WWB shares the ten pieces from 2025 that our readers loved most—ranging from essays on translation to award-winning poetry and unsettling short fiction. Read here: buff.ly/tFOnLUA

Drift into a dreamlike setting in “The Island” by Violeta Ivković (tr. Alice Copple-Tosiç). This magical piece from our archives follows an unnamed narrator in search of a Christmas tree in the tropics. Read here: wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...

Since our founding, WWB has been committed to uplifting the voices of writers who have faced persecution because of their work. If you’d like to empower global voices, especially those that have been suppressed or censored, support Words Without Borders today: wwborders.live/2025Appeal

Looking to fill the gaps in your reading? Check out our ten most popular pieces from 2025. From essays to fiction and poetry to a Watchlist by @tobiascarroll.bsky.social, there’s something for everyone on this list! Check it out here and save these pieces to your bookmarks:

Make a world of a difference by supporting our WWB Campus program. Your donation bolsters our work to make the classroom a more inclusive, inspirational, and global space through our free lesson plans, teacher trainings, and author visits Donate to WWB today! wwborders.live/2025Appeal

A military officer’s mysterious visit unsettles a small town in this surreal story by Brazil’s José J. Veiga. Translated from Portuguese by Thomas Mira y Lopez. Read “Just a Game” here: buff.ly/9ooDwzK ‎

Just in case you missed this!

A turbulent day sees a young woman entering adulthood on multiple levels, in this poignant story by Anna Manyanza. Read “Blood and Love,” translated from Kiswahili by Abdulrahman Ndegwa, at the link: buff.ly/CM6prtB ‎

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“In the end, Verunschk’s mélange of visceral, inventive voices resonates powerfully.” In @wwborders.bsky.social‬‬, Anderson Tepper reviews Micheliny Verunschk’s newly translated novel, “The Jaguar’s Roar” - wordswithoutborders.org/book-reviews...

"In a handful of words, that evokes the haunting glimpses of nature found throughout this collection, as well as the way that Berg establishes a sense of the familiar turning alien. Aase’s Death memorably juxtaposes the cosmic and the quotidian, and it gives this book a disquieting energy."

We've been sharing end of year lists of #bookrecommendations this week, and here's another fab one from @wwborders.bsky.social with the best books in (and on) translation #booksintranslation #WomenWritersNet wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...

A turbulent day sees a young woman entering adulthood on multiple levels, in this poignant story by Anna Manyanza. Read “Blood and Love,” translated from Kiswahili by Abdulrahman Ndegwa, at the link: buff.ly/CM6prtB ‎

“Micheliny Verunschk’s mélange of visceral, inventive voices resonates powerfully,” writes critic Anderson Tepper. Read his review of THE JAGUAR’S ROAR (tr. Julianna Barbassa) here: buff.ly/Q2G8G7d

Make a world of a difference by supporting our WWB Campus program. Your donation bolsters our work to make the classroom a more inclusive, inspirational, and global space through our free lesson plans, teacher trainings, and author visits Donate to WWB today! wwborders.live/2025Appeal

“Blood and Love” by @annathestoryteller.bsky.social (tr. Abdulrahman Ndegwa) is a short story that follows a young girl as she enters adulthood and learns two crucial truths about her world. Read it here: wordswithoutborders.org/read/article... ‎

Congratulations to WWB contributor Han Kang, and to Solvej Balle, Sophia Hersi Smith, and Jennifer Russell, who were featured in our NBA interview series! Read here or head to our website for more details. wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...

“Behold the hero of the vegetable patch”: Devour 24 tomato droll riffs from our archive. "On the Tomato" by Guillermo Saavedra (tr. Cindy Schuster) explores the life of a fruit. Read the poem here: wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...

Calling all translators! Here's a great opportunity to have your work published by @cmupress.bsky.social.

Looking for something new to read? Anderson Tepper reviews Micheliny Verunschk’s novel THE JAGUAR’S ROAR (tr. Juliana Barbassa). Tepper considers the aims of the novel, the ways in which it grapples with Brazil’s ongoing legacy of violence. Read here: wordswithoutborders.org/book-reviews...

We’re excited to share one of our latest publications of Brazilian lit: “Just a Game” by José J. Veiga (tr. Thomas Mira y Lopez). The short story considers what happens when political and military authority runs rampant in a small town. Read it here: wordswithoutborders.org/read/article... ‎

13 staff members, 11 countries, 9 languages: The WWB team recommends our favorite books in translation from 2025. Read our picks here:

Since 2003, we’ve offered international writers an entry point to the anglophone publishing world. Many contributors go on to win major awards; the last three Nobel Prize laureates—including Lászlo Krasznahorkai—are WWB contributors. Give now to support global writers: wwborders.live/2025Appeal

In Rena Fukazawa’s poems, children and mothers take on surreal shapes, becoming monsters to each other. Read “The Sound of the Ants Popping: Two Poems,” translated from Japanese by Jen Crawford, Rina Kikuchi & Melinda Smith: wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...

