Editor's Note

Living today is a feat of coexistence. In Me | You | Us, our Winter 2024 edition—Asymptote’s landmark fiftieth!—people seek ways to equably share a world of jostling values, languages, and stories. Embracing the rare spotlight in mainstream English-language media almost never afforded translators, Emily Wilson discusses her groundbreaking translation of Homer and its place in the constellation of existing English Odyssies. Public intellectual Michael Cronin makes the case for translation’s centrality in the construction of new narratives necessary for the continued survival of our species amid other species. Headlining our Special Feature themed on coexistence, Nam Le’s frenzied poems are just as preoccupied with Carl Linnaeus’s taxonomy in the original Latin as they are driven to distraction by the insufficiency of that same scanty alphabet against the tonal splendor of Vietnamese. In Ilya Kaminsky’s Brave New World Literature contribution, truckloads of Dante’s Inferno being delivered to a besieged Kharkiv speak to a different, tenuous, and moving coexistence. As support for Ukraine wavers in the US, we at Asymptote have kept up our coverage of the region also through Elina Sventsytska’s devastating poetry, a review of Oksana Lutsyshyna’s latest award-winning novel in English translation, and a dispatch about the chilling aftermath of a Russian dissident’s self-immolation. Alongside these, I invite you to discover the Mexican pioneer of magical realism Elena Garro, Palestinian poet Samer Abu Hawwash, Cuban artist Gertrudis Rivalta Oliva, and Romanian playwright Edith Negulici amid never-before-published work from a whopping thirty-five countries. All of it is illustrated by the Netherlands-based guest artist Ehud Neuhaus.

At a panel almost exactly eleven years ago—well before our daily blog arrived—I was once asked why Asymptote doesn’t release its articles singly, which might be better for traffic to the site. Perhaps I said something to the effect that the drip-drip of world literature as a format has never appealed? Or that it was the curatorial aspect—the sum of putting X in conversation with Y and Z being greater than its parts—that I was after? Or that a massive edition would be a better Trojan Horse platform to advocate for underrepresented voices? The question remains. Today, on the occasion of this milestone and against the backdrop of increasing divisiveness, I might answer: these issues are a way of manifesting coexistence—an idyllic one, to be sure, where different voices are patiently heard in turn.

If, as Taiwanese author Lin Yaode put it, “literature’s history is really a history of readers of literature,” the history of Asymptote might also be in part a tale of its readers. But why should it stop there? To all collaborators and supporters, past and present, I say gratefully: this one is for you! As hinted at by last year’s closures of The White Review and Freeman’s—both similarly prestigious journals with a focus on world literature—existence (by which I mean mere survival) has not been easy. We made it to our 1st, 2nd, 3rd . . . and to our 50th edition because of you.

If you are an avid reader of the magazine and haven’t yet signed up, we hope you’ll consider becoming an official sustaining or masthead member today for as little as USD5 a month in addition to subscribing to our socials (Facebook, X, Instagram, Threads) and our monthly Book Club. If you represent an institution advocating for a country’s literature, check out this (slightly outdated) slideshow and get in touch to sponsor a country-themed Special Feature, as FarLit has recently done. (The deadline to submit to our paid Faroese Special Feature is February 15th, 2024; the guidelines and a new call for reviewers to contribute to our monthly What’s New in Translation column can be found here.) If you work for a translation program, prize, or residency, consider advertising through our myriad platforms, including our newly launched “Upcoming Opportunities in Translation” column. And, finally, if you’d like to join us behind the scenes in advocating for a more inclusive world literature, we just announced our very first recruitment drive of the year (deadline to apply: February 1st, 2024). Thank you for your readership and your support. We can’t wait to hear from you!

