Posts filed under 'givingtuesday'

A Special Message from our Editor-in-Chief

December 1, 2020  |  in News  |  by Lee Yew Leong

Would you take a few moments to lend support to what Dubravka Ugrešić calls the “global literary miracle”?

Dear reader,

Can we be frank with you this #GivingTuesday? We had high hopes entering this final year of one full decade in world literature, but 2020 has been terrible. Not only did a key team member contract the coronavirus with symptoms persisting till this very day, a record number of staff left because of pandemic-related reasons. Although we had long planned for another edition of our translation contest to mark our tenth anniversary, we couldn’t go through with it in the end. For a while, our future was more uncertain than it had ever been since December 2014, when I sent out a teamwide memo telling my editors not to accept any more new work.

But rally we did, adding thirty-five new team members in August. We showcased literary responses to the coronavirus outbreak at the blog and in our Summer 2020 issue. We brought you a Dutch Literature Feature guest-edited by International Booker Prize-winning Michele Hutchison. We rebooted our podcast and video trailer, launched not one but two Instagram feeds, and even conducted our first live Q&A over Zoom with the translator of our October Book Club selection. We hope to do many more.

For the most part of our ten years, we’ve been happy to stay in the background while lifting others up. But, because it’s been a challenging year and we are not lucky enough to be incorporated in the US and the UK and so didn’t receive any of the relief grants that so many like organizations got, we have to ask: Can you spare us five bucks a month? READ MORE…

A Special Message from Our Editor-in-Chief

December 3, 2019  |  in News  |  by Lee Yew Leong

If this #GivingTuesday inspires you to donate to a cause, let it be Asymptote, the journal that rolls out the red carpet for world literature.

Dear friends,

This giving season, consider throwing in your support for the journal that none other than Dubravka Ugrešić (pictured above) recently called “the global literary miracle.”

In 2019, we brought you never-before-published writing from 70 countries and 44 languages—more than any other Anglophone magazine has unearthed. Though it may seem a miracle on the outside—a journal that puts so many underrepresented voices in conversation with established names like Dubravka Ugrešić and Viet Thanh Nguyen—it takes hard work behind the scenes to uphold both the diversity and the rigor of our content.

Why do we strive to include outsiders? Because we know what it’s like to be an outsider. 

READ MORE…

The Asymptote Book Club Is Here!

November 28, 2017  |  in News  |  by Duncan Lewis and Lee Yew Leong

The best of global literature, delivered to you monthly!

Today, we interrupt our regular programming to bring you some exciting news about a groundbreaking initiative we are launching at Asymptote!

We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our latest project: the Asymptote Book Club—a new way for you and your loved ones to dip into the wealth of world literature! For as little as USD15 each month, receive a new fiction title hot off the presses of the very best independent publishers in the UK and the US, specially curated by the Asymptote team and delivered to your door.

When you sign up for the Book Club, you’re supporting not only Asymptote but also independent publishers by helping them continue to publish the best stories from international authors. Subscribe by December 9th to receive our very first title, shipping in December 2017! We also offer gift subscriptions and group discounts, so think about giving those you love a whole new world of reading this holiday season!

GivingTuesdayblog

As borders of the heart and of the polity continue to thicken and petrify throughout the globe, Asymptote’s cross-cultural mission becomes ever more urgent. 2017 has been an incredible year for us. With readers like you standing behind us, we put together a showcase of Banned Countries’ Literature to fight Trump’s #MuslimBan, gave USD3,000 to six emerging translators through yet another edition of our translation contest, and published 17 Translation Tuesdays at The Guardian. This year has also seen 47 Weekly Dispatches reported from six continents, along with countless reviews and interviews published at the blog. While institutional funding continues to elude us (and we continue to be ineligible for the grants that like organizations in the US or the UK receive), we’ve certainly worked hard to keep bringing you podcasts and educational guides, in addition to massive quarterly issues featuring new writing from upwards of 25 countries per issue.

What better way to end this turbulent year than by pledging your support for free speech, fine literature and meaningful cross-cultural dialogue? If you believe in the importance of our mission, we humbly ask you to pitch in with a one-time contribution or by becoming either an honorary member or a sustaining member. There is still so much more for world literature that we can do with your help. Support Asymptote today!