''Words Without Borders'' (''WWB'') is an international

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

open to international exchange through

translation Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...

, publication, and promotion of the world's best writing and authors who are not easily accessible to English-speaking readers. The first issue appeared in July–August 2003.

Translation and knowledge

''Words without Borders'' was founded by Alane Salierno Mason, translator of

Elio Vittorini Elio Vittorini (; 23 July 1908 – 12 February 1966) was an Italian writer and novelist. He was a contemporary of Cesare Pavese and an influential voice in the modernist school of novel writing. His best-known work, in English speaking countries ...

, in 1999 and began publication in 2003. It promotes cultural understanding through the translation, publication, and promotion of the finest contemporary international literature. It publishes a monthly magazine of literature in translation and organizes special events that connect foreign writers to the public; it also develops materials for high school and college teachers and provides an online resource center for contemporary global writing. Words without Borders is supported by the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

, the

New York State Council on the Arts The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) serves to foster and advance the arts, culture, and creativity throughout New York State, according to its website. The goal of the council is to allow all New Yorkers to benefit from the contribution ...

and the Lannan Foundation, among many others. David Orr, in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', compliments the "intelligence and idealism" of ''WWB''.David Orr, "The Widening Web of Digital Lit", ''

New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'', 2004.

Prominent authors

''Words Without Borders'' has featured many authors from around the globe, translating their works for English-speaking readers, including: Alain Mabanckou-1050121

Juan José Millás Juan José Millás (born 1946) is a Spanish writer and winner of the 1990 Premio Nadal. He was born in Valencia, Spain, Valencia and has spent most of his life in Madrid, Spain, Madrid, where he studied philosophy and literature at the Universida ...

(2003) *

Ingo Schulze Ingo Schulze (born 15 December 1962) is a German writer born in Dresden in former East Germany. He studied classical philology at the University of Jena for five years, and, until German reunification, was an assistant director (dramatic arts a ...

(2003) *

Adonis In Greek mythology, Adonis (; ) was the mortal lover of the goddesses Aphrodite and Persephone. He was considered to be the ideal of male beauty in classical antiquity. The myth goes that Adonis was gored by a wild boar during a hunting trip ...

(2003) *

Adam Zagajewski Adam Zagajewski (21 June 1945 – 21 March 2021) was a Polish poet, novelist, translator, and essayist. He was awarded the 2004 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, the 2016 Griffin Poetry Prize Lifetime Recognition Award, the 2017 ...

(2004) *

Elena Ferrante Elena Ferrante () is a pseudonymous Italian novelist. Ferrante's books, originally published in Italian, have been translated into many languages. Her four-book series of '' Neapolitan Novels'' are her most widely known works. ''Time'' magazine ...

(2005) *

Alain Mabanckou Alain Mabanckou (born 24 February 1966) is a novelist, journalist, poet, and academic, a French citizen born in the Republic of the Congo, he is currently a Professor of Literature at UCLA. He is best known for his novels and non-fiction writing ...

(2005) * Georges-Olivier Châteaureynaud (2005) *

Svetlana Alexievich Svetlana Alexandrovna Alexievich (born 31 May 1948) is a Belarusian investigative journalist, essayist and oral historian who writes in Russian. She was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature "for her polyphonic writings, a monument to s ...

(2005) *

Ko Un Ko Un (; born 1 August 1933) is a South Korean poet whose works have been translated and published in more than fifteen countries. He had been imprisoned many times due to his role in the campaign for Korean democracy and was later mentioned in ...

(2005) *

Olga Tokarczuk Olga Nawoja Tokarczuk (; born 29 January 1962) is a Polish writer, activist, and public intellectual. She is one of the most critically acclaimed and successful authors of her generation in Poland. In 2019, she was awarded the 2018 Nobel Pri ...

(2005) *

Tahar Ben Jelloun Tahar Ben Jelloun (; born 1 December 1944) is a Moroccan writer who rose to fame for his 1985 novel ''L'Enfant de sable'' ('' The Sand Child''). All of his work is written in French although his first language is Darija. He has been nominated f ...

(2006) *

Jon Fosse Jon Olav Fosse (; born 29 September 1959) is a Norwegian author, translator, and playwright. In 2023, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable." Fosse's work spans over se ...

(2006) *

Ismail Kadare Ismail Kadare (; 28 January 1936 – 1 July 2024) was an Albanian novelist, poet, essayist, screenwriter and playwright. He was a leading international literary figure and intellectual, focusing on poetry until the publication of his first novel ...

(2006) *

José Eduardo Agualusa José Eduardo Agualusa Alves da Cunha (born December 13, 1960) is an Angolan writer and columnist of Portuguese and Brazilian descent. He studied agronomy and silviculture in Lisbon, Portugal. Currently he resides in the Island of Mozambique, ...

(2007) *

Herta Müller Herta Müller (; born 17 August 1953) is a Romanian-German novelist, poet, essayist and recipient of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature. She was born in Nițchidorf (; ), Timiș County in Romania; her native languages are German and Romanian. Si ...

(2009) * Juan Carlos Chirinos (2011) * Glaydah Namukasa (2013) *

Radka Denemarková Radka Denemarková (born 14 March 1968 in Kutná Hora) is a Czech novelist, dramatist, TV screenplay writer, translator, essayist. Denemarková is the only Czech writer who has received Magnesia Litera Award four times (in different categories ...

(2014) * Rasha Abbas (2014) * Fouad Laroui (2016) *

Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro (born 29 October 1970) is a Puerto Rican novelist, short-story writer and essayist. Biography Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro was born on 29 October 1970 in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, and was raised by her grandparents, Petronila Car ...

(2019) * Lina Meruane (2019) *

Nona Fernández Patricia Paola Fernández Silanes (born 23 June 1971), better known as Nona Fernández, is a Chilean actress, author, and screenwriter. She is a recipient of the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize, and the Altazor prize (on many occasions). Biog ...

(2019)

References

External links

* * 2003 establishments in New York City Literary translation magazines Literary translation websites Magazines established in 2003 Magazines published in New York City Monthly magazines published in the United States Online literary magazines published in the United States {{translation-journal-stub

Translation and knowledge

Prominent authors

See also

References

External links