World Literature Today devotes the cover feature of its summer issue to Notes from the Cataclysm, reckonings with the global Covid-19 pandemic by six writers from Cuba, Greece, Kurdistan, and the US. Other highlights in the issue include Shokoofeh Azar’s marquee essay on the Iranian diaspora down under; Q&As; with Michelle de Kretser, Bonnie Huie, and Zisis Ainalis; poetry from Greece, Hong Kong, and Portugal; and fiction from Brazil, Germany, and Kuwait. Reviews of new books by Andrés Neuman, Carolyn Forché, J. M. Coetzee, and dozens of other writers—along with a summer booklist—make the issue timely and indispensable.

A special section devoted to Graphic Nonfiction, showcasing seven writers and artists from around the globe, headlines the Spring 2020 issue of World Literature Today. The issue also presents interviews with translators Antonia Lloyd-Jones and Isabel Fargo Cole; new fiction from Italy, France, and the Philippines; essays on Nigerian fiction and the “humanity on display” in museum exhibitions; poetry by Elyas Alavi (Afghanistan), Khaled Mattawa (Libya/US), and Mohamad Nassereddine (Lebanon); and Poupeh Missaghi’s recommended booklist about cities. More than forty book reviews also round out the issue, giving readers a wealth of titles to inspire their spring reading adventures.

Margarita Engle, winner of the 2019 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature, headlines the Winter 2020 issue of World Literature Today with a reflective essay on the “two wings” of her Cuban American literary inspirations. Also inside, Lilliam Rivera pays tribute to Engle’s mastery, Cristina Rivera Garza speaks out against the “femicide machine” in Mexico, Anastasia Edel recounts a dreamlike flânerie in NYC, and Veronica Esposito launches a monthly conversation series with translators. As always, additional essays, poetry, short stories, interviews, dozens of book reviews, and recommended books make the current issue, like every issue, your passport to great reading.

World Literature Today’s autumn issue celebrates U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo with poems and an interview inside, and the cover feature devoted to Literary Activism commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Alcatraz occupation that began in November 1969. Guest-edited by Allison Hedge Coke, the section showcases the work of 22 writers, including the literary sensation Tommy Orange. Other highlights in the issue include essays by Igiaba Scego and Edward Hirsch, an interview with Laila Lalami, and a valedictory top 10 list by columnist J. Madison Davis. As always, a generous selection of book reviews and other features round out the issue.

With global breadth and an impassioned sense of urgency, A Rising Sea of Climate Change Lit headlines the Summer 2019 issue of World Literature Today. Featuring writers from Australia, Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and the US, the section combines creative work as well as critical insights into our current ecological crisis. Additional highlights include essays by Andrew Lam on Saigon and Vanessa Garcia on translating Cuba, plus interviews, short fiction, and poetry. As always, book reviews, recommended reading lists, and literary miscellany are featured throughout, along with web-exclusive content.

World Literature Today welcomes spring with its first annual city issue devoted to Hong Kong, with a focus on food and languages via the work of 13 writers. Other highlights include Ladan Osman’s photo-essay on the refugee crisis viewed from Niger, an essay on translating Jennifer Egan into Catalan, interviews with Rohingya and Tibetan writers, as well as Chinese and Rohingya poetry. Additional essays, fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, reading recommendations, and a visit to Tokyo’s book district round out the issue, along with a generous selection of book reviews, featured new books and “Booktubers,” and online exclusives.

Edwidge Danticat, winner of the 2018 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, headlines the January 2019 issue of World Literature Today. In the issue’s expanded 112-page format, the book review section has also been given a fresh new look, with boxed reviews highlighting titles we’re especially excited to share with readers. Additional highlights include work by Achy Obejas, André Naffis-Sahely, Grace Chia, Emeka Ogboh, Patrick Chamoiseau, and four “fabulist fables” by Pierre Bettencourt. As always, new books, recommended reading lists, and luminous literati are featured throughout, along with web-exclusive content.

