the French colonial era (Vũ Trọng Phụng’s Making a Whore), a gritty exploration of contemporary LGBQT culture (Vũ Đình Giang’s Parallel), to a biting social critique via the lens of folklore and existentialism (The Young Die Old by Nguyễn Bình Phương).
Concurrently, in the US, the online Vietnamese literary magazine Da Màu—of which I serve as coeditor—has been awarded a grant by the California State Library to publish Beyond Borders, a short fiction anthology curated from the magazine’s eighteen-year story archive, translated from Vietnamese into English. As Da Màu’s pioneering effort, the anthology is but a modest sample from a vibrant tapestry of diasporic Vietnamese literature that has flourished virtually unheralded for nearly fifty years since the fall of Saigon. The fifteen stories in Beyond Borders can be read as one collective refugee consciousness, where a broken obelisk, an abused wife with directorial ambitions, sentient banyan trees, amnesiac flaneurs, queer lovers, victims of hate crimes, doomed musicians, and writers are all part of a lively Boschian universe. Incidentally, two stories from the anthology—“Meeting a Jarai Tribesman and His Wife in New York City” by Nguyễn Đức Tùng, translated by myself; and “New Year’s Eve” by Cung Tích Biền, translated by Nguyễn Hoàng Nam—have appeared on Asymptote, in its October 2018 and 2024 issues respectively.
Another recent milestone is Light Out and Modern Vietnamese Stories, 1930-1954, through which translators Quan Manh Ha and Paul Christiansen offer English language readers a panoramic view of a spirited and chaotic time, when Vietnam struggled for independence from French colonial rule, as well as for its own cultural identity. The titular novella, “Light Out” (Tắt đèn) by Ngô Tất Tố, together with eighteen other short stories by fellow canonical authors, illustrate the era’s colonial exploitation, bureaucratic corruption, class discrimination, patriarchal rule, and the peasantry’s abject poverty due to high taxes and inclement weather. With their eloquent translation and meticulous footnotes, Ha and Christensen also bring a pointillist immediacy to this formative period in Vietnamese history.
While such independent, if somewhat piecemeal efforts to promote Vietnam’s complex literary heritage have been initiated abroad, there has not been an official policy for large-scale cultural export from Vietnam—despite a collective yearning for the global impact that South Korea has managed to create for its literature. Though the nation has plenty to offer an international audience, obstacles to a wider reception of Vietnamese literature might be due to censorship or the lack of systematic investment and program support from the Vietnamese government. Still, its writers and translators persist.
José García Escobar, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Central America
Earlier this month, the Guatemalan publishing house La Pepita Editorial recently announced Zayda Noriega and María de los Ángeles Linares as winners of their annual literary awards, respectively in the essay and poetry categories. La Pepita Editorial is a publishing house seeking to promote local women’s literature and honor the legacy of novelist, poet, and journalist María Josefa García Granados.
Also this month, Mexico’s FIL (Guadalajara International Book Fair) hosted a swath of Central American writers. There, the Guatemalan author Arnoldo Gálvez Suárez presented his book Alguien bailará con nuestras momias alongside famed Nicaraguan author Sergio Rámirez. Amongst the highlights were Denise Phé-Funchal (Guatemala), Luis Lezama Bárcenas (Honduras), and Larissa Rú (Costa Rica) in an event called “To name Central America,” where they discussed the importance of contemporary Central American literature; similar presentations on previous occasions had gathered the likes of Sergio Ramírez, Carlos Wynter Melo, and Oscar Martínez. Additionally, the Guatemalan editor Raúl Figueroa Sarti received the inaugural Premio Federico García Lorca a la Libertad de Expresión y Publicación, a prize awarded to people or organizations that have promoted and protected freedom of speech across Latin America and Spain.
Finally, famed K’iche’/Kaqchikel Maya poet Rosa Chávez recently received the prestigious Prince Claus Impact Award, which highlighted Rosa’s poetry, activism, and multidisciplinary work that spans theatre, performance, video, and music. The Impact Award honors individuals whose contributions to art and culture engage their communities in innovative and impactful ways while addressing urgent contemporary issues. Rosa is the third Guatemalan woman to receive a Prince Claus Award; the other three are Camila Juárez (installation artist), Rosina Cazali (curator and art critic), and Regina José Galindo (performance artist).
Ibrahim Fawzy, Editor-at-Large, reporting from the ALTA conference
As a first-time attendee of the American Literary Translators Association’s (ALTA) annual conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I was moved to be immediately embraced by a vibrant community of wordsmiths. The honor of being selected as the 2024 Peter K. Jansen Memorial Travel Fellow at the conference’s forty-seventh edition made this pivotal moment even more special, reinforcing my sense of belonging.
After a whirlwind journey from Boston to Milwaukee, I stepped into a world of warm welcomes. The opening reception was a casual gathering that sparked conversations and ignited intellectual curiosity, hosting a kaleidoscope of brilliant minds—each a passionate advocate for literary translation.
Sean Gasper Bye, ALTA Interim Executive Director, had expressed his welcome and commented on “how wonderfully engaged the ALTA community is,” and the four-day conference that followed only further proved that fact. With forty-five panels and nine workshops exploring the theme “Voices in Translation,” I was captivated by the diverse perspectives and innovative approaches to the art of translation. This intellectual stimulation was invigorating, reminding me of Refaat Alareer’s poignant words, before he was killed by an Israeli airstrike in early December: “If I must die, / you must live / to tell my story.”
In keynote speaker Kaiama L. Glover’s thought-provoking exploration of race in translation, she underlined translation’s ability to de-center dominant narratives and really change the way we see the world, and I was able to attend many events that spoke to this transformative potential. One of the panels that deeply resonated with me was “Experiments in Voices: Listening to Sound and Silence”; in this session, the panelists shared thoughts on how they activate translation through sonic and embodied experimentation. Another notable panel was “Language and Power in Literary Translation,” in which panelists explored the relationship between language and power in translation, drawing from the experiences of various authors, translators, and editors. Another panel that strongly impressed me was “A Disparate Chorus: Who Do Anthologies Speak for?” There, the panelists discussed tough questions related to contemporary anthologies that often seek to elevate underrepresented voices. Also, in a panel titled “Translation’s Voice and its Various Aspects,” faculty and alumni from Boston University’s MFA in Literary Translation profoundly explored the linguistic and non-linguistic aspects of voice and translation.
The workshops too provided valuable skills and techniques for translators. One of the workshops I attended was “Teaching the Translation of Poetry: Experiences, Insights, Questions.” There, the leaders initiated a self-conscious dialogue about teaching poetry translation.
Additionally, I had the honor of participating in the Travel Fellows Reading, an event that underscored the prestige of being a part of the ALTA community. I was privileged to share the stage with the other fellows: Tetiana Savchynska, Brandon Toh Kay Boon, and Dorottya Mária Cseresnyés—all of whom performed incredible work.
*****
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