| Dear Friends,
Last month Words without Borders reached a milestone in its history. We became an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We have always operated as a nonprofit, but prior to this year, donations were made through our fiscal sponsor, Bard College. Why? Because up until now Words without Borders did not have the resources to operate as an independent nonprofit. Independent tax-free status comes with a lot of time-consuming reporting and other obligations, and up until recently, Words without Borders had only one full-time staff member. All that has changed. We are now a full-time professional staff of four and our potential is immense. Those of you who have been with us for years have probably noticed some changes, from the small to the significant. I can promise you there is more to come, major changes in the way we publish and the way we interact with our readers that will help us further our mission to translate, publish, and promote the best international literature. Being a 501(c)(3) helps because it allows us to do more fundraising, to speak to more foundations and government agencies, and, most importantly, it means that we'll be working more closely with our individual donors. We'll be taking full advantage of our new status on November 9, 2009, when we host our first fundraiser in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the release of our newest anthology The Wall in My Head. The event will take place at the gorgeous, recently restored Bohemian National Hall in New York City and will feature readings from the anthology by Paul Auster, Siri Hustvedt, and Peter Schneider. Dean Wareham, musician and former frontman of the bands Galaxie 500 and Luna will DJ the post-dinner reception. We've already sold a lot of tickets in advance, but we want to make sure all of our supporters have a chance to attend, which is why we're making VIP and general admission tickets available right now so that those of you in New York who wish to attend can be sure to reserve a place. It promises to be a great event. Finally, I'd like to thank Bard College for their steadfast support over the years. We couldn't have come this far without them and we look forward to a continued partnership in the future. Best, |
From The Wall in My Head Blog 
by Nathan Furl
13 August 2009 An Excerpt by David Zábranský 7 August 2009
Democracy on the loose!-Here I am in the café of the Museo Nacional del Prado, thinking of Vienna. Bartlett (the guy I flew to Madrid to see) warned me about Vienna. He said that's where Hitler learned to hate the Jews. "He was born in Austria, but to get his show on the road he had to move to Munich. Vienna couldn't stomach his paintings-those amateur daubs of his-or his Nazism. Vienna's way is different: in-depth destruction. Instead of attacking from the outside, it destroys from within." Quo Vadebas or "The Rubble in Our Heads" by Alex Zucker
5 August 2009 More from thewallinmyhead.com. |
| From the WWB Blog
The Most Beautiful Book in the World: Eight Novellas Summer Jobs in Europe |
| Bookshelf New Reviews  Halfway Houseby Guillermo Rosales's Translated from the Spanish by Anna Kushner New Directions, 2009 Reviewed by Jonathan Blitzer The Halfway House is one of only two novels Guillermo Rosales-the respected though to date largely unknown Cuban writer-did not destroy before committing suicide in 1993.  
Selected Poems
by Friedrich Hol derlin Translated from the German by Maxine Chernoff and Paul Hoover Omnidawn Publishing, 2008 *** by Friedrich Holderlin Translated from the German by Nick Hoff Wesleyan University Press, 2008 Reviewed by Francisco Guevara The difficulty of translating Friedrich Hölderlin's poems into English is rooted in the way he forged the syntax and traditions of both the Greek and German languages into a language foreign to, yet complicit in both. more>>>  A Thousand Deaths Plus One |
| More from the Bookshelf. . . |
| Upcoming Events Book Launch for Rasskazy: New Fiction from a New Russia Reading and Reception at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, 126 Crosby Street. Monday, September 21st, 2009 at 7:00pm Join Tin House Books and CEC ArtsLink in celebrating the launch of a new volume of contemporary Russian prose edited by Mikhail Iossel and Jeff Parker. With readings from the volume by featured authors Oleg Zobern and Natalia Kluchareva. The event is sponsored by the Open World Cultural Leaders Program and The Saint Petersburg Review, with support from the PEN American Center and Words Without Borders. |
| Call for Manuscripts
Hemispheres magazine, the inflight publication of United Airlines, has partnered with Words without Borders to offer our readers a taste of world literature. We are currently looking for translated short stories of approximately 500 words in length for our monthly fiction page. Due to our readership, we cannot print stories with sexual themes, violence, disturbing scenes or obscenities. Nor can we appear to promote a particular religious or political point of view. Stories will be published in English. Submit translations to hemispheres@wordswithoutborders.org. |
