The Night Closes, the Sky Opens

"This is a diverse gathering, to be sure . . . a splendid poem by Czeslaw Milosz ('Whatever evil I had suffered, I forgot') here, a thoughtful consideration of translation and cultural translocation by Mojave writer Natalie Diaz ('It is a gift to have a language that English is too small for, since I have a life that English thinks is small') there; Margarita Engle’s insistence that, our freedoms of thought and writing being muscles, 'if we don’t use them, they will atrophy, and we won’t be able to defend children against tyranny' buttressing Albanian novelist Ismail Kadare’s view that belief in literature means knowing that 'the government which dominates you . . . [and] tyranny itself are a passing nightmare, dead matter, compared to the great order of which you have become initiated as a member.' And there it is: literature as news that stays news, that because timeless couldn’t be more timely."

— Kirkus Reviews

“What a vibrant, refreshing anthology this is, full of surprising, distinctive writing from every continent, which has been true for every issue of World Literature Today for decades. Editor Daniel Simon is a tremendous guide to the republic of letters. His enduring curiosity for the art of translation and for new literature from other languages is evident in the dynamic range of styles and approaches included here. From the Mozambican novelist Mia Couto to the Mayan poet Briceida Cuevas Cob, the dynamic range of prose and poetry is indeed a compass to a better direction for our species and for the planet that we share.”

— Idra Novey, author of Take What You Need