Spring 2024

Editor's Note

Approaching the event horizon of a tumultuous year, we’re proud to bring you Vanishing Point, our Fall 2020 edition, featuring new writing from 32 countries and a Dutch Special Feature made possible by the Dutch Foundation for Literature and curated by guest editor Michele Hutchison, recently announced co-winner of the International Booker Prize. Just as a vanishing point is the nexus upon which receding parallels converge, so too is literature the portal through which discrete reading selves dissolve into a pure experience of “the other,” as Andrés Neuman reminds us in an exclusive interview. Within these pages, alterity manifests in dizzyingly myriad forms, from Chechen-Russian documentarian Polina Zherebtsova to exiled Uyghur poet Tahir Hamut. Also speaking from displacement are heavyweights like Ariana Harwicz responding to the pandemic with an apocalyptic aria, and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore pricking the emptiness of abandonment, “Who belonged to whom in this world?” This question finds an enjoinder in Itō Hiromi’s essay Living Trees and Dying Trees, where the distinction between wrinkled bark and wrinkled skin breaks down in a meditation on life through the prism of change.

Such impossibility of fixity is a central theme running through our spotlight on contemporary Dutch literature illustrated by guest artist Eliza Savage. Here for the first time in English readers may encounter the stunt doubles, fraudsters, and sham clergy of literary phenom Radna Fabias, whose debut poetry collection Habitus picked up almost every major literary award in the Netherlands and in Belgium. The shutter of her poems churns out new frames rapidly, each starring another potential identity—“only the final frame is black.” An unstable, vanishing self is also the crux in both Sinan Çankaya’s bestselling memoir of being othered while trying to combat racism from inside the Dutch police force, and in Wytske Versteeg’s account of her struggle with the trauma of sexual abuse in the aptly titled “Vanishing Point.”

In a sense all writing produces some kind of vanishing point. As Eleanor Updegraff suggests in her review of Paula by Sandra Hoffmann, fiction is a balancing act between forces that rip the self apart and those that hold it together. The result need not always be a “language of nothingness” as the one Updegraff claims Hoffmann and her translator have given us, but perhaps a kind of polyphony best exemplified in the work of the great Portuguese author Fernando Pessoa, who features in this issue as a multitude of characters in an extract from Armando Nascimento Rosa’s play Fernando and his Grandmother. While interrupting voices and registers cascade through Gunnar Wærness’s poetry, visual artist Elisabeth S. Clark has enlisted more than one hundred performers to take part in her similarly polyvocal book concertos. And just as Clark’s foray into “bookness” has led her into the “driest of deserts,” so Mexican author Josefina Vicens sets her focal points on the blank page—in fact, these “empty texts” caused Octavio Paz to remark, “nothing—which is found in all of us—by the mere act of accepting it, becomes everything: an affirmation of the solidarity and the brotherhood of man.”

Affirmation of solidarity has been the basis of every one of our issues, newsletters, educational guides, posts on Facebook and Twitter since 2011. As we close the chapter on one full decade and look forward to another, all readers are invited to take this ten-minute annual reader survey to shape the future of Asymptote—do so by November 22, and you might be one of three to walk away with an Asymptote Book Club subscription! At the moment, without any ongoing institutional support, exactly 60 sustaining members and two masthead members are providing USD692 a month to keep the whole project afloat—which is not quite enough, alas. If you have benefitted in any way from our advocacy these past ten years, and would like to see us continue instead of vanish, please take a moment to show your support: Become a sustaining or masthead member today.

