The Upset Stomachs and Egos of Colonialism—Tierno Monénembo, ‘King of Kahel’, 2008, trans. Nicholas ElliottFebruary 25th, 2020|Country: France, Guinea|Guinean author subverts the traditional colonizer narrative by crafting a tragicomedy about a Frenchman who wanted to be an African king; offers an unflinching look into the mechanics of occupation
Woman, Winter, Work Camp—Guzel Yakhina, ‘Zuleikha,’ trans. Lisa C. HaydenJanuary 26th, 2020|Country: Russia, Tatarstan|A forceful, award-winning and debate-sparking debut novel about life in Gulag through the eyes of a diverse cast of characters, with fierce but timid Tatar woman at the forefront
Nothing Great About Great Britain: Alienation by Belonging in Zia Haider Rahman’s ‘In the Light of What We Know’, 2014January 13th, 2020|Country: Bangladesh, United Kingdom|A debut novel about a man trying to find acceptance despite the class and race separations is dense with thoughts and revelations, steeped in ice-cold loneliness—an outsider's usual bedfellow
Book: Popol Vuh, trans. Michael Bazzett, 2018December 2nd, 2019|Country: Guatemala, USA|The founding narrative of the K’iche’ people is finally available in English verse that delicately frames the glorious adventures of the Maya Hero twins in the underworld and beyond
Book: Patience Agbabi, Telling Tales, 2014October 24th, 2019|Country: Nigeria, United Kingdom|A reimagining of the "Canterbury Tales" with sex, sass and grime rhythms: an electrifying collection of poems from a diverse array of characters conceived by British poet of Nigerian descent
Book: Kamel Daoud, The Meursault Investigation, 2013September 16th, 2019|Country: Algeria|The brother of the unnamed Arab killed by Camus' Meursault is given the stage in this Goncourt-winning novel: a brilliant post-colonial revision of the existential questions posed in "The Stranger"
Book: Zidrou and Aimée de Jongh, Blossoms in Autumn, 2018August 24th, 2019|Country: Belgium, Netherlands|A graphic novel about a romance between two people past their middle age that combines sensuality and complexity: a refreshing, necessary take on modern love and its boundless possibilities
Book: Józef Czapski, Inhuman Land: Searching for the truth in Soviet Russia, 1941-1942August 1st, 2019|Country: Iran, Iraq, Poland, Russia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine|The memoirs of an artist and activist who traveled across USSR in search of Polish POWs during WWII, that give an unflinching account of life in the remote corners of the Soviet empire
Book: Akiyuki Nosaka, The Cake Tree in the Ruins, 1975July 20th, 2019|Country: Japan|A collection of sad and brutally honest short stories that give agency to casualties of WWII in Japan from the author of the story that became the basis for the "Grave of the fireflies" cartoon
Book: Gaston Dorren, Babel, 2018July 11th, 2019|Country: Brazil, Cameroon, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Netherlands, North Korea, Pakistan, Portugal, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Suriname, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tamil Eelam, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, USA, Vietnam|A book of wildly entertaining and illuminating essays on the world’s top 20 languages that celebrates the planet’s differences and similarities in a new way and makes you want to learn a new language
Book: Pierre-Henry Gomont, Malaterre Part 1, Part 2, 2018June 28th, 2019|Country: France|A man tries to reclaim his family's former holdings in one of France's colonies by manipulating his own teenage children in a fantastic double feature written and illustrated by the author
Book: Tom Lanoye, Speechless, 2009June 18th, 2019|Country: Belgium|One of Belgium’s foremost writers makes a hybrid memoir about his larger than life mother, her harrowing illness before death, and him coming out to her in petty bourgeoisie surroundings
Book: Jose Manuel Robledo and Marcial Toledano, Ken Games Series, 2009-2017June 5th, 2019|Country: Spain|A series of graphic novels from the Spanish powerduo about a group of friends who are hiding their real identities even from each other
Book: Su Wei, Invisible Valley, 2006May 25th, 2019|Country: China|A glorious novel of magic, politics and polyamory set in Cultural revolution era rural China
Arundhati Roy’s Freedom to Write Speech, 2019May 14th, 2019|Country: India, Kashmir|Fearless writer talks about finding shelter from the tyranny in literature