As we inch closer to the Booker International and EBRD prize announcements and congratulate Norman Erikson Pasaribu & Tiffany Tsao for their Republic of Consciousness Award, we wanted to take a breath and find out what our nominated and award-winning authors are reading. Itâs an incredible list - youâll definitely hit up the indie bookshops after this!
More soon with news and photos from Norman Erikson Pasaribuâs thought provoking (and ridiculously fun) UK tour of Happy Stories, Mostly (translated by Tiffany Tsao).
Finally, continue reading internationally and intersectionally with the highly anticipated Chinatown by Thuáşn (translated by Nguyáť
n An LĂ˝). A Republic of Consciousness Book of the Month for June, you can pre-order it here or join the club and receive an early copy of the book đ
Much love,
TAP x
ANTON HUR, translator of Booker International Prize-longlisted Sang Young Park's Love in the Big City and Booker International-shortlisted Bora Chung's Cursed Bunny.
Which three seminal books which have been translated to English would you recommend to people interested in learning about Korean culture?
The Girl Who Wrote Loneliness by Kyung-Sook Shin, translated by Hayun Jung, is the most important Korean novel to emerge from post-war Korea; it really encapsulates the whole country in one book. The Vegetarian by Han Kang, translated by Deborah Smith, is also a pivotal book that changed the face of Korean literature when it won the inaugural International Booker in 2016, and its feminist message is more important than ever today, not just in Korea. For a different vibe, I recommend Iâm Waiting for You by Kim Bo-young, translated by Sophie Bowman and Sung Ryu, a great work of SF romance and metaphysics that seems to have been overlooked upon publication. All three are great reads.
Classic translated book youâd recommend & a translated book from the past 10 years.
Thereâs a new translation of Albert Camusâ The Plague by Laura Marris that I enjoyed recently, it was much clearer than the edition I had to study from in high school. Jeffrey Zuckermanâs translation of Silence of the Chagos by Shanez Patel was shocking to me because I had no idea such an incident had occurred and was ongoing in my lifetime, and the beauty of the writing and translation makes it even more heartbreaking.
SANG YOUNG PARK, author of Booker International Prize-longlisted Love in the Big City.
Whatâs your earliest reading memory?
Back when I was a child, as now, Korean parents have this thing where they buy their home a set of âworld classicsâ for their children (and for interior decorating purposes). As a little boy, I began reading Agatha Christie mysteries, Sherlock Holmes, and Lupin by the set. Eventually I realised that reading about jealousy, slander, and murder were not exactly conducive to the moral development of young children. But it also gave me a taste for other worlds. I moved on to other classics that were lying around the house: Little Women, Wuthering Heights, The Sadness of Young Werther, The Count of Monte Christo, Lady Chatterleyâs Lover, and Jekyll and Hyde. These books shaped my very emotions. And it was through Park Wanseoâs work that I became acquainted with Korean literature in earnest.
What authors have made the biggest impact to your work?
Park Wanseo.
Tell us about a book that changed your life.
I studied French Literature for my university degree. Reading Annie Ernauxâs Simple Passion and Marguerite Durasâ The Lover in the same semester was like having my whole life split into two. I was overjoyed that such literature and such writing were even possible, and it fed my desire to become someone who could create such literature.
TIFFANY TSAO, translator of Booker International Prize-longlisted Norman Erikson Pasaribu's Happy Stories, Mostly.
Which three seminal books which have been translated to English would you recommend to people interested in learning about Indonesian culture?
To be honest, I am not fond of questions like this: I donât think the goal of reading books from a country should be to learn more about that countryâs cultureâthere are cultural guidebooks for that sort of thing. And I feel âseminalâ is a big burden to bear.
But I can recommend three things translated from Indonesian into English that are not my top three but a few of the many I think people should read: 1) the Buru Quartet by Pramoedya Ananta Toer, translated by Max Lane (which is actually four booksâŚpeople often stop after the first one, but I think itâs important to read all the books); 2) not a book, but an online series of Indonesian fiction and poetry that I co-edited with the writer Eliza Vitri Handayani for the arts organization InterSastra. The series is called Unrepressed and showcases work that explores themes that are often sidelined, suppressed, or considered taboo in Indonesia. Iâm very proud to have co-edited it. The series features emerging writers and translators alongside more established ones and sheds light on the different and diverse challenges that people all across the archipelago face. 3) People From Bloomington by Budi Darma, which I confess I translated but am super excited about, and which is coming out in mid-April. Itâs about people who live in Bloomington, Indianaâand just shows that Indonesian writing can defy foreign expectations.
