STANISLAW LEM (1921-2006) “Stanisław Lem, the Polish novelist, futurologist, literary theorist, satirist, and philosophical gadfly, tried mightily to free his work from the shackles of the present. In dozens of novels, short stories, essays, metaliterary experiments, and futurological treatises, he attempted to imagine everything from a living ocean that could read human minds (Solaris) to
WITOLD GOMBROWICZ (1904-1969) “Gombrowicz is one of the most exceptional writers in the history of literature, at least in terms of his philosophy, his method of constructing texts and the power of his language. He fought endlessly against Polish tradition and history, but this was only the starting point. His work was deeply rooted in
The Dedalus Book of Polish Fantasy, edited and translated by Wiesiek Powaga (Dedalus, 1996). “This anthology of fiction traces Polish literature’s extensive and continuing dialogue with the Devil. In nineteen selections from eighteen authors, editor and translator Powoga collects the best representatives of this tradition from the past century.“ Stories include: “Co-existence” by Stanisław
OVERVIEW Polish SFT is a wonderful mix of science fiction and surrealism, fantasy and horror, cyberpunk and fairy tale. Since the 1960s, when Stanisław Lem, Witold Gombrowicz, and Stefan Grabiński were first translated and introduced to Anglophone audiences; to the present day, when Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher universe is available in English across various media; Polish
The SFT panel at Futurecon was a success! Check out this great discussion and my attempt to be a moderator ;-). Thanks again to Cristina Macia, Cheryl Morgan, Emily Jin, Raul Ciannella, and the Futurecon organizers!! Science Fiction in Translation: A Hidden Treasure to Innovate the Genre
Feast your eyes on these beautiful new editions of Lem’s work (both speculative and not) from MIT Press. Apparently, there more to come soon!
I wrote a piece about Spanish-language speculative fiction by women in translation for the Three Percent website and in celebration of #WITMonth. Check it out here.
Award-winning Italian science fiction author Clelia Farris has a collection of stories coming out in English in September from Rosarium Publishing. Jennifer Delare translated the title story and yours truly translated the other six stories. The collection received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, which said, in part: “Across all seven marvelous tales, Farris effortlessly
Jagannath, translated by the author (Cheeky Frawg Books, 2012). “A child is born in a tin can. A switchboard operator finds himself in hell. Three corpulent women float somewhere beyond time. Welcome to the weird world of Karin Tidbeck, the visionary Swedish author of literary sci-fi, speculative fiction, and mind-bending fantasy who has captivated readers
Twilight Country (Twilight Country #1), translated by Joan Tate (Dufour Editions, 1993). “A dark, end-of-the-millennium vision permeates this novel by Norwegian author Faldbakken. Fleeing from the collapsing economic, social and legal systems of Sweetwater, a dystopian city in an unnamed country, former architect Allan Ung takes his teenage wife, Lisa, and their four-year-old son,
