#12// translations, k-dramas, con artists
Celebrate Women in Translation
Dear Reader,
How are you? A short email this week because I am knee deep in some personal affairs + decisions + phone calls + lists and all that. Seriously, how do we even decide anything in the middle of a pandemic? All decisions seem wrong. And also, all of them seem right. It is the worst of times, the worst of times—Secretly hoping for this whole Covid episode to be condensed into one sentence like this soon. I hope your life is going at a slower pace. I was talking to a friend (online friend?) the other day about how stress seems to magnify itself because of the world affairs. Right?
Onto better things. Hurray! It is Women in Translation month! Yes, I did not want to skip this week's newsletter because I am very excited about the month in general. I find so many new books from readers all over the world. Keep an eye on #WITmonth hashtag.
Read
I was thrilled to pen down this personal essay (and also realize how difficult it is to write one!) for Huffpost In—How K-dramas taught me to find comfort in the small moments of everyday life. I was super excited to work on this essay and needless to say it features food, dramas and..well I am tempted to say ‘traumas’ because they rhyme. I rewatched my favourite K dramas all in the excuse of writing this piece. Love these kind of perks.
“Staying in a room of my own, I found pleasure in Something in the Rain where a 35-year-old woman goes about her life with a nagging mother, a younger love interest, and bowls of food. .. I wonder if steady money would’ve been nice, if it would have granted me a house of my own. But as I recap a favourite drama to write this piece in a room that is beginning to grow on me, I find I am all right…. Because in Korean dramas there are always second chances”
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Now about Women in Translation month! This is a month dedicated to explore, read and highlight books by women in translation. I compiled a list of 13 books by women in translation 2020. This includes novels, short stories and also three books by men which were translated by women. Check the list—I do not want to give spoilers—but there are ghosts running households, feral children killing people and women navigating patriarchy and violence.
Amazing Links
Our Food for the Many Rainy Days Ahead (Joanna Lobo, Eater)
“Purumenth fairs still occur annually, and locals still stock up on dried fish, rice, vinegar and pickles, but lately they’ve been less driven by necessity than nostalgia — “preparing” less a practice than a memory, one looked upon fondly by the older generations.”
Also, lovely illustrations by Roanna Fernandes
My best friend was a con-artist (Lisa Coll Nicolaou, Oprah magazine)
“When I first met Paul Erickson in 2009, I had no idea I would one day learn he was a Republican operative with an (alleged) Russian spy girlfriend, or that in 2020, he would be sentenced to seven years in prison for defrauding investors. Back then, I was too busy noticing the most important thing: He made me laugh.”
An Elegy for the Landline in Literature (Sophie Haigney, The New Yorker)
“Uncertainty is invaluable in fiction. .. The mechanics of this uncertainty have often required certain objects: the broken-down car, the doorbell, the unopened package. The landline telephone is perhaps the greatest of these objects. In the twilight of its life, we might, like Nabokov, remember it as an open line of possibility, just waiting to ring.”
After My Mother's Plastic Surgery, I Couldn't Recognize Her (R. L. Maizes, Oprah magazine)
“I was 34 when my mother changed her face. Too old for tantrums, but that didn’t stop me from having one. Not in front of her—even I wasn’t that self-centered—but among my friends. The softness around her eyes and cheeks was gone, replaced by taut skin and sculpted cheekbones.”
- Is this the end of writing in cafes? (Emily Temple, Lit Hub)
- Chitthi exchange program – A penpal project founded by The Alipore Post (Rohini) where you will be paired with others who sign up. Rohini puts in effort to match people , which means this is a human doing the work, not a machine. How exciting to be paired with someone based on interests? Sign up here
- A cat gives mental advice in these illustrations by Hector Janse van Rensburg (Demilked)
For books — new, classics, translations, indie press titles — and movies,
Sign up for TWO months of FREE Scribd using my Invite Link.
Take care. Don’t forget to spend some time caring for yourself, whether it be with uninterrupted reading time, a cup of coffee or a face mask. Write to me, I always love hearing from you.
Until next time,
Resh x
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