—Lee Yew Leong, Editor-in-Chief

Editorial Team for Issue October 2020

Editor-in-Chief: Lee Yew Leong (Taiwan/Singapore)

Assistant Managing Editors: Daljinder Johal (UK/India), Malak Khalil (UK) and Lindsay Semel (US/Portugal)

Section Editors:
Lee Yew Leong (Taiwan/Singapore)
Garrett Phelps (USA)
Caridad Svich (USA/UK)
Ah-reum Han (USA/South Korea)
Sam Carter (USA)
Eva Heisler (USA)
Henry Ace Knight (USA)

Editor of Special Feature on Dutch Literature: Michele Hutchison (UK/Netherlands)

Assistant Editors: Edwin Alanís-García (USA), Alyea Canada (USA), (Canada), Whitney DeVos (Mexico/USA), Helena Fornells (UK), Barbara Halla (France), Marina Martino (UK), Maya Nguen (USA), Erik Noonan (USA), Andreea Scridon (UK/Romania), Lindsay Semel (Portugal/USA), P. T. Smith (USA), Jay G. Ying (UK), and Lin Chia-wei (Taiwan)

Contributing Editors: Ellen Elias-Bursac (USA), Aamer Hussein (UK), Sim Yee Chiang (Singapore), Dylan Suher (USA), and Adrian West (USA)

Translation Tuesdays Editor: Edwin Alanís-García (USA)

Art Director: Lee Yew Leong (Taiwan/Singapore)

Assistant Director, Educational Arm: Kent Kosack (USA)

Editors-at-large, Argentina: Allison Braden and Sarah Moses
Editor-at-large, Brazil: Daniel Persia
Editor-at-large, El Salvador: Nestor Gomez
Editor-at-large, Guatemala: José García
Editors-at-large, Hong Kong: Jacqueline Leung and Charlie Ng Chak-Kwan
Editor-at-large, Japan: David Boyd
Editor-at-large, Lebanon: MK Harb
Editor-at-large, Mexico: Andrew Adair
Editor-at-large, Malaysia: Tan Kwan Ann
Editor-at-large, Morocco: Hodna Nuernberg
Editor-at-large, Palestine: Carol Khoury
Editor-at-large, Peru: Paloma Reaño
Editor-at-large, Romania and Moldova: MARGENTO
Editor-at-large, Serbia: Jovanka Kalaba
Editor-at-large, Singapore: Shawn Hoo
Editor-at-large, Sri Lanka: Chamini Kulathunga
Editor-at-large, Slovakia: Julia Sherwood
Editors-at-large, Taiwan: Vivian Chih and Darren Huang
Editor-at-large, Uzbekistan: Filip Noubel
Editors-at-large, Vietnam: Thuy Dinh and Quyen Nguyen

Masthead for Issue October 2020

Fiction and Nonfiction: Lee Yew Leong
Poetry: Garrett Phelps
Drama: Caridad Svich
Criticism: Sam Carter
WoW: Ah-reum Han
Special Feature on Dutch Literature: Michele Hutchison
Visual: Eva Heisler
Interviews: Henry Ace Knight
Illustrations and Cover: Eliza Savage

Incoming Nonfiction Editor: Bassam Sidiki

Asst. Interview Editor: Sophia Stewart

Assistant Managing Editor (supervising Assistant Editors): Lindsay Semel

Assistant Managing Editors (supervising Editors-at-Large): Daljinder Johal and Malak Khalil

Assistant Managing Editor (supervising issue production): Anita Christensen

Communications Director: Samuel Kahler

Communications Manager: Stefan Kalpachev

Director of Outreach: Alessandro Mondelli

Chief Executive Assistant: Samuel Miller

Senior Executive Assistant: Bernice Seow

Executive Assistants: Rachel Farmer and Julie Shi

Blog Editors: Josefina Massot, Sarah Moore, and Xiao Yue Shan

Newsletter Editor: Rita Horanyi

Guest Artist Liaison: Berny Tan

Senior Copy Editors: Devarati Chakrabarti, Rose Green, and George Macbeth

Copy Editors: Alice Banks, Andrea Blatz, Bella Bosworth, Sophie Hoffman, Samantha Kirby, Rachel Rosenberg, Monica Sestito, and Rachel Stanyon

Technical Manager: József Szabó

English Social Media: Hyunjin Cho, Felipe Fernandez, Charlotte Jackson, Scarlett Castillo, Georgina Fooks, Isabelle Rew, and Ruwa Alhayek (incoming)