An interview with poet and spiritual teacher Alice Walker headlines the November 2018 issue of World Literature Today. The issue also devotes a special section of fiction and poetry to the theme of illness and literature. Additional features include an essay on lostness by Anna Badkhen; interviews with Sergio Chejfec and Vu Tran; verse from India, Iran, Korea, and Libya; additional essays on the opera of Philip Glass, violence toward women in crime fiction, and literary Vienna; a Dostoevsky reading challenge, and much more. As always, a wealth of book reviews and online exclusives round out the issue.

A special section devoted to Music & Lit, featuring eight writers and musicians from around the globe, headlines the September 2018 issue of World Literature Today. “Bonus tracks” include a Spotify playlist tied directly to the cover feature; a trio of recommended rock operas; and a profile of Prince’s Minneapolis. The issue also features an essay on post-Soviet poetry by Philip Metres; new fiction from the Faroe Islands and Mexico; and translated poetry from Brazil, China, Colombia, Denmark, and Lebanon. As always, a wealth of book reviews, featured new books, recommended reading lists, and online exclusives round out the issue.

The July 2018 issue of World Literature Today is bursting at the seams with lively summer reading. In a powerful essay from the cover feature, German novelist Jenny Erpenbeck maps the blind spots of globalization, challenging Western complacencies. In another brilliant essay, Ladan Osman takes the measure of Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” video. Other highlights include an interview with Chris Abani, a portfolio of Kurdish poetry, and a sharply observed short story by Sylvie Weil. As always, the rest of the issue is packed with additional poetry, fiction, essays, book reviews, and reading recommendations from all over the world.

World Literature Today welcomes summer with five brilliant stories in a cover feature devoted to international Speculative Fiction. Other highlights include Alberto Chimal’s fanciful “periodic table of books”; a tribute to Claribel Alegría; verse by Mahtem Shiferraw and poets from Egypt, Tunisia, and Spain; Masatsugu Ono on compassion as “a sort of tender prayer for others”; plus additional essays, sf and summer reading recommendations, five of our favorite literary Instagram pages, and a visit to Manhattan’s Mysterious Bookshop. As always, a generous selection of book reviews, featured new books, and online exclusives round out the issue.

Marilyn Nelson, winner of the 2017 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature, headlines the March 2018 issue ofWorld Literature Today with a reflective essay on her life’s work as a poet and the strands of “social justice and simple beauty” in her writing. The issue also includes a special section devoted to Philippine-American lit, guest-edited by Joseph O. Legaspi; interviews with Kathleen Rooney and Hannah Lowe; verse from Algeria, Turkey, and the Faroe Islands; and much more. As always, dozens of book reviews and recommended books round out the issue, along with “5 Binge-worthy Podcasts for Lit Lovers.”

World Literature Today kicks off its ninety-second year with an impassioned look at the literature of resistance, featuring an essay/poetry diptych from Mapuche writer Liliana Ancalao; Maureen Freely on writing as resistance in Turkey; and poetry of witness from Italy and Greece. The issue also showcases stunning essays by Kapka Kassabova and Dunya Mikhail; interviews with Li-Young Lee (Indonesia/US), Eleni Kefala (Greece), and Jia Pingwa (China); and a wealth of other fiction and poetry. As always, a generous selection of book reviews, featured new books, recommended reading lists, and online exclusives round out the issue.

Belief in an Age of Intolerance, the urgent cover feature guest-edited by Yahia Lababidi featuring 15 writers from around the globe, headlines the November 2017 issue of World Literature Today. “Belief in the midst of chaos,” writes Lababidi, “remembers the indestructible world.” The issue also includes an essay on empathy in storytelling by Aminatta Forna; new fiction from Egypt and Chile; poetry from Romania and Italy; and interviews with Turkish dissident writer Aslı Erdoğan and American translator Lawrence Venuti. As always, a wealth of book reviews, featured new books, recommended reading lists, and online exclusives round out the issue.

Packed with book reviews, essays, interviews, fiction, and poetry, the September 2017 issue of World Literature Today highlights “Lives Interrupted,” a special section featuring eight writers’ refugee and migration stories. Other marquee pieces include Matthew Shenoda’s essay on African verse, flash nonfictions by Fábio Morabito, and an interview with poet and translator Simon Armitage. Our comprehensive review section leads off with a featured review of Jenny Erpenbeck’s latest novel, followed by 64 other new and notable titles. Everything you need to catch up on the best writing the world has to offer is found in the latest issue of WLT!