In case you missed Jack Rockwell's review of @ndbooks.bsky.social's ON THE CALCULATION OF VOLUME (BOOK III) by Solvej Balle, translated from Danish by Sophia Hersi Smith and Jennifer Russell. Read it here!

Read this piece from our archives by Hamid Ismailov (tr. Shelley Fairweather-Vega). This story follows a sculptor named Suhrob as he grapples with his identity as an Uzbek émigré in Russia. Find “The Stone Guest” here: wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...

Top of my holiday treat reading list 🍫🍫🍫

You are a bridge / Unimaginable suffering has passed beneath

As 2025 comes to a close, we are excited to present some of our favorite 2025 releases in (or about) translation. From Turkey to Georgia, and China to Italy, our favorite books spanned the globe. Take a look at our picks here, or scroll the thread:  wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...

Imagine how differently readers would see the world, if they could access more than a tiny fraction of its literature in English translation. At Words Without Borders, we have been working towards this vision for over twenty years. Will you join us? Donate today: wwborders.live/2025Appeal

powerful poems, well worth a read

New on WWB: Two poems, “The Box” and “Of Monsters,” by emerging Japanese poet Rena Fukazawa (tr. Jen Crawford, Rina Kikuchi & Melinda Smith). These unusual poems explore the relationship between mothers and their children. Read them here: wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...

Meet our new social media coordinator, Molly Ripatti! Molly is a writer based in Dublin. She holds a BA from Goldsmiths, UOL, and is currently pursing an MPhil at Trinity College Dublin. Click here to learn more about her background and interests: wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...

This poignant selection of the late Polish writer Marcin Wicha’s droll columns paints an impressionistic portrait of the parent-child relationship. Read “Children’s Days,” translated from Polish by Marta Dziurosz:

In these excerpts from her "auto-ethnography," the late Polish anthropologist Maria Reimann creates a moving portrait of growing up partially sighted. Translated from Polish by Kate Webster. Read “My Vision” here:

Say hello to our 2025-26 Education Fellow, Emma Deshpande! Emma is a writer and teacher, a Spring 2024 Café Royal Cultural Foundation Literature Grantee, and she holds an MFA in Fiction from NYU. Click here to learn about Emma and to read her work: wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...

Don’t miss this essay from our archives by NBA winner Robin Myers. Myers considers the time she spent living in the USA, Palestine, and Mexico, and questions if the role of the translator is to be a host or guest. Read “Hosts and Guests” here: wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...

Nonfiction, comics, poems, and fiction in translation: Tobias Carroll recommends a little of everything in last month's Watchlist. Read it here:

Read this touching selection of fragments from late Polish writer Marcin Wicha, translated by Marta Dziurosz. The pieces cover everything from the pandemic, to family, to new technology, and more. Check out “Children’s Days” here: wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...

Congratulations to WWB contributors Lizzie Davis, Katy Derbyshire, Tess Lewis, Megan McDowell and Saskia Vogel for making the shortlist. Check out their fantastic work on our website!

Our contributors across the globe generously shared a few words to tell us what our work means to them. Watch the video here, and donate today! wwborders.live/2025Appeal

Donate to WWB this Giving Tuesday! Support our mission to bring the word close through literature. With your help, in 2026 WWB will publish groundbreaking literature by hundreds more authors and translators—and, crucially, pay them for their work. Donate here: wwborders.live/2025Appeal

Read these moving excerpts from Polish writer Maria Reimann’s “auto-ethnography”. Translated by Kate Webster, these short portraits detail Reimann’s experiences growing up partially sighed. Read “My Vision”: wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...

Need advice on what November releases to read? @tobiascarroll.bsky.social has picked four great books in translation for you! Keep scrolling for more information about the books on the list: wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...

Danish #SFinTranslation SO. GOOD.

“It’s an investigation that depends on careful attention to details, great and small.” Jack Rockwell discusses time and attention to detail in Solvej Balle’s ON THE CALCULATION OF VOLUME (BOOK III), translated by Sophia Hersi Smith and Jennifer Russell. At @wwborders.bsky.social:

@tobiascarroll.bsky.social includes Sener Ozmen’s The Competition of Unfinished Stories (tr. @gayadorno.bsky.social) on the @wwborders.bsky.social November Watchlist! wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...

Wrote about some November books in translation for @wwborders.bsky.social! wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...

Former ALTA board member Allison M. Charette’s translation of Raharimanana’s RETURN is out with Seagull Books now! Read this “dreamlike” excerpt at Words Without Borders / @wwborders.bsky.social: