This week, we find the world celebrating the voices of both writers and translators. In New York City, a live reading event features the ongoing work of Latin American writers, while in Mexico City, a Chicanx poetry reading tour is inaugurated. In Palestine, the nation mourns the loss of poet and translator Salma Khadra Jayyusi, a brilliant mind who never ceased to advocate for Arabic literature and its translation. Meanwhile, in Madrid, Romanian writing sees the spotlight, and in Barcelona, the literary community proudly reminds the world to name the translator.
Alan Mendoza Sosa, Editor-at-Large, reporting from the United States and Mexico
April has seen many phenomenal community initiatives championing diverse and outstanding writers, both in the U.S. and Mexico.
On Saturday, April 15, I travelled to Queens in New York City to attend a reading at the independent Hispanic bookstore, Librería barco de papel. Aptly held in Jackson Heights, a neighborhood known for its extraordinary cultural diversity, the event featured the most recent work-in-progress of established and emerging Latin American writers. The lineup was a diverse assembly of nationalities, genres, and visions. It included Ruy Feben (Mexico), Margarita Drago (Argentina), Sara Malagón Llano (Colombia), and Nilton Maa (Perú). Their readings touched on pressing topics such as cultural memory and migration, sexuality and friendship, exile and language, and technology and heritage. I found them especially moving as someone from Mexico who has lived abroad for so many years. The atmosphere was joyful and engaging, vitalized by the effervescent hospitality of the event’s organizer and host: Argentinian writer, professor, and community leader Guillermo Severiche. Supported by many institutions, he runs En Construcción, a series of readings and workshops aimed at promoting New York-based Latinx and Latin American writers working in Spanish, Portuguese, Creole, Quechua, or any other languages from the continent. Severiche’s initiative has been celebrated and sponsored by several organizations, among them the magazine Poets & Writers, the Feria Internacional del Libro de la Ciudad de Nueva York, and the New York Foundation for the Arts, which recently awarded him a grant for his upcoming writing project, about birds in New York.
In Mexico City, another marvelous literary event is taking place between April 25-29: the national tour of Mexican and Chicanx poetry, “Speaking in tongues / Hablando en lenguas”, founded, organized, and directed by the internationally acclaimed Mexican poet Minerva Reynosa. The groundbreaking reading series will bring Chicanx poetry to several cities across Mexico, with a lineup including Reynosa and Mexican poet Indira Isel Torres Crux, alongside the Chicanx poets Aideed Medina, Viva Padilla, Josiah Luis Alderete, and Hector Son of Hector. Together they perform a vibrant diversity of styles, perspectives, and languages. Their readings at this momentous festival challenge historical silences (ironically, Latinx poetry is not widely known or read in Mexico) and, crucially, bring people together through joy, community, and the shared passion for poetry.
Carol Khoury, Editor-at-Large for Palestine and the Palestinians, reporting from Palestine
When someone dies at the age of ninety-five, after a full life of internationally renowned accomplishments, summarizing their legacy in a couple hundred words is simply impossible. That is exactly the case with Salma Khadra Jayyusi, who passed away on April 20 in Amman.
A Palestinian poet, writer, and literary critic, Salma’s life presents a fascinating story of an individual dedicated to exploring and celebrating the human experience. At a young age, she began writing poetry that reflected her deep insights into the human condition, often exploring themes of empathy and understanding, highlighting the struggles of her own people—the Palestinians, while also encouraging readers to connect with individuals from different cultures, languages, and backgrounds. Her work touched on a broad range of topics, from love and loss to the joys of everyday life.
In addition to her own writing, Salma Khadra Jayyusi was considered the most prominent anthologist of Arabic Literature in English translation. In 1980, she founded the Project for the Translation of Arabic (PROTA), an Oxford-based publishing house that published over two hundred and fifty books by Arab writers in both English and Arabic. She also served as the editor of several literary journals, including the highly regarded Journal of Arabic Literature. She was recognized with numerous awards from institutions and governments around the world for her central role in shaping the canon of Arabic literature in English translation.
Salma Khadra Jayyusi’s life and work will continue to inspire generations of poets and writers, both in the Arab world and beyond. Her work was a testament to the transformative power of language, and the capacity of poetry to build bridges of empathy and understanding across diverse communities. Her passing is a great loss to the literary world, but her poetry and anthologies will remain a cherished contribution to Arabic literature and translation.
MARGENTO, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Spain
A major international literary event took place just yesterday, April 27, in Madrid: Romanian Letters Day. Multidisciplinary Approaches. Co-organized by the Department of Romance, French, Italian, and Translation Studies and the Romanian Center at Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), the event also involved three Romanian universities alongside embassies, cultural centers and associations, student unions, and literary journals, all based in Spain. The talks ranged from literary and translation studies to (socio-)linguistics to pedagogy to soft power to genuine interdisciplinary subjects—fusing, for instance, literature and musicology. These discussions alternated with bilingual Romanian-Spanish poetry readings (presenting translations of both classic and contemporary Romanian poets in translation), book releases, and literary journal presentations. A special and remarkably rich panel was dedicated to poet, novelist, editor, translator, and essayist Mircea Ciobanu (1940 – 1996). UCM graduate students presented their academic work (including a doctoral project) on Ciobanu’s life and oeuvre, as well as translations (mainly from his poetry), while scholars provided historical and critical overviews.
Another significant event celebrating literature—and particularly literary translation in a diverse Spain—took place a few days ago in Barcelona, the Catalonian capital. “This Sant Jordi Day, Don’t Forget to Name the Translator“ marked the first meeting of the International Federation of Translators Council (FIT), and was organized by the Association of Professional Translators and Interpreters of Catalonia (APTIC) during Sant Jordi (Saint George’s) week, a major traditional Catalonian holiday. The various FIT meetings were scheduled from April 18 through the 20, and they culminated with the above-mentioned special event on the 21, featuring acclaimed Austrian translator Margret Millischer. Millischer and her impactful personality and presence spectacularly contributed to the main message of the event and the federation: the already proverbial invisibility of the translator should belong in the past, while her place is—both literally and figuratively—on the cover. As a timely illustration, the Gabriel García Márquez Library hosting the event took the opportunity to also feature an exhibition of books that featured translators on their covers, displayed alongside The Atlas of Translation and Literature, an online tool listing and offering extensive info on international events related to translation.
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