Asymptote

Asymptote, honored with the International Literary Translation Initiative Award at the 2015 London Book Fair, stands out as the leading platform for global literature in translation. Our name draws inspiration from a dotted line in math that represents a function approaching a value it never quite touches. In the same way, a translated work can never fully capture the essence of the original text; it represents a unique act of creativity in its own right.

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Crushing Millennial Ennui: Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico

4 weeks ago | asymptotejournal.com | Vincenzo Latronico |Sophie Hughes

Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, translated from the Italian by Sophie Hughes, Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2025In the early 2010s, a specific gastronomic corner of the internet flourished alongside the rise of the Instagram aesthetic; food blogging evolved beyond sites run by home cooks from around the world, and social media brought its democratization to full swing. I too was among the converted.
Translation Tuesday: “Katherine” by Ling Shuhua

Jan 14, 2025 | asymptotejournal.com | Lo Wen Yu

For this week’s Translation Tuesday, we bring you a short story by Ling Shuhua, translated from the Chinese by Nicky Harman. The Wu family has escaped to the mountains for their holiday, but their tranquil lifestyle belies the turmoil brewing around them—they’re in 1920s-1930s China. For Katherine, the youngest daughter, every day is a battle with her status-conscious mother, who is intent on shaping her children according to trendy Western sensibilities.
What’s New in Translation: January 2025

Jan 13, 2025 | asymptotejournal.com | Can Xue |Karen Gernant |Chen Zeping |Alain Mabanckou

In the first month of 2025, the offerings of world literature are as rich as ever. To help you on your year of reading, here are ten titles we’re most excited about—a new translation of a stargazing Greek classic; the latest from China’s most lauded avant-gardist; a rediscovered Chilean novel of queer love and revolution; a soaring, urgent compilation of Palestinian voices; surrealism and absurdism from an Italian short story master—and many more.
The Burden of Bearing Witness: In Conversation with Burmese Poets

Nov 27, 2024 | asymptotejournal.com | James Byrne

In the following essay, Charlie Robertshaw analyses the influence of Myanmar’s civil war on Burmese poetry, interrogating the expectation for writers and poets to bear “witness” to atrocities. Robertshaw concludes the essay in dialogue with eight Burmese poets, discussing the advent of the internet, gender and sexuality, and censorship in Myanmar’s literary scene.
What’s New in Translation: September 2024

Sep 16, 2024 | asymptotejournal.com | Mariana Enríquez |Megan McDowell |Karen Emmerich |Kalia Papadaki

When we first started the What’s New in Translation column in 2015, it was to offer readers a look at the incredible work done by writers, translators, and publishers all around the world. Gathering some of the most exciting publications coming out each month, the column featured regular reviews from trusted critical voices, giving the spotlight over to this great wealth of literary work.
Announcing Our August Book Club Selection: Mammoth by Eva Baltasar - Asymptote Blog

Aug 29, 2024 | asymptotejournal.com | Eva Baltasar |Julia Sanches

In the latest from lauded Catalan author Eva Baltasar, an animal desire is on the rise. Tired of the city, her studies, and the vacuity of contemporary life, the young protagonist of Mammoth seeks out a supposedly simpler provincial existence, and is willing to do anything to get there. Through both physical and psychological extremes, Baltasar’s heightened portrait is both shocking and absorbing, reflecting the chaos of an ego that vibrates with desire and spirals against expectation.
Announcing Our July Book Club Selection: Paul Celan and the Trans-Tibetan Angel by Yoko Tawada

Jul 31, 2024 | asymptotejournal.com | Yoko Tawada |Susan Bernofsky

Yoko Tawada’s latest novel, Paul Celan and the Trans-Tibetan Angel, presents us with the anatomy of a mind consumed by passion for a dead poet’s oeuvre. Ostensibly narrating the tale of a literary scholar mired in pandemic-era depression, the text expands into a reflection on various forms of friendship—and, one might venture, redemption—that might inhere between readers.
Announcing our June Book Club selection: Tongueless by Lau Yee-Wa

Jun 27, 2024 | asymptotejournal.com | Lau Yee-Wa |Jennifer Feeley

Lau Yee-Wa’s Tongueless was published before the 2019 pro-democracy protests that saw two million people take to the streets in Hong Kong, but its prescient atmosphere of psychological horror and brilliantly embedded language politics anticipated the curtailing of Hong Kong’s linguistic and social liberties after 2020. Demonstrating Lau’s percipience and sensitivity, Tongueless is a timely and vital addition to the growing corpus of Hongkongese literature available in English.
A Trace of Justice: On At Rest in the Cherry Orchard by Azher Jirjees

Jun 17, 2024 | asymptotejournal.com | Jonathan Wright |Azher Jirjees

At Rest in the Cherry Orchard by Azher Jirjees, translated from the Arabic by Jonathan Wright, Banipal Books, 2024. In 2005, Journalist Azher Jirjees published Terrorism. . . Earthly Hell, an irreverent study of terrorist militias in Iraq, against the backdrop of an expectant country. That same year, elections were held, and a constitution drafted. Subsequently, Jirjees was the target of an assassination attempt and escaped Iraq, first to Syria, then to Morocco, before settling in Norway.
What’s New in Translation: June 2024

Jun 10, 2024 | asymptotejournal.com | Eric Hazan |David Fernbach

Exciting destinations are in your future with these selections from some of the most delightful new publications in world literature. Futaro Yamada takes us back to nineteenth century Japan with a scintillating mystery of imperial intrigue and murderous plots; and Eric Hazan takes us along the streets and districts of a Paris as seen by one of its most vital figures: Honoré de Balzac.