The summer 2017 issue of World Literature Today (Vol. 91, No. 3-4) is bursting at the seams with 120 pages of poetry, fiction, essays, interviews, and book reviews from all over the world, including our annual summer reading recommendations. Contemporary Native American writers take special prominence in a feature section, guest-edited by Jeanetta Calhoun Mish. Other highlights include poetry and fiction from Israel and Denmark, an essay on the “cosmopolitan ghazal,” and a conversation with poet and translator Hélène Cardona. A special survey also gives readers the opportunity to tell us what they like most—and what they’d like to see changed—about WLT.

The latest issue of World Literature Today surveys thirteen writers’ dystopian visions of the future. Anchored by interviews with Michelle Pretorius and Cuban sci-fi master Yoss, the issue includes fiction by Yuri Herrera, Basma Abdel Aziz, and Claudia Salazar Jiménez; verse from Japan’s Kiriu Minashita; and a bonus special section of fiction from Montenegro, guest-edited by Will Firth. The review section is bursting with new work from Amitav Ghosh, Madeleine Thien, and Antoine Volodine among many others, and our spring offering is rounded out by all the columns and regular features that devoted readers have come to expect.

World Literature Today opens 2017 with a bang, featuring a career-spanning interview with poet and translator Carolyn Forché and an in-depth talk with comics writer and novelist Alan Moore on his latest book, Jerusalem. Dubravka Ugrešić headlines the issue with her 2016 Neustadt Prize lecture, and Julia Fiedorczuk continues our Puterbaugh series with an essay on Polish women poets. As always, the issue is packed with prose and poetry from all over the world, including fiction from Denmark’s Josefine Klougart. The issue also debuts a newly plotted review section, plus all the bonus content you’ve come to expect and love!

In November 2016—for the first time in the magazine’s 90-year history—the entire issue of World Literature Today is devoted to women writers, translators, and reviewers. Encompassing essays, fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and interviews spanning the globe, the assemblage of writers glimpses how an international, contemporary literary canon populated solely by women might look. The magazine’s review section also presents 34 books written and reviewed by women. In addition, the issue includes city profiles, reading lists, and global-culture features from female contributors. All told, the issue presents a “utopia of literary parity” from cover to cover.

The September 2016 issue of World Literature Today is bursting at the seams with literary superstars from all over the globe. We kick off the fall with two big interviews, one with Pulitzer Prize winner Viet Thanh Nguyen and a second with Puterbaugh Fellow Alain Mabanckou, plus a powerful essay by Dubravka Ugrešić on the public silencing of women. Gulf literature from Cuba, Mexico, and the US South takes special prominence in a feature section. As always, the rest of the issue is packed with more poetry, fiction, essays, interviews, and book reviews from all over the world.

The May 2016 issue of World Literature Today is double-packed with interviews, fiction, poetry, and essays, including a special section featuring four writers who are redefining East Asian writing with powerful autobiographical voices. Other highlights include fiction by Carlos Pintado, poetry from Amit Majmudar, and an essay on the Neustadt Prize by William Marling. Our comprehensive review section—packed with the best in fiction, verse, and nonfiction—is augmented by WLT’s annual roundup of our editors’ summer reading lists. Everything you need to spend your summer immersed in the best writing the world has to offer is waiting for you!

World Literature Today goes graphic in March 2016 with a special section on international comics guest-edited by Bill Kartalopoulos, featuring a career-spanning interview with French comics creator David B., whose art graces the cover, as well as artist and publisher profiles and a dedicated comics review section. Other highlights include Ghassan Zaqtan’s reassessment of the work of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish and a lively interview with Catalan writer Pere Gimferrer. The issue is rounded out with new fiction from Zsófia Bán, women’s poetry from Azerbaijan, and a wealth of book reviews, featured new books, recommended reading lists, and online exclusives.


