Strange Harbors (Two Lines World Literature in Translation)

Like sailing into new ports of call, "Strange Harbors" suggests that reading the world's literature can ignite affinities across languages and literary traditions - and that the art of translation can distil familiar experiences from disparate lands. Featuring a special focus on Turkish poetry and a preview of Edith Grossman's latest work, "Strange Harbors" ferries poetry and fiction from eighteen languages and twenty-three countries to English readers. Its highlights include: a crime story that unravels in Franco's Spain involving a student on the run from police, the attic of a country estate, and a lost masterpiece by an obscure poet; a Catalonian twist on painter Edward Hopper's "noir Americana"; poems by a man who barely escaped the political terror in El Salvador that deprived him of home and family; a Romanian story about a bizarre contest at a communist beach resort; and, a story about the devastating legacy of Agent Orange on the people and culture of Vietnam. Placed in context by the translators themselves, each selection in "Strange Harbors" features commentary on the singular challenges and discomfiting pleasures of mediating the shift from language to language.