—Lee Yew Leong, Editor-in-Chief



Editorial Team for Issue January 2024

Editor-in-Chief: Lee Yew Leong (Thailand/Singapore)

Assistant Managing Editors: Marina Dora Martino (Italy), Janet Phillips (UK/Australia), Kathryn Raver (France/USA), and Alex Tan (Singapore)

Section Editors:
Lee Yew Leong (Thailand/Singapore)
Barbara Halla (Albania)
Caridad Svich (USA/UK)
Ian Ross Singleton (USA)
Heather Green (USA)
Danielle Pieratti (USA)

Assistant Editors: M.L. Martin (Canada), Maya Nguen (USA), Megan Sungyoon (South Korea), Michelle Chan Schmidt (Ireland), Rachel Landau (USA), Terézia Klasová (Czech Republic), Willem Marx (Italy/USA), and Lin Chia-Wei (Taiwan)

Assistant Interview Editors: Sebastián Sánchez-Schilling and Sarah Gear

Contributing Editors: Ellen Elias-Bursac (USA), Aamer Hussein (UK), Sim Yee Chiang (Singapore), Dylan Suher (USA), and Adrian West (USA)

Art Director: Lee Yew Leong (Thailand/Singapore)

Editor-at-large, Bulgaria: Andriana Hamas
Editor-at-large, China: Jiaoyang Li
Editor-at-large, Croatia: Kristina Gadze
Editor-at-large, Greece: Christina Chatzitheodorou
Editors-at-large, Guatemala: José García Escobar, Rubén Lopéz, and Miranda Mazariegos
Editor-at-large, Hong Kong: Charlie Ng Chak-Kwan
Editors-at-large, India: Areeb Ahmad and Zohra Salih
Editor-at-large, Kenya: Wambua Muindi
Editor-at-large, North Macedonia: Sofija Popovska
Editors-at-large, Mexico: René Esaú Sánchez and Alan Mendoza Sosa
Editor-at-large, Palestine: Carol Khoury
Editor-at-large, Philippines: Alton Melvar M. Dapanas
Editor-at-large, Romania and Moldova: MARGENTO
Editor-at-Large, Spain: Marina García Pardavilla
Editor-at-large, Sweden: Eva Wissting
Editor-at-large, Uzbekistan: Filip Noubel
Editor-at-large, Vietnamese Diaspora: Thuy Dinh


Masthead for Issue January 2024

Fiction, Poetry, Brave New World Literature Feature, and Interview: Lee Yew Leong
Nonfiction: Ian Ross Singleton
Drama: Caridad Svich
Visual: Heather Green
Criticism: Barbara Halla
“On Coexistence” Feature: Lee Yew Leong and Danielle Pieratti
Illustrations and Cover: Ehud Neuhaus

Assistant Managing Editor (supervising issue production): Janet Phillips

Assistant Managing Editors (supervising Assistant Editors): Alex Tan and Marina Martino

Chief Executive Assistant: Rachel Farmer

Senior Executive Assistants: Julie Shi, Iona Tait, and Chinmay Rastogi

Executive Assistants: Meenakshi Ajit and Heloisa Selles

Blog Editors: Xiao Yue Shan, Bella Creel, and Meghan Racklin

Art Director: Lee Yew Leong

Guest Artist Liaison: Berny Tan

Senior Copy Editors: Mia Manns, Janet Phillips, Rachel Stanyon, and Maggie Wang

Copy Editors: Bella Bosworth, Jennifer Busch, Matilde Ribeiro, Mia Ruf, Liam Sprod, Josh Todarello, and Urooj

Technical Manager: József Szabó

Director of Outreach: Georgina Fooks

Assistant Director of Outreach: Catherine Xinxin Yu

English Social Media: Ruwa Alhayek, Livia Djelani, Elena Richards, and Kate Rudek

French Social Media: Filip Noubel

Spanish Social Media: Sergio Serrano

Graphic Designer: Michael Laungjessadakun

Digital Editors: Bridget Peak and Matthew Redman

Marketing Managers: Kate Lofthouse and Samantha Seifert 

Director, Educational Arm: Sarah Nasar

Educational Arm Assistants: Mary Hillis, Thirangie Jayatilake, and Anna Rumsby

Book Club Manager: Carol Khoury

Asymptote would like to acknowledge the support of



Fondation Jan Michalski, Cecliia Galindo, Jóhanna H. Wolles, Randi Ward, and Briallen Hopper.