Spanish Social Media: Sergio Serrano, Sofia Monzó, Madeline Robinson

French Social Media: Filip Noubel

Chinese Social Media: Jiaoyang Li and Jessica Wang

Graphic Designer: Renée Elizabeth Clark and T. De Los Reyes

Video Producer: Xiaolu Wang

Merchandise Designer: Michael Laungjessadakun

Marketing Manager: Ivana Galapcheva

Assistant Director, Educational Arm: Kent Kosack

Educational Arm Assistants: Lucchini Clémence, Mary Hillis, and Clare Spaulding

Director of Sustainability and Business Development:

Business Developer: Katherine Kamel

Interns: Anita Christensen, Jennifer Hon Khalaf, and Raminta Uselytė

Asymptote would like to acknowledge the support especially of:

as well as Lucette Chatelain and Barbara den Ouden, without whom the Dutch Literature Feature could not have happened; Sooyun Yum of LTI Korea, and Janet Steel of the Commonwealth Foundation.

For their generous donations, our heartfelt thanks go too to Anna Aresi, Anne Berk, Daniel Hahn, Geoffrey Howes, Harry Leeds, Il Park, Jeffrey Boyle, Joachim Redner, Joy Szeredi, Katarzyna Bartoszynska, Mallory Truckenmiller, Marjolijn de Jager, Mark Cohen, Martin Ingebrigtsen, Matthew Mazowita, Meng Xiangxiu, Monty Reid, Nancy Relaford, Nhi Ta Huong, Pavlos Stavropoulos, Ruth Diver, Sarah Glenski, Theresa Henderson, Velina Manolova

We welcome new members of the Asymptote family Donald Conover, Ferran Pericas Cladera, Jenna Colozza, Jane Kirby, and Anne-Lise Remacle.

Back

Fiction

Ali Lateef, The Belle and Gazelle Statue

Translated from the Arabic by Essam M. Al-Jassim

“Your body is like Belle and your soul like Gazelle,” I once told her.

Polina Zherebtsova, Zaina

Translated from the Russian by Irina Steinberg

That was the moment when Zaina suddenly jumped to her feet and ran at the Russians, not heeding the shells exploding all around her.

Ariana Harwicz, Longevity

Translated from the Spanish by Sarah Moses

The town was the eruption of Vesuvius in miniature.

Denise Phé-Funchal, Before They Came

Translated from the Spanish by David Unger

Days of storytelling followed, full of gentle scolding, shame that little by little got into our flesh.

Rabindranath Tagore, The Postmaster

Translated from the Bengali by Utsa Bose

My heart is in free fall. Won’t anyone catch it?

Paweł Sołtys, The Kiev Sea

Translated from the Polish by Eliza Marciniak

Nothing is falling out yet, nothing is spilling into the void, but people, things, circumstances are already shaking, already slipping towards an invisible edge.

Poetry

Tahir Hamut Izgil, Five Poems

Translated from the Uyghur by Joshua L. Freeman

Autumn was a jumble of colors
staining our clothes as we walked the road

Victoria Guerrero Peirano, Diary of a Proletarian Seamstress

Translated from the Spanish by Anastatia Spicer and Honora Spicer

I coined a new motto in silvery cut-out letters
on a black poster
DEATH
TO
HYGIENIC POETS

Nādim, Two Poems

Translated from the Kashmiri by Sonam Kachru

love’s
mending; the falling upon

Gunnar Wærness, Four Poems

Translated from the Norwegian by Gabriel Gudding

sentences pull the guts out of the carcass that is the world

Elke de Rijcke, MY DEFECTIVENESS FACILITATED YOUR GROUND. FINDINGS OF AN EMANCIPATED WOMAN. THANK YOU (IN THE KITCHEN)

Translated from the French by MARGENTO

no one can fly by gaining momentum outside of themselves.

Stella N'Djoku, from Comet

Translated from the Italian by Julia Anastasia Pelosi-Thorpe

I cannot contain
what contains me.

