August is Women in Translation Month! For many of you, this has had zero impact on your reading life (although if you’ve been seeing more pieces focusing on translated works this week, perhaps this explains why?). Meytal Radzinski established Women in Translation Month in 2014. The purpose has always been to read and promote the works of women in translation, and the works of women whose work has not yet been translated.
The purpose of the month, and the reason for its specific focus, is layered: a vanishingly small percentage of books published in the U.S. are translated works, and in the years between 2008 and 2013, just before Women in Translation Month was established in 2014, only 26% of those translated works were by women. That percentage is shifting. Publishers Weekly cited that between 2022 and 2024, 47% of books in translation were written by women. The gap, while still present, is slim.
I’ve read increasingly more translated works in recent years. My theory on why is twofold: though a notoriously small percentage of books sold in the United States are translated works (3% is an often-cited figure), I’ve found a few favorite small presses who regularly publish works in translation. My list of read-and-loved translators and authors in translation has grown longer, and I rely on these small presses to point me toward as-yet-undiscovered works. Since I have more translated works at easy reach, it’s no surprise I’m reading them more frequently.
Why read in translation? These works take readers beyond armchair tourism: they allow readers to travel far away thanks to the written word, but go a step further, immersing us in cultures that are different from those familiar to us. Not only have I learned about the wider world and its literature through reading in translation, I’ve also come to more deeply understand much that previously remained invisible and unquestioned about the style and conventions of the American and British novels that occupy the biggest chunk of my reading time.
For your literary perusal and convenience, we’ve rounded up our book lists featuring translated works below. I hope you enjoy this collection and that it introduces you to new favorite authors and translators.
12 books to read for Women in Translation Month.
20 wonderful new and backlist books in translation.
10 books in translation for Women in Translation month.
Expand your literary horizons with these 20 books in translation.
7 favorite books in translation to read this year.
Do you have a book in translation on your TBR list this month? Tell us what you’re reading—or what you recommend—in the comments.