For their generous donations this past quarter, our heartfelt thanks go too to A J Gray, Andrea Nemeth-Newhauser, Benjamin Saff, Brother Anthony of Taizé, Claire Hegarty, Cynthia Whitehead, Daniel Hahn, Diana Senechal, Dora Zhang, Dustin Simpson, Elena Barcia, Elisabeth Brock, Ferran Pericas Cladera, Geoffrey Howes, Gesture Press, Gina Caputo, Harry Leeds, Heidi Holzer, Il Park, Jane Kirby, Jee Leong Koh, Jeffrey Boyle, Jenna Colozza, Katarzyna Bartoszynska. Katie Boynton, Katrine Jensen, Kent Kosack, Phuong Anh, Liangxing Luo, Lynn O'Neal, MARGENTO, Marjolijn de Jager, Mark Cohen, Martin Ingebrigtsen, Matthew Mazowita, Monty Reid, Nora Bojar, Pavlos Stavropoulos, Sarah Glenski, Sidney Wade, SiewChinn Chin, Theresa Henderson, Thomas Carroll, Velina Manolova, and William Justice.

In addition, we’re thrilled to welcome new sustaining members Kimberly Rostan, Sasha Burik, and Tayyba Kanwal.

Back

Fiction

Miklós Vámos, Electric Train

Translated from the Hungarian by Ági Bori

Say something, you idiot! Your mother has saved up for this expensive toy from her minuscule amount of foreign currency, be happy, thank her, kiss her face, come on!

Juan Forn, Swimming at Night

Translated from the Spanish by Keith A. Carr

He had to face fatherhood once and for all.

Ivana Bodrožić, from Sons, Daughters

Translated from the Croatian by Ellen Elias-Bursać

Unlike you, I am only now seeing people, their putrid souls, now when I can’t feel anything and when I can no longer speak.

Anusorn Tipayanon, The Snow Girl

Translated from the Thai by Noh Anothai

They say that, on the long road of life, we will either be nudged forward or pushed away from certain people, and that this will happen when we least expect it.

Kristin Vego, All Things Lovely

Translated from the Norwegian by Jennifer Russell

Earth is so small I could put it in my mouth and swallow it whole.

Elena Garro, The Week of Colors

Translated from the Spanish by Christine Legros

I’m the master of the Days. I’m the Century. Tell me on what day you’ve been offended, and you’ll see what we do to the Day you choose.

Poetry

Samer Abu Hawwash, My People

Translated from the Arabic by Huda J. Fakhreddine

In every airport on this planet,
one of us describes to a stranger
the malady of our existence on this earth.

Rocío Cerón, from Trances

Translated from the Spanish by Sonja Greckol

We will smolder together until we disappear.

Cécile Mainardi, from Rose Mortal Activity

Translated from the French by Léon Pradeau and Clara Nizard

s o you want to know the true structure of water

Murilo Mendes, Four Poems

Translated from the Portuguese by Lucas Lazzaretti and Brett DeFries

On the other side there are other lives living off my life

Marianne Van Hirtum, from Mathematical Night

Translated from the French by Hilary Clark

This flower is the word my mouth is about to say.

Deniz Durukan, Two Poems

Translated from the Turkish by Jeffrey Kahrs and Mete Özel

mirror! the death inside me grows larger and larger

Yari Bernasconi, from New Days of Dust

Translated from the Italian by V. Penelope Pelizzon

It’s strange that in the woods, right here,
there’s the lifeless body of a little girl.

Jaime Barrios Carrillo, Two Poems

Translated from the Spanish by David Unger

Back then the mirror said to its disciples:
no one will reign over anyone.
The world was full of whispers and emptiness.

