Vladimir Vertlib, for instance, made it to Austria from his native Russia via Israel, the Netherlands, the US, and Italy, where his novel excerpt is set. Frequent contributor Jonas Hassen Khemiri, a writer of Tunisian and Swedish descent, not only led the writing workshop from which Candil's moving and Joe Brainard-inspired piece sprang, he also graces us with an excerpt from his latest play, which addresses the suspicion and paranoia those that look different are faced with in cities haunted by terrorism. In nonfiction, meanwhile, the dark documentary photography of Bénédicte Kurzen is paired with Prix Goncourt winner Jonathan Littell's report on the Ugandan military's search for stray soldiers of Joseph Kony's LRA, an army made up of kidnapped children now scattered and stateless among the wilderness bordering Congo and South Sudan.

The rest of our issue hails from places as diverse as Palestine (poems by Yousef el Qedra) and Thailand (a short story from S.E.A. Write Awardee Prabda Yoon), and deals with translating Oulipo-master Raymond Queneau and surveying the state of Bulgarian poetry, among other matters. In our visual section, a poem by Rimbaud is turned into a short film in Korean as directed by the Spanish artist Rafaël. There is the clipped and conceptual work of Russian poet Lev Rubinstein and a novella excerpt from Marianne Fritz, a reclusive Austrian author who once published a 3,392-page book that was as admired by Jelinek and Sebald as it was reviled by Bernhard. An essay by her translator, contributing editor Adrian West, introduces her to our voracious readers.

In the spirit of the northern-hemispheric spring, animals amble through this issue like gawky foals through blushing fields, appearing as little zebras in the work of Serbian poet Ana Ristović, as Cindy the clover-chewing cow in a cycle by Sébastien Smiroua, as a stone ox in Sun Yisheng's Brothers Grimm-like fable, as a tiger caged in a Tokyo mall, and—more ominously—as a newborn three-headed Easter lamb in a poem by Sándor Kányádi. All is illustrated by the swirling watercolors of guest artist Hidetoshi Yamada.

If you were lucky enough to attend one of our eight anniversary events (see the new Events page for full-on photo, podcast or even video documentation), you know all about our latest funding drive, aiming to collect $10,000 by the end of April so that we can continue bringing you great writing from around the world and organize a second edition of our 'Close Approximations' translation competition. Please take a moment to donate anything you might be willing to spare, spread the word about this funding drive, and check out our Recruitment page, where we list the positions in the worldwide team of Asymptote volunteers that are still open. (Deadline: 21 Apr or until filled.) We hope you enjoy the issue!