Words Without Borders: The World Through the Eyes of Writers: An Anthology

Featuring the work of more than 28 writers from upwards of 20 countries, Words Without Borders: The World through the Eyes of Writers transports us to the frontiers of the new literature for the twenty-first century.In these pages, some of the most accomplished writers in world literature–among them Edwidge Danticat, Ha Jin, Cynthia Ozick, Javier Marias, and Nobel laureates Wole Soyinka, Günter Grass, Czeslaw Milosz, Wislawa Szymborska, and Naguib Mahfouz–have stepped forward to introduce us to dazzling literary talents virtually unknown to readers of English. Most of their work–short stories, poems, essays, and excerpts from novels–appears here in English for the first time. The Chilean writer Ariel Dorfman introduces us to a story of extraordinary poise and spiritual intelligence by the Argentinian writer Juan Forn. The Romanian writer Norman Manea shares with us the sexy, sinister, and thrillingly avant garde fiction of his homeland’s leading female novelist. The Indian writer Amit Chaudhuri spotlights the Bengali writer Parashuram, whose hilarious comedy of manners imagines what might have happened if Britain had been colonized by Bengal. And Roberto Calasso writes admiringly of his fellow Italian Giorgio Manganelli, whose piece celebrates the Indian city of Madurai.Every piece here–be it from the Americas, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, or the Caribbean–is a discovery, a colorful thread in a global weave of literary exchange.Edited by Samantha Schnee, Alane Salierno Mason, and Dedi FelmanContents:Introduction by Andre Dubus IIIWhere are you running to? by Ma JianMeteorite mountain by Can XueLooking for the elephant by Jo Kyung RanChildren of the sky by Seno Gumira AjidarmaThe scripture read backward by ParashuramThe unfinished game by Goli TaraghiThe day in Buenos Aires by Jabbar Yussin HussinTwo poems by Saniyya SalehFaint hints of tranquillity by Adania ShibliShards of reality and glass by Hassan KhaderDrowsy haze by Gamal Al-GhitaniThe uses of English by Akinwumi Isolafrom Provisional by Gabriela AdamesteanuTwo poems by Senadin Musabegovićfrom Experiment with India by Giorgio Manganellifrom The fish of Berlin by Eleonora HummelSeven poems by Bronisław Majfrom His majesty, almighty Death by Myriam Anissimovfrom October 27, 2003 by Etel AdnanVietnam. Thursday by Johan HarstadLightweight champ by Juan VilloroThe sheika's condition by Mario BellatinWhen I was a man by Ambar Pastfrom Revulsion by Horacio Castellanos MoyaThe Chareron inheritance by Evelyne Trouillotfrom Kind's silence by Marcela SoláBaked mud by Juan José SaerSwimming at night by Juan Forn