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Celebrate Women in Translation Month with 7 Global Stories

Posted on August 01, 2023

Illustration of Ok-sun, from the graphic work "Grass" by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim.

Every August, Women in Translation Month (or #WITMonth) celebrates women's writing from around the world. Want to commemorate the occasion with your students? Read on for a list of literature both written and translated by women on WWB Campus.

  1. "The Guest," by Miral Al-Tahawy, translated by Samah Selim: about an Egyptian Bedouin girl and her beloved, lonely grandmother
  2. "Grass," by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, translated by Janet Hong: a graphic oral history in which a Korean girl leaves home shortly before WWII
  3. "The Beskempir," by Zira Naurzbayeva, translated by Shelley Fairweather-Vega: an essay about a culture clash between a city girl and her traditional grandmother in Kazakhstan
  4. "When My Wife Was A Shiitake," by Kyoko Nakajima, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori: the story of a Japanese widower getting to know his late wife
  5. "Open Hands," by Cheri Lewis, translated by Pamela Carmell: a humorous and surrealistic Panamanian story featuring a home invasion by babies
  6. "Sleepless Homeland," by Carmen Boullosa, translated by Samantha Schnee: a poem that personifies drug war–ravaged Mexico as a woman
  7. "The Vegetarian," by Han Kang, translated by Deborah Smith: a Korean story about a woman's choice

Looking for more reading suggestions? To find many others on this site, just search for "women authors." Or, search for the #WITMonth hashtag on your preferred social media platform.