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What we’re reading for Women in Translation Month

As August draws to a close, so does Women in Translation Month. WIT Month is an annual celebration of women* writers and translators (*and transgender and nonbinary and intersex individuals) from around the world, working in languages other than English. Here at Scribe, we have so many incredible translated works in our catalogue, and we'd love to share some of our team's favourite reads this month. 

Reservoir Bitches by Dahlia de la Cerda (trans. Julia Sanches, Heather Cleary)

‘My body read Dahlia de la Cerda’s Reservoir Bitches and didn’t hold back in its response. I felt elated, hungry, wired, sick-to-my-stomach, my organs hurt, I felt paranoid, murderous, I bayed for blood, I fell in love. All I can say is read this book and give yourself up to these women’s wild, hurtling stories.’ - Sophia, Publicity

Owlish by Dorothy Tse (trans. Natascha Bruce)

‘Owlish is everything I love about weird female fiction. It's abstract, challenging, moving, and sensorily confounding. I love the explorations of desire and power, backdropped by the fantastical and suffocating friction of an illusory Hong Kong.’ - Nishtha, Marketing 

What I'd Rather Not Think About by Jente Posthuma (trans. Sarah Timmer Harvey)

‘What I’d Rather Not Think About is a remarkable novel, capturing the heartbreak of grief, powerfully evoking the enduring bond between twins, and suffusing it all with insight and humour that shines through even in the darkest moments.’ - Chris, Marketing

Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung (trans. Anton Hur)

‘Cursed Bunny is a book of special delights for short-story readers. You’ll know from the first page if it’s for you, and if it is then you’re in for a rare treat of tales ranging from messy confrontations with embodiment to experiments in wild surmise, all rendered precisely and with great humanity by Chung and translated in perfect style by Hur.’ - David, Editorial

Brothers and Ghosts by Khuê Phạm (trans. Daryl Lindsey, Charles Hawley)

‘Brothers and Ghosts is the story of Kiều who grew up in Germany, and changed her name to Kim as it’s easier for Germans/Europeans to pronounce. Kim knows little about her other relatives as they’re scattered all over the world, however a family trip to the US for her grandmother's funeral changes this as it opens up many questions about the past and reveals a confronting truth. Brothers and Ghosts is a lovely novel by Khuê Phạm, a Vietnamese German writer from Berlin. This book is loosely based on her own family. I love that Scribe champions Women in Translation. Being originally from Germany myself and living in Australia, I’m excited to be part of the team that introduces Australian readers to the many amazing books from all over the world that we would never get the chance to read were they not translated into English.’ - Tina, Publicity

Scribe is running a 20% sale on selected Women in Translation titles for the rest of August. Use the code WIT24 at checkout. 

Reservoir Bitches

A debut linked story collection of gritty, streetwise, and wickedly funny fiction from Mexico.

Life’s a bitch. That’s why you gotta rattle her cage, even if she’s foaming at the mouth.

In the linked stories of Reservoir Bitches, thirteen Mexican women prod the bitch that is Life as they fight, sew, skirt, cheat, cry, and lie their way through their tangled circumstances. From the all-powerful daughter of a cartel boss to the victim of transfemicide, from a houseful of spinster seamstresses to a socialite who supports her politician husband by faking Indigenous roots, these women spit on their own…

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Owlish

A professor falls in love with a mechanical ballerina in a mordant and uncanny fable of contemporary Hong Kong.

In the mountainous city of Nevers, there lives a professor of literature called Q. He has a dull marriage and a lacklustre career, but also a scrumptious collection of antique dolls locked away in his cupboard. And soon Q lands his crowning acquisition: a music box ballerina named Aliss who tantalisingly springs to life. Guided by his mysterious friend Owlish and inspired by an inexplicably familiar painting, Q embarks on an all-consuming love affair with Aliss, oblivious to the sinister forces…

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What I’d Rather Not Think About

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE

What if one half of a pair of twins no longer wants to live? What if the other can’t live without them?

This question lies at the heart of Jente Posthuma’s deceptively simple What I’d Rather Not Think About. The narrator is a twin whose brother has recently taken his own life. She looks back on their childhood, and tells of their adult lives: how her brother tried to find happiness, but lost himself in various men and the Bhagwan movement, though never completely.

In brief, precise vignettes, full of gentle melancholy and surprising humour, Posthuma…

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Cursed Bunny

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE AND WINNER OF A PEN/HEIM TRANSLATION GRANT.

A woman is haunted by her own bodily waste. A pregnant woman is told she must find a father for her unborn baby or face horrific consequences. A young monster, forced to fight, discovers the extent of his power.

This genre-defying collection of short stories blurs the lines between magical realism, horror, and science fiction. Using elements of the fantastic and surreal, Chung exposes the very real horrors and cruelties of patriarchy and capitalism in modern society, gliding effortlessly from terrifying to wryly…

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Brothers and Ghosts

A young woman, torn between two cultures, belonging to neither. A family, torn apart by a war they had no choice about.

Kiều calls herself Kim because it’s easier for Europeans to pronounce. She knows little about her Vietnamese family’s history until she receives a Facebook message from her estranged uncle in America, telling her that her grandmother is dying. Her father and uncle haven’t spoken since the end of the Vietnam War. One brother supported the Vietcong, while the other sided with the Americans.

When Kiều and her parents travel to America to join the rest of the family in California…

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Bora Chung

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What I’d Rather Not Think About

Jente Posthuma

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Cursed Bunny

Bora Chung

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Owlish

Dorothy Tse

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Brothers and Ghosts

Khuê Ph?m

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Reservoir Bitches

Dahlia de la Cerda

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