Morio Hayashida, Six Poems

Translated from the Japanese by Kenji C. Liu

Answering the wind hidden among clouds
the ocean tide swings and holds up its white hair

Rosa Chávez, Seven Poems

Translated from the Spanish and Kiché by Gabriela Ramirez-Chavez

their names float in the wind
like a flag that belongs to no one
they say goodbye waiting to return.

Grzegorz Wróblewski, Five Poems

Translated from the Polish by Piotr Gwiazda

A new Polish reality show will feature
opposite-sex couples only

Elke Erb, Sonance

Translated from the German by Shane Anderson

The panoramic view.
Camel hair over the ship’s belly, belly.

Yi Won, Three Poems

Translated from the Korean by E. J. Koh and Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello

I am moved by the smell of blood.

Criticism

Natalia Ginzburg, Valentino and Sagittarius

Translated from the Italian by Avril Bardoni

A review by Darren Huang

In these novellas, domestic contentment is frustratingly elusive—a dream thwarted and then relinquished.

Sandra Hoffmann, Paula

Translated from the German by Katy Derbyshire

A review by Eleanor Updegraff

“There is no language for nothingness,” writes Hoffmann. But maybe, with this translation of Paula, she and Derbyshire have offered us one.

Garous Abdolmalekian, Lean Against This Late Hour

Translated from the Persian by Ahmad Nadalizadeh and Idra Novey

A review by Mandana Chaffa

Abdolmalekian is a poet of our interconnected, transnational time—of this era of citizen against government, of surveillance and mistrust, of loss, despair, and yet somehow, always: of hope and love.

Sayaka Murata, Earthlings

Translated from the Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori

A review by Alex Leininger

Earthlings, then, is bleakly cathartic: there’s nothing more freeing than the fantasy of escape.

Agustín Fernández Mallo, Pixel Flesh

Translated from the Spanish by Zachary Rockwell Ludington

A review by Garrett Phelps

Pixel Flesh is a love story and pretty barefaced about being so, but in lieu of storytelling it progresses through a series of notes, snapshots, misremembered quotes, clues, and factoids combed off our culture’s trash heap.

Nonfiction

Javier Sinay, The Footprints of Bashō, Hearn, and Borges on the Roads of Japan

Translated from the Spanish by Allison Braden

A Japanese legend says a red thread attached to our little finger connects us with the person who, sooner or later, we will know and love.

Itō Hiromi, Living Trees and Dying Trees

Translated from the Japanese by Jon L Pitt

I looked up, looked at the tree, looked at my hands, looked at the sky.

Vadim Muratkhanov, A Place on the Edge of Time

Translated from the Russian by Robin Munby

Just like adult trees, markets rarely survive being transplanted to new soil.

Noémi Kiss, The Cut-Off Caucasus—a Trip to the Village in the Mountains

Translated from the Hungarian by Peter Sherwood

The culture is some five millennia old, though the details can only be guessed.

Drama

Armando Nascimento Rosa, from Fernando and his Grandmother

Translated from the Portuguese by Susannah Finzi

I always wanted to be an apprentice angel. I would have liked that. But I’m only a chicken.

Raúl Gómez Jattin, Raúl Gómez Jattin: One Memory Alone

Translated from the Spanish by David Pegg

Some say it was an accident. Others know he could no longer reconcile the two worlds.

Visual

Elisabeth S. Clark, The Restlessness of Words

My Book Concerto designates the book as solo instrument, accompanied by an ensemble of performers (orchestra).

Ella Ponizovsky Bergelson, Hybrid Calligraphy

Sometimes I write a text in which every word is in a different language.

Special Feature

Christopher Bakka on François Augiéras

In rejecting the dogmas and dominant modes of living of his age and not only positing but acting out a liveable alternative, Augiéras became his own guru.

Ekaterina Petrova on Iana Boukova

Minor literature is global in the long term.

Lacey Pipkin on Josefina Vicens

Of all the novels written by this generation, none penetrates as deeply as El libro vacío into the essence of the modern in narration.

Interview

An Interview with Andrés Neuman

Every single book is a translation device between moments and spaces that appear to be distant.

An Interview with Lieke Marsman

Poetry is the only ambition that can be realized by doing nothing.