Do You Like Adventures?

December 18, 2024 | in News | by Lee Yew Leong

“The space between two languages is not between mirrors, but curves along the great wall of error, a refined form of adventure.” —Rosmarie Waldrop

Is it that time of the year already?

Yes! Today marks the start of our annual two-week closure (during which our entire 100-strong virtual but very human team enters hibernation—so we hope you understand if we only respond to your emails in the New Year). But, before we go off the grid completely, let’s take a look at the rear-view. In 2024, we gave you:

Four bountiful quarterly issues, with never-before-published work transporting readers to more than 70 countries and territories, including Ukraine and Gaza;
The English debuts of long anticipated international authors, such as Brigette Giraud, winner of the 2022 Prix Goncourt;
In addition to a spotlight on Faroese voices, Special Features themed on “Coexistence,” “The Story of Us,” and—in response to the surge of xenophobia—“Outsiders”;
A newly rebooted What’s New in Translation column, expanding our coverage to as many as ten new titles out each month;
The return of our podcast, with six new episodes; and
Four new educational guides, helping to bring world literature into classrooms everywhere.

Ahead of us, we have plans to:

Revamp our website, which has been overdue for an update for some time now;
Launch a Substack—with even more thoughtful coverage and greater depth!; and
Bring back our international translation contest for emerging translators.

But to do any of the above, we have to be sustainable first—an uphill task given that Asymptote is incorporated outside of the US and Europe, where most of English-language literary arts funding lies. Sadly, despite a full 14 years of hard work behind the scenes and a London Book Fair award under our belt, the revenue that currently comes in each year is still not yet enough to support one full-time member’s involvement.

Which is why we just have to ask during this season of giving: Can you spare us five bucks a month?

Because that’s all it takes to sustain this platform—that we use to advocate for a more inclusive world literature and to amplify underrepresented voices like H.W. Burg’s—if enough of you stand with us. Tempted to sign on as a patron or even a masthead member? We’d be overjoyed and shower you with perks—including newly unveiled ones like literary care packages I’ll personally assemble. We just want to make sure that those of you who value our work have the chance to support it before it’s too late. So, if you can afford it, please take a few minutes to sign up via the link below:

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Lee Yew Leong

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Happy World Poetry Day!

March 21, 2022 | in News | by Lee Yew Leong

Celebrate with an eclectic selection of the best poems from our archives!

In honor of World Poetry Day, we invite you to revisit some of the best international poetry from our eleven-year archive. For a start, Brazilian poet Lêdo Ivo’s work soars to great heights through its accumulation of brilliant specificities. But it also catches one unawares with looser, breath-taking lines like these: “Life itself is a round thing / so that when we go wrong, we go wrong roundly.” Revisit Lêdo Ivo’s “The Earth Is Round” from our Summer 2021 issue.

A leading light of South Korea’s contemporary poetry scene, Yi Won takes ‘avant-garde’ to new extremes. Catapulting the reader into a future where technology rules the human spirit, her lacerating social commentary interrogates the very nature of poetry itself. Courtesy of translator Kevin Michael Smith, discover Yi Won’s radical work from our Summer 2018 edition. READ MORE…

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Lee Yew Leong

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Translating Grief and Silence: Denise Newman on the Work of Naja Marie Aidt

December 18, 2019 | in Interviews | by Nataliya Deleva

Translation is for me both stripping down and holding open to possibility.

Denise Newman is a poet and translator based in San Francisco. She has published four collections of poetry, and translated two novels by Inger Christensen from the Danish—The Painted Room and Azorno—as well as the short story collection, Baboon, by Naja Marie Aidt, which won the 2015 PEN Translation Prize, and most recently, Aidt’s memoir, When Death Takes Something From You Give It Back: Carl’s Book. The memoir, a semi-finalist for the National Book Awards and a finalist for the 2019 Kirkus Prize, is saturated with the trauma experienced by a mother grieving her son. Nataliya Deleva recently spoke with Newman about her approach to translating this deeply personal narrative across various cultural contexts, her proximity to the text and its author, and the role of rhythm in conveying silence on the page.

Nataliya Deleva (ND): Translating is often co-creating, as it is not only the words and sentences of a text being translated, but also their meaning in a different cultural context. How did you find this process, considering this book is so painfully personal? Is grief universal?

Denise Newman (DN): Yes, the translation process touches on the mystery of language. I’ve often marveled at how translations of Bashō’s haikus seem to connect me directly to the moment of his observation. It doesn’t matter that the poem has traveled centuries, oceans, and languages. Maybe this is mostly possible when something is experienced and communicated directly, without any interference—then the original energy, which is outside the conditions of ordinary time and space, stays vital. I think this is what makes translating compelling; you have to go so deeply into a text that you depart from linear time and space. Working on Aidt’s book was hard, though, because of my own interference. She’s my friend, and my sorrow and concern for her sometimes got in the way, particularly while working on the passages that describe the last hours of Carl’s life. Her writing in this part is so direct, I felt as though I were actually present in the nightmare, and often needed to take breaks to clear my head. To get back to your question, I think all emotions are universal; we sense this when they are expressed directly, without any interference, as Aidt is able to do. Translating requires the ability to access those original emotions; they are what electrifies the language.