Only about 3% of all books published in the United States are works in translation. Less than 30% of that tiny percentage are from women writers. And less than half are from languages other than French, Spanish, German, and Italian. English-language readers are being left in the cold when it comes to the extraordinary wealth of women writers from around the world, but not if literary translators can help it!
The Center for the Art of Translation, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and The Ruby proudly host translators Ena Selimović and Mirgul Kali to read from recent translations and talk with historian and writer Daniela Blei about the challenges and successes they've experienced in their efforts to bring literary works from under-translated languages and women writers to English-language readers.
About Ena Selimović
Ena Selimović is a Yugoslav-born writer and co-founder of Turkoslavia, a translation collective and journal. Her work has receivedsupport from ALTA, ACLS, and NEA. She holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Washington University in St. Louis. Her translations of Nebojša Lujanović's Cloud the Color of Skin and Maša Kolanović's Underground Barbie are forthcoming with Fraktura and Sandorf Passage, respectively.
About Mirgul Kali
Mirgul Kali translates from her native Kazakh. Her translations of short stories by classic and contemporary Kazakh writers appeared in Tupelo Quarterly, Electric Literature, Exchanges, The Massachusetts Review, Gulf Coast, and other publications. She received a PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grant and a PEN Translates award for her translation of Baqytgul Sarmekova’s To Hell with Poets, a short story collection recently published by Tilted Axis Press. She holds an MFA in Literary Translation from the University of Iowa, where she was an Iowa Arts Fellow.
About Daniela Blei
Daniela Blei is a historian, book editor, and consultant based in San Francisco. Her writing has appeared in various outlets, including Smithsonian Magazine, the Atlantic, and the Los Angeles Review of Books.
About The Center for the Art of Translation
The Center for the Art of Translation champions literary translation, bringing original voices to readers, and leading students to new ways of thinking by teaching them to translate poetry. The Center's publications, events, and educational programming build audiences for literature in translation, enrich the library of vital literary works, nurture and promote the work of translators, and honor the incredible linguistic and cultural diversity of our schools and our world.
About Los Angeles Review of Books
Los Angeles Review of Books is a magazine covering culture, politics, and the arts. A West Coast publication with a global view, LARB publishes reviews, essays, and interviews online every day, as well as a quarterly print journal, which also features original fiction, poetry, and art.
About The Ruby
The Ruby is a community and collective of women, transfeminine and non-binary artists and writers based in San Francisco’s Mission District. The Ruby’s artists connect, learn, and collaborate through a shared commitment to artistic and social impact pursuits. The Ruby serves to celebrate and enhance the arts ecosystem of San Francisco, by collaborating with mission-aligned local, national, and global arts communities.