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WWB contributor Liel Leibovitz and Sylvie Simmons discusses her...

Tue, 14 May 2013 10:37:39 -0400

WWB contributor Liel Leibovitz and Sylvie Simmons discusses her book “I’m Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen”. Come read Leibovitz’s Dispatch, “Palestinian Writers in Conversation” in the Dispatches Section of Words without Borders.

Ken Walibora speaks (in Swahili) at the University of Wasta,...

Mon, 06 May 2013 14:42:16 -0400

Ken Walibora speaks (in Swahili) at the University of Wasta, Kenya. Come read his fiction piece “Poor Grandpa” in the May 2013 Issue of Words without Borders.

Before he defected, Jang Jin-sung was Kim Jong-il’s...

Fri, 03 May 2013 10:41:00 -0400

Before he defected, Jang Jin-sung was Kim Jong-il’s favorite court poet.

Here is an excerpt from his poem “Pillow”, published for the first time in English, in our North Korean Defectors Issue of Words without Borders:

With nothing to offer but a bowl of water
For one face-wash
The traders sit here
To sell their poverty

(photo courtesy chathamhouse.org)

An amazing photograph taken in North Korea by our May 2013:...

Wed, 01 May 2013 11:02:39 -0400

An amazing photograph taken in North Korea by our May 2013: North Korean Defectors Issue cover artist Jeremy Hunter (can you guess what it depicts?). Take a look at the other images from this series on Jeremy’s web site.

A Milkweed Editions Book Video for Tamas Dobozy’s...

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 10:12:32 -0400

A Milkweed Editions Book Video for Tamas Dobozy’s “Siege 13”. Come read a review of “Seige 13” by Cynthia-Marie O’Brien in our Words without Borders Dispatches Section.

An interesting little clip (in Arabic) featuring writer Hassan...

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:41:46 -0400

An interesting little clip (in Arabic) featuring writer Hassan Blasim and an evocative musical soundtrack. Come read “The Green Zone Rabbit” by Blasim in the April 2013: Iraq, Ten Years Later Issue of Words without Borders.

An interview (in French and Arabic) with Algerian...

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 10:59:58 -0400

An interview (in French and Arabic) with Algerian reporter, novelist and playwright Mustapha Benfodil. Come read his nonfiction “The Last Six Days of Baghdad” In the April 2013: Iraq, Ten Years Later Issue of Words without Borders.

A Butterfly in New York - Sinan Antoon

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 17:54:00 -0400

I chased it so often
in our Baghdad garden
But it would always fly away…

http://wordswithoutborders.org/article/a-butterfly-in-new-york

(photo courtesy banipal.co.uk)

An excerpt from the documentary film “Voices in...

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 17:47:55 -0400

An excerpt from the documentary film “Voices in Wartime” featuring Sinan Antoon. Come read his poem “A Butterfly in New York” in the April 2013: Writing from Iraq Issue of Words without Borders.

A Hassan Blasim interview (in English) by Comma Press. Come read...

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 13:43:00 -0400

A Hassan Blasim interview (in English) by Comma Press. Come read his fiction piece “The Green Zone Rabbit” in the April 2013: Writing from Iraq Issue of Words without Borders.

Images from the website of Jamal Penjweny, an Iraqi Kurdish...

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 10:05:00 -0400

Images from the website of Jamal Penjweny, an Iraqi Kurdish artist who took the cover photo for our April 2013: Writing from Iraq Issue of Words without Borders.

“El Aullido”, a short film by Frederic Amat. Come...

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 10:05:23 -0400

“El Aullido”, a short film by Frederic Amat. Come see his piece “Las Mil y una Noches nº30”, the cover art for our March 2013: Spain’s Great Untranslated Issue of Words without Borders.

A discussion with Zygmunt Miłoszewski in Polish

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 16:43:27 -0400

http://youtu.be/jhBxbWbAeiw

Come read an interview with Zygmunt in the Dispatches section of Words without Borders.

Stories from “The Hedgehog” by Syrian Zakariya Tamer

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:00:07 -0400

from Zakariya’s My Invisible Friend in our march Issue:

“I placed my right ear against the trunk of the bitter orange tree, but I didn’t hear its heart throb and beat. And I said to myself that the orange tree was asleep, and it was surely very different from us, because when the tree slept, its heart slept as well.

My tree is asleep.”

From "Under the Sign of Anaximander" by Miquel de Palol

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:00:00 -0400

Under the Sign of Anaximander from our March Issue:

“With God dead, His attributes have been hacked into pieces and distributed among us in this carnage of existence. Performance: media stars. Power: bankers. Being in itself: Art. Where among these would you say that you fit?”

I pretended to be buried in deepest thought.

“In Art, maybe?”

They burst into laughter. “I told you so. Another total waste.”

from Blackness - by Syrian poet Lukman Derky

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:00:00 -0400

Blackness - in our March Issue:

“We who were killed

And our mothers were not allowed to cry for us

So they ululated

They were not allowed to mourn

So they wore colorful wild flowers

We who …

When someone dies

On his bed

Under his physician’s scalpel

His eyes never having seen the battlefield

They drag us from the Unknown Soldier monument

They extract tears from our mothers’ dried eyes

They throw black on them

They rouse us from our graves

And force us to walk in the martyr’s procession”

Two great books from our Words without Borders Book Review...

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 09:03:00 -0400

Two great books from our Words without Borders Book Review section: Amélie Nothomb’s “Life Form” and Yoko Ogawa’s “Revenge”.

Pere Gimferrer, one of the poets in our March 2013:...

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 20:30:00 -0400

Pere Gimferrer, one of the poets in our March 2013: Spain’s Great Untranslated Issue.

Video of Pere Gimferrer from Canal-L. Come read an excerpt from...

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 20:24:00 -0400

Video of Pere Gimferrer from Canal-L. Come read an excerpt from his poem “Rhapsody” in the March 2013: Spain’s Great Untranslated issue of Words without Borders.

Video

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 09:52:16 -0500