by Rebecca Valley
#WITMonth snuck up on me. I was busy tying up all the loose ends from our August 1st launch, and when I finally resurfaced I discovered that my Twitter feed was inundated with a library’s worth of books by ladies from around the world. Among the stacks of recommendations were old favorites like Silvina Ocampo and Isabel Allende, and acquaintances like Han Kang, whose book The Vegetarian has been on my to-read list for months. What truly amazed me, though, was the sheer number of authors I’d never discovered — women whose names I had never heard, whose titles I had yet to uncover.
As this incredible month draws to a close, I wanted to contribute a list of women whose books are currently sitting in our to-be-read stack. Setting aside an entire month to focus our attention on these female authors is a remarkable, world-changing step toward equal representation in literature and beyond, but it’s my hope that by adding a few more books to your reading list at the end of the month, you’ll begin to introduce ladies in translation into your literary repertoire year-round.
Here are some of the translations that I’ll be reading in the next few months. I hope you’ll read along with me, and together we can support these talented women in their efforts to take up more space on the page and on our shelves.
Near to the Wild Heart by Clarice Lispector
Extracting the Stone of Madness by Alejandra Pizarnik
Memories: From Moscow to the Black Sea by Teffi
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