It's mechanical Turks all the way down

What goes on beneath the shine of AI, an army of raters and super raters working in isolation, without job security, facing the worst ills of the industrial economy: speedup, lack of quality control, and no doubt, in the future, replacement by new AI.

Is the third boom really over? Just as South Asian translations, long underrepresented here, were beginning to show up in a slight uptick? Did we miss the bus? Is the new isolationist U.S. culture in the making responsible for the downturn?

"The more fundamental problem, though, is that both diplomats and development workers refused to engage with South Sudan as it actually existed, rather than the place they wished it to be."

"On the surface, there is the drama and emotion of Leman’s story. Underneath, there is literal subtext concerning philosophy, literature, history and more. It is to Ypi’s credit that none of this is really signposted; the reader is free to dig as deep as they like, or not."

If you're an author and haven't yet signed up for the Anthropic settlement, do yourself a favor (and strike a blow against AI) by checking to see if any of your books were involved. www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

The University of Chicago has been invaded by Daleks! Read all about it 👇

Twenty years ago today, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in New Orleans. At approximately 5:00 AM, the levees broke, flooding 80% of our city. As a result, an estimated 1400 people lost their lives, and hundreds of thousands lost their homes. Over half of the victims were Black.

An excerpt from my new novel, Alice Sees Ghosts in @scroll.in.web.brid.gy ! scroll.in/article/1085...

Here is an overview of the mentorship genres we have on offer for 2026. For the upcoming year, we will be introducing an exciting new genre, Oral History. Stay tuned for more! 🚨Applications for 2026 open on September 1, 2025 and the deadline is September 30, 2025. Website link in bio. 🔗

Here is a little about our application process, including some key dates. Mark your calendars and polish your applications and writing samples—we're looking forward to hearing from you. 🚨Applications open on September 1, 2025. Website link in bio.🔗 #SouthAsiaSpeaks

"In a tour de force that combines history, memoir, and literary rumination, he explores how Lahore has been made and remade through violence, migration, politics, its diverse communities, and the ebbs and flows of time."

The ambitious Shabdakalpa project, launching in 2028, aims to map the history of every Bengali word in digital form, preserving cultural memory and inspiring future Southasian language initiatives. Ankush Pal writes:

When you tell your grandchildren (or your friends’ grandchildren if you choose not to have a kid) the story of how we overcame this regime, tell them when the fascists came they didn’t come for the guns…they came for the arts.

I am re-reading Gloria Naylor's Mama Day, feeling grateful that she got an NEA Creative Writing fellowship to create this excellent novel. Now comes the news that the agency will no longer support such grants. Our culture is diminished when grants like this end. More $ to go for the iron fist.

"BY BRINGING CENTURIES of writing together in one place, Shabdakalpa will offer unprecedented access to the cultural memory of the Bengali language." www.himalmag.com/culture/shab...

New story translation from Shabnam Nadiya who's impressive in discovering writers from Bangladesh who she wants to translate into English. Check it out, this is a lovely, contemporary story. wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...

Narendra Pachkhédé on C.M. Naim who "refused both the nostalgia of the diaspora and the sentimentality of cultural nationalism. His was a critical love – tender, exacting, and utterly unsentimental."

Trump’s megabill will strip 14 million Americans of access to healthcare care. Here’s why our top story today is something a neo-Nazi sent us about a college application from 15 years ago.

We’re calling for a Florida boycott over the inhumane “Alligator Alcatraz” detention site. Cancel your family vacation and choose a different destination this summer.

Book people: the following small presses have just lost funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Please consider supporting them! A Thread.

The tea estates of South India and Sri Lanka are more than just agricultural or economic sites. They are key historical locations where trade, colonial expansion and labour exploitation converge @avtansa.bsky.social writes

Free virtual translation workshop on July 17 from Transversal, "a grassroots collective of established and aspiring literary translators in Philadelphia." www.bluestoop.org/events/tots-...

"Submitted stories can be about any of the existential threats the Bulletin covers: nuclear weapons, climate change, biological and chemical weapons, artificial intelligence, killer robots, doomsday drone submarines, bioengineered zombies, the gray goo of nanotechnology gone wild, and ...."

আর অবশ্যই — আমাদের প্রিয় সিটি কাউন্সিল সদস্য, জেলা ৩৯-এর শাহানা হানিফ-কে আবারও নির্বাচিত করুন। And of course — re-elect our beloved City Council Member from District 39, Shahana Hanif. চলুন একসাথে ভোট দিই — এক হাসি-খুশি নিউ ইয়র্ক-এর জন্য। Let’s vote together — for a hashi khushi New York. 🇧🇩🗽

Our 2025 shortlist and winner were announced this morning during a joint livestream event with our friends at @himalmag.bsky.social! Our thanks to the folks at Himal and to our five finalists for sharing their work and time with us. Meet the full shortlist here: www.armorysv.com/2025-prize-w...

