Marguerite Abouet and Clément Oubrerie's Aya de Yopougon Trans. Helge Dascher Gallimard, 2005 978-2-07-057311-7 (Available as Aya in English) Over the past summer, I was exploring library branches that I had never visited before and it was at one of those that I made Aya’s acquaintance.This new bookish territory not only took
Dominique Fabre's The Waitress Was New (2005) Trans. Jordan Stump Archipelago Books, 2008 It begins very simply. "The waitress was new here." Pierre is not new; he has been the barman for years and years and years. When he watches the new waitress approach, it's the perspective of a seasoned
Dany Laferrière's The Return (2009) Translated by David Homel Douglas & McIntyre, 2011 David Homel says that he has translated Dany Laferrière's work so often now that he knows how he ticks, knows his schtick, knows his voice so well that he has avoided translating anyone else for awhile. Perhaps that's
Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi in the South Seas (1959) Trans. Gerry Bothmer Illus. Louis S. Glanzman Pippi kicks ass. Really. She stands out. Sure, a lot of the heroines I’ve been spending time with this summer are spunky. S’why I liked them. Whether it was Ramoma adding whiskers and a tail
Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Goes on Board (1946) Trans. Florence Laborn Illus. Louis S. Glanzman Viking Press, 1957 Here’s how our heroine introduces herself: “My name’s Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Efraim’s Daughter Longstocking, daughter of Captain Edraim Longstocking, formerly the Terror of the Sea, now a cannibal King. But everybody calls me Pippi.”
