We do not know if
Orpheus really existed. Yet a gesture from his legend, the gaze of Orpheus or
Eurydice’s disappearance, is to us more poetically electrifying and tragic than
the particular details constructed around his possible existence. That moment,
that passionate synecdoche where Blanchot situates...
An Excerpt from Guyana by Élise Turcotte, translated by Rhonda Mullins
I needed to save my energy for the after-dinner chess game, but I couldn’t get Kimi’s smiling face out of my mind. I poured myself a drink, hiding it from Philippe’s view. If I could have, I would have locked myself in the bathroom to drink it. Having a glass of wine, then two, and then three… I had...
Clear Vision: Zachariah Wells on Goran Simic's From Sarajevo, with Sorrow
Deceptively simple: the shopworn phrase of the blurbing alchemist who would gild a leaden text with an effortless attribution of hidden complexity. Deceptive simplicity is often attempted and often diagnosed but rarely achieved. The world has many more Rod McKuens than Robert Frosts. Deceptively simple...
BTBA BYTES: Sentences from the Best Translated Book Award Longlist
Since 2008, the announcement of Three Percent's Best Translated Book Award has become something of an annual event for readers of literature in translation. This year's longlist, announced March 11th, is no exception: it reads like a veritable Who's Who of international literature. Weighing in at...
