Best summer books of 2026: Fiction in translationÁngel Gurría-Quintana selects some of his best international mid-year reads Jun 18 26June 18, 2026Article at Financial Times
Taiwan Travelogue — a Booker-longlisted novel on the tricks of translationAt the heart of Yáng Shuāng-zǐ’s rich, heady book is the uneasy bond between a Japanese author and her Taiwanese interpreter Mar 06 26March 06, 2026Article at Financial Times
False War by Carlos Manuel Álvarez — a meditation on migrationThe second novel by the New York-based Cuban writer deals with issues of exile and dissidence through the eyes of several émigrés Sep 23 25September 23, 2025Article at Financial Times
Childish Literature — reflections on the joys and fears of parentingAlejandro Zambra explores the ups and downs of fatherhood in this collection of essays, poems and stories Dec 13 24December 13, 2024Article at Financial Times
Eurotrash — unearthing a family’s collaboration and complacencyA mother-and-son road trip is propelled by guilt and unease in Christian Kracht’s hilariously unsettling novel Dec 06 24December 06, 2024Article at Financial Times
Best books of 2024: Fiction in translationÁngel Gurría-Quintana selects his must-read titles Nov 20 24November 20, 2024Article at Financial Times
Best summer books of 2024: Fiction in translationÁngel Gurría-Quintana selects his best mid-year reads Not a River by Selva Almada, translated by Annie McDermott (Charco Press) Shortlisted for the 2024 International Booker Prize, Almada’s unsettling novel follows three men on a fishing trip,… Jun 20 24June 20, 2024Article at Financial Times
Clean by Alia Trabucco Zerán — seeking meaning in the menialSocial ills and unrest in modern-day Chile play out in a tense and tragic story of a put-upon domestic worker In her critically acclaimed non-fiction work When Women Kill (2022) Chilean writer Alia Trabucco Zerán investigated real-life murders… Jun 13 24June 13, 2024Article at Financial Times
This Strange Eventful History — Claire Messud’s magnificent, multi-layered sagaBased on the author’s own family history, this continent-hopping novel chronicles the relentless march of time and the people swept up by it Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The American… May 23 24May 23, 2024Article at Financial Times
Change — Édouard Louis’s imitation gameIn his latest volume of auto-fiction, the French literary sensation narrates a ruthless quest to disown his working-class roots A decade ago, The End of Eddy took France’s literary scene by storm. The harrowing account of a working-class childhood in… Mar 08 24March 08, 2024Article at Financial Times
You Dreamed of Empires — a colonial encounter reimaginedÁlvaro Enrigue revisits Spain’s conquest of Mexico through the eyes of Cortés, the conquistadors and the vanquished natives Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Like the fall of Constantinople in… Jan 04 24January 04, 2024Article at Financial Times
Best books of 2023 — Fiction in translationThe Living and the Rest by José Eduardo Agualusa, translated by Daniel Hahn (MacLehose) A group of writers attending a literary festival on the Island of Mozambique find themselves stranded when a cyclone cuts them off from the mainland. Unable to… Nov 15 23November 15, 2023Article at Financial Times
Crooked Plow by Itamar Vieira Junior — the lost voicesDeep in the backlands of Brazil’s north-east, Bibiana and Belonísia, young daughters of indentured farmworkers, make an astonishing discovery: in a suitcase hidden beneath their grandmother’s bed is an old, mysterious knife. Entranced by the glint of… Jul 20 23July 20, 2023Article at Financial Times
Best summer books of 2023: Fiction in translationThe Drinker of Horizons by Mia Couto, translated by David Brookshaw (World Editions/Farrar Straus and Giroux) Couto’s “Sands of the Emperor” trilogy, an epic account of Portugal’s rapaciousness in Mozambique, comes to an end as its protagonists —… Jun 21 23June 21, 2023Article at Financial Times
Best books of 2021: Fiction in translationBrickmakers by Selva Almada, translated by Annie McDermott, Charco Press £9.99/Graywolf Press $16.99 In a deserted amusement park in Argentina, two men lie dying in the aftermath of a knife-fight. Through masterfully managed flashbacks, Almada… Nov 19 21November 19, 2021Article at Financial Times
Summer books of 2021: Fiction in translationThe Republic of False Truths by Alaa al-Aswany, translated by SR Fellowes, Faber £16.99/Knopf $28.95 Banned in the author’s home country, this fictionalised account of 2011’s Egyptian revolution serves up a chorus of voices — a corrupt general, a… Jun 22 21June 22, 2021Article at Financial Times
Best books of 2020: Fiction in translationThe Wondrous and Tragic Life of Ivan and Ivana, by Maryse Condé, translated by Richard Philcox, World Editions, RRP£12.99, 368 pagesWritten in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris, this picaresque romp tracks the journey of twins Ivan… Nov 20 20November 20, 2020Article at Financial Times
Summer books of 2020: Fiction in translationShokoofeh Azar, Europa Editions, RRP£13.99/$18 The first novel in Farsi to be shortlisted for the International Booker Prize brings a touch of magic realism to 1980s Tehran. Banned in Iran (the translator remains anonymous for safety reasons), it… Jun 27 20June 27, 2020Article at Financial Times
Best books of 2019: Fiction in translationThe Society of Reluctant Dreamers, by José Eduardo Agualusa, translated by Daniel Hahn, Harvill Secker, RRP£14.99 When Daniel Benchimol finds a camera containing photos of the woman he has been seeing in his dreams, he sets off on a journey of… Nov 22 19November 22, 2019Article at Financial Times
Summer books of 2019: Fiction in translation Rain: And Other Stories, by Mia Couto, translated by Eric MB Becker, Biblioasis, RRP$14.95 A charming collection of short stories from Mozambique’s master storyteller. Set mostly in the aftermath of his country’s long civil war, the stories capture… Jun 21 19June 21, 2019Article at Financial Times