World Literature Today kicks off its 90th year of continuous publication with a stunning portrait cover of our 2015 NSK Laureate Meshack Asare—whose keynote address from our fall festival is put into sharp context by a moving tribute from Ghanian-born writer Nii Ayikwei Parkes. Valeria Luiselli takes on national identity, translation and the future of the Spanish language in an exclusive interview while Mai Al-Nakib wonders what is lost from conflating Arab literature with a literature of trauma and politics. Also featuring new fiction and poetry from Ireland, Germany, Korea, Finland and Italy as well as the editor’s picks, book reviews and web-exclusive content that makes every issue of WLT an essential read for the international reader.

Heralded by striking cover art by Australian Fiona Hall, World Literature Today’s November 2015 issue showcases Art Poetry, featuring 20 poems inspired by visual art created in the last half-century. Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk details the qualities of a great writer in an exclusive interview and Neustadt Prize juror Porochista Khakpour shares her list of must-read Iranian masterpieces. Our special section champions “Political Voices from the Maghreb” alongside new fiction from Hong Kong-based Dung Kai-cheung and the Pacific Northwest’s Lois Taylor. All this plus the book reviews, editors’ picks, and web-exclusive content synonymous with World Literature Today magazine.

In a year marked by protracted conflicts over bodies—women’s bodies, black bodies, immigrant/refugee bodies, and even the body politic—Bodies in Literature, featuring nine writers from around the globe, headlines the September 2015 issue of World Literature Today. The issue also includes new fiction by Naja Marie Aidt and Nnedi Okorafor; verse by Dunya Mikhail, Jiang Tao, and six Cuban poets; and essays by Ma Jian and Chris Astwood. As always, a wealth of book reviews, featured new books, recommended reading lists, and online exclusives round out the issue.

The May 2015 double issue of WLT features New Hebrew Writing: 15 Voices from Israel and Abroad, an outstanding selection of fiction and poetry by more than a dozen writers—all appearing for the first time in English translation—plus interviews with Ronit Matalon and Dory Manor. A generous sampling of other poetry, fiction, essays, interviews, and book reviews appears elsewhere in the issue, which also offers summer reads recommended by WLT’s editors and a celebration of the legendary Puterbaugh literary festivals that have taken place at the University of Oklahoma since the late 1960s.

Writing Beyond Iran, a special section featuring four writers from the Persian diaspora, headlines the March 2015 issue of World Literature Today. The issue also includes new poems by Chinese author Lan Lan, Galsan Tschinag’s “swan song” for Mongolia, an essay on Belgian comic Olivier Schrauwen, a survey of post-apartheid South African crime fiction, and two pieces on rewriting Haitian literary history. As always, a wealth of book reviews as well as additional stories, poetry, essays, interviews, and online exclusives round out the issue.

Mia Couto, winner of the 2014 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, headlines the January 2015 issue of World Literature Today, which also features a special section devoted to flash nonfiction and a complete redesign inside and out. Additional highlights include a suite of contemporary Ethiopian poetry, essays by Elif Shafak and Zsolt Láng, an interview with Hassan Blasim, and poetry by Circe Maia and John Kinsella. As always, new books and book reviews are also featured throughout, along with exclusive content on the WLT website.

After the Wall Fell: Dispatches from Central Europe (1989–2014), commemorating the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, headlines the November 2014 issue of World Literature Today. A dozen writers from Mitteleuropa are featured in the special section, including Jenny Erpenbeck, Tomas Venclova, Julia Fiedorczuk, Durs Grünbein, and Ana Blandiana, along with the results of WLT’s “25 Books That Inspired the World” readers’ poll. Additional fiction, poetry, essays, interviews, and book reviews round out the issue.

Summer 2020

Spring 2020

Winter 2020

Autumn 2019

Summer 2019

Spring 2019

January - February 2019 / Winter 2019

November - December 2018

September – October 2018

July - August 2018

May - June 2018

March - April 2018

January - February 2018

November – December 2017

September - October 2017

May - August 2017

Your passport to great reading. Each issue of World Literature Today delivers book reviews, fiction, poetry, interviews, and essays by the best new writers from across the globe. Now in its 90th year of continuous publication, World Literature Today has won dozens of awards including most recently the Apex Award for Excellence and Annual Gold Ink Award.

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World Literature Today - Summer 2020

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