We are delighted to announce that the winner of the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize 2025 is Jeffrey Zuckerman's translation of Jellyfish Have No Ears (MacLehose) by Adèle Rosenfeld. Many congratulations to to all the short- and longlisted translators!

Read @amalsingh.bsky.social's short speculative fiction story for Himal Fiction Fest 2025: 🎨 cdd20 / Pixabay

In his Urdu poems, Noon Meem Danish gives voice to dual Pakistani and Black identities, to exile and belonging — blending the pain of dislocation with lyrical force, writes Samee Ahmad for @newlinesmag.bsky.social

‘This was the book the judges really loved, right from our first reading’ We're delighted to announce that the winner of the #InternationalBooker2025 is Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated by Deepa Bhasthi. Here's everything you need to know about the book: thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-l...

These two beauties are available for pre-order now in the US. The Women’s Courtyard cover is a beautiful painting by renowned Pakistani artist Shahzia Sikander and the Tamas cover is an amazing woodblock print by Indian illustrator Anagh Bannerjee.

"When I set out to write my biography of Oberon, it was not to portray her in blandly heroic terms. I wanted to be honest about the systemic limitations she faced and how she chose to navigate them." www.saada.org/tides/articl...

The film Sinners is a lot of things but most of all I, a lifelong lover of the Blues, loved the film as a tribute to the Blues. The music and dance scenes in the juke joint were marvelous! Miles Caton is awesome. Can't wait for the soundtrack to come. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ntH...

If your literary organization lost an NEA grant this week, I'd like to hear from you for a story I'm writing for the LARB. DMs are open, email is [email protected].

Like so many other organizations, we received word that ALTA's NEA grant to support the annual ALTA Conference & Emerging Translator Mentorship Program has been terminated, as our programming “no longer effectuates agency priorities.” You can see a fuller list of those affected here: rb.gy/ypk834

Consider donating to Words Without Borders here: secure.givelively.org/donate/words... Subscribe to our newsletters: wordswithoutborders.org/subscribe/

Educators, this short story about a young girl in Mexico preparing to travel to the US is paired with more reading from Mexico, literature about the theme of home, and even writing on fast food. Check it out on WWB Campus: buff.ly/DEPwBNK

*please repost or forward* Here’s a sheet where arts orgs can record information about their NEA grant termination. Annie Dorsen is collecting this info as a first step towards coordinating a response docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Words Without Borders had their National Endowment for the Arts funding cut by the Trump admin. Donate here to keep em alive: secure.givelively.org/donate/words... They've published lots of super cool stuff over the years but this piece remains my favourite wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...

I am deeply honored to be in conversation with THEE Bridgett M. Davis, discussing her latest memoir LOVE, RITA. NYC area friends, please join us at the Brooklyn Public Library in celebration of this beautiful book that has moved me in so many ways. To RSVP: www.bklynlibrary.org/calendar/bri...

The devastating, shortsighted attack on literature continues. List from Magic City Books. Who'd they miss? Note: the small publishers selected here for financial attack include (among other very worthy and important presses) @transitbooks.bsky.social, publisher of 2023 Nobel laureate Jon Fosse.

The NEA staff who supported the Literature office were some wonderful people so generous with their efforts and support for literature. This is a very sad day when work like theirs no longer aligns with current priorities determined by our rulers today.

You know that if the New York Times is reporting this, then the situation is extremely dire. Palestinians have been saying for months that famine is happening due to Israel’s siege. That is a war crime, Israel is the agent, the US is the sponsor, and American taxpayers are rendered complicit.

Along with many other nonprofit arts organizations, we learned last night that our grant from the National Endowment for the Arts—$40,000 toward the publication of our books in 2025—has been terminated. While this news was not unexpected, its message was chilling.

Last night a number of small presses including @twolinespress.bsky.social and @openletterbooks.bsky.social received this insane letter. Please read small press books, recommend them, buy them, request from your library. The continuation of these publishers is vital!

Do you have an outstanding grant with the NEA? I'm sharing this from a source I trust. TL;DR: today is likely the last day for NEA grantees to receive funds / get reimbursed. Close out your grants NOW. Read for more: (1/...)

ArabLit Quarterly Spring 2025: GRIEF (PDF) The GRIEF issue of ArabLit Quarterly brings readers & writers together into a space of shared rage, shared love, and a shared way forward. We share in the horror of seeing small children covered in the grime of cement dust and smoke; the horror of…