Max Czollek, from Outer Limits

Translated from the German by Cornelius Partsch

because the glaciers in it have melted off
the baltic sea is less salty
and colder you add

Ayaka Satō, The Unseen Kyoto

Translated from the Japanese by Corey Wakeling and Hiromitsu Koiso

a day in the rain
looking at paintings of rain

Eva Ribich, from Along the Border

Translated from the Swedish by Julian Anderson

see how light that meadow is
not wanting to be other

Criticism

Oksana Lutsyshyna, Ivan and Phoebe

Translated from the Ukrainian by Nina Murray

A review by Madeline Vosch

What happens in the days after a revolution? In the months when an Empire begins to fall apart?

Elena Ferrante, In the Margins: On the Pleasures of Reading and Writing

Translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein

A review by Alyssa Granacki

When we tell a story (our own or someone else’s), we are always, for better or worse, every piece of literature we have consumed.

Yu Miri, The End of August

Translated from the Japanese by Morgan Giles

A review by James Leveque

Yu Miri detects the shocks of Korea’s twentieth century in the deep and wild psychology of her characters.

Itamar Vieira Junior, Crooked Plow

Translated from the Portuguese by Johnny Lorenz

A review by Laura Garmeson

The tongue has the power to make and unmake worlds.

Nonfiction

Socorro Acioli, The Young Lady from a Good Family

Translated from the Portuguese by Silvia Düssel Schiros

You might think that the Young Lady from a Good Family is happy and has no troubles, but you would be sorely mistaken.

Holod, Their mother’s principles

Translated from the Russian by Lindsay Munford

After my mother died, I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Maria Grazia Calandrone, Your Little Matter

Translated from the Italian by Antonella Lettieri

I am writing this book so that my mother might become real.

Almayrah A. Tiburon, Keyboard and Breastfeed

Translated from the Tagalog by Bernard Capinpin

To be a mother is a serious matter.

Kiran Bhat, An Immigrant Tale

Translated from the Kannada by Kiran Bhat

My story has to begin
All the way with the beginning of my people

Drama

Edith Negulici, from Funeral of Hearts

Translated from the Romanian by Marina Sofia

Yes, life is a slut . . . but maybe we are its whores.

Mafalda Bellido Monterde, from The Earth-Eaters

Translated from the Spanish by William Gregory

I know what time is
It’s wedged here inside me
Crushed, contained,
constrained, curtailed

Visual

Gertrudis Rivalta Oliva, That Kind of Silence

Choy-Ping Ní Chléirigh-Ng, Window to Window

Brave New World Literature

Ilya Kaminsky, Reading Dante in Ukraine

Somewhere in Ukraine right now, my friend who publishes books orders printers in the bombed out city of Kharkiv to produce thousands of copies of Inferno.

On Coexistence

Sourav Roy, Fond

Translated from the Hindi by Carol D'Souza

In old ladies besides / children, I have chanced upon / these smiles

Elina Sventsytska, I Write to You from the East

Translated from the Ukrainian by Wendi Bootes

You know, this world—it is not ours, it is just a dull, burning needle / driven into the heart

Nam Le, from 36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem

Give us each day our diacritics—our low and high, fall and rise, our horns and holds

Emmanuela Carbé, Three Mothers

Translated from the Italian by Isabella Livorni

The karavida, the cicada of the seas, has an ancient shell.

Martin Piñol, Push | Pull

Evaporating through the kettle is another way she could have departed.

Jailan Zayan, Sunshine Most Always

Over the years, the muscles of their pasts began to tighten their grip on every choice and decision, exposing the fragility of their union.

Patricio Ferrari, from Mud Songs

the sea / unseas what is not sea

Manuel Rueda, Song of Return to the Promised Land

Translated from the Spanish by Ramon Antonio Victoriano-Martinez

Try to sleep now, / try to give / the only eyelid / to your unfinished dream.

Interview

An Interview with Emily Wilson

It’s a conscious goal of mine to think through and feel my way inside all the characters in the texts I work on.

An Interview with Michael Cronin

Curiosity about the radical difference is why I see translation itself as one of the primary expressions of the desire for knowledge.