Classic translated book youâd recommend & a translated book from the past 10 years.
Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin (I read the translation by David Hawkes and John Minford). From the past 10 years: Arid Dreams by Duanwad Pimwana, translated by Mui Poopoksakul.
NORMAN ERIKSON PASARIBU, author of Booker Prize-longlisted Happy Stories, Mostly.
3 books that have been written in Indonesian, translated into English that you recommend to readers to introduce them to the culture of the country youâre from.
The first one is not a book, as it is available online for free. CERITRANS is a project that highlighted fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from Indonesian transwomen. It has my translation of a beautiful poem by Rari Rahmat. Sanggar Swara, a transwomen collective, collaborated with InterSastra for this project. So, when people ask, âCan the subaltern speak?â We can answer: if you let us.
Sitor Situmorangâs Oceans of Longing (trans. Harry Aveling, Keith Foulcher, Brian Russell Roberts) that came from the Thai publisher Silkworm a few years ago. His short story âMother Goes to Heavenâ is one of my favorite pieces of writing; it exposes the complex pull-and-pull relationship between Christianity and the Batak beliefs and traditions. A few days ago, Tiffany told me that Ashadi Siregarâs Rejection was recently published by Penguin SEA in Jennifer Lindsayâs translation. Rejection (Menolak Ayah) is an ambitious historical novel about the regional conflict in North Sumatera a few years after the Indonesian Independence.
I love anything that Erni Aladjai wrote. With the brilliant Chogwa magazine, we once published multiple English translations of a poem from Erni. Erni has a novel available in English, Kei (translated by Nurhayat Indriyatno Mohamed), which was published by Dalang Publishing. Kei speaks about the religious conflict in Kei island, a small island in Maluku. Here, fiction resists the state-framed narratives about the lives and deaths in Eastern Indonesia.
What other books would you like to see Happy Stories, Mostly sit beside on a bookshelf?
The Vegetarian! (by Han Kang, translated by Deborah Smith) Itâs one of my favorite books of all time, and why I really wanted to work with Tilted Axis. Also: Mary Szybistâs Incarnadine, Claudia Rankineâs Citizen, Ellen van Neervenâs Comfort Food. And, itâd be an honor to sit with these brilliant books from home: I Am My Own Home by Isyana Artharini (that every single single-person should read), Ziggy Zezsyazeoviennazabrizkieâs Semua Ikan di Langit, and Tiffany Tsaoâs The Majesties. And oh so many more!
GEETANJALI SHREE, author of Booker International Prize-shortlisted Tomb of Sand.
3 books that have been written in Hindi, translated into English that you recommend to readers to introduce them to the culture of the country youâre from.
Maila Anchal, Rag Darbari, Dil-o-Danish.
What other books would you like to see Tomb of Sand sit beside on a bookshelf?
Dil-o-Danish, Aadha Gaanv, Angan, Basti, The Old Man and the Sea, Don Quixote, Tin Drum, Soul Mountain, The Colour Purple, Waiting for the Barbarians, Independent People, and, with indescribable trepidation, the Mahabharat.
DAISY ROCKWELL, translator of Booker International Prize-shortlisted Tomb of Sand.
Which three seminal books which have been translated to English would you recommend to people interested in learning about Hindi culture?
Hindi is a language, one among many in India, so there is no specific âHindi culture,â per se. But to learn about Hindi literature, I would recommend the following three translations, shamelessly including one of my own: 1) Raag Darbari, by Shrilal Shukla (translated by Gillian Wright); 2) This is not that Dawn, by Yashpal (translated by Anand); A Gujarat here, a Gujarat there, by Krishna Sobti (translated by me).
Classic translated book youâd recommend & a translated book from the past 10 years.
Contemporary work: The Walls of Delhi, by Uday Prakash (translated by Jason Grunebaum); classic work: Falling Walls, by Upendranath Ashk (translated by me).
HAMID ISMAILOV, author of EBRD Prize-shortlisted Manaschi.
Classic translated book youâd recommend & a translated book from the past 10 years.
Andrey Platonov, Soul; Serhiy Zhadan, The Orphanage;
3 books that have been written in Uzbek, translated into English that you recommend to readers to introduce them to the culture of the country youâre from.
Abdulla Qodiriy, Bygone Days, Cho'lpon, Night and Day; Erkin A'zam, Heirs to the Great Sinner, Sheikh San'on