THE CRAFT OF BILINGUAL WRITERS | REMEMBERING CLARIBEL ALEGRÍA | GOOD VS. EVIL IN CRIME FICTION World LiteratureYour passportToday to great reading Speculative5 Writers Who Dwell in PossibilityFiction PIERRETTE FLEUTIAUX | RODRIGO FRESÁN | ANGÉLICA GORODISCHER ALEKSEY LUKYANOV | ANNE RICHTER CREATIVE NONFICTION Alberto Chimal’s periodic table of books REVIEWS OF BOOKS BY Carmen Boullosa Mia Couto Dunya Mikhail & more Distributed by the University of Chicago Press New from HAUS PUBLISHING www.press.uchicago.edu From Midnight to Glorious Morning? Life is Good Yiza India Since Independence Alex Capus Michael Köhlmeier Mihir Bose Translated by John Brownjohn Translated by Ruth Martin Mihir Bose traveled the length and breadth of India This new novel by Alex Capus is a hymn to trust, “Simultaneously bleak and hopeful, Yiza traverses to explore how a country that many doubted would friendship, and life’s small pleasures. Told with the expansive landscape of human suffering as seen survive its birth has been transformed into an eco- his trademark humor, Life is Good is about finding through the eyes of displaced migrant children.” nomic force to be reckoned with. This is a nuanced, contentment in rootedness as the world speeds up. —Foreword Reviews personal, and trenchant book. Paper $19.95 Paper $15.95 Paper $24.95 MAY – JUNE 2018 Contents COVER FEATURE 42 Speculative Fiction 43 The House by Pierrette Fleutiaux 15 35 45 Poetry by Nii Ayikwei Parkes on The Tenants Mahtem Shiferraw “The Power of Normal” by Anne Richter 51 Crime & Mystery Tribute A Perfect Wife by Angélica Gorodischer 12 40 Antagonists and Master Criminals In Memoriam Claribel Alegría: 54 by J. Madison Davis Amor sin fin Annus Mirabilis (Anus Horribilis) by George Evans & Daisy Zamora by Aleksey Lukyanov Poetry Q&A 58 15 Ancient History Six Poems 20 by Rodrigo Fresán by Mahtem Shiferraw A Conversation with Masatsugu Ono by Reid Bartholomew 18 Editors’ Picks: Three Poems Creative Nonfiction Summer Reads by Juan Bello Sánchez 24 9 Michelle Johnson 26 A Periodic Table of Books 19 Rob Vollmar A Dedication Poem by Alberto Chimal 37 Daniel Simon by Mohamed Metwalli Essays 28 Two Poems 30 ABOUT by Lamia Makaddem Inside the Bilingual Writer THE COVER by Erik Gleibermann Illustration by Gediminas 38 Pranckevičius, The Mandala 35 an illustrator by Claribel Alegría Exploring the Notion working and of Story Structure living in Vilnius, by Nii Ayikwei Parkes Lithuania In Every Issue | 3 Editor’s Note | 5 Notebook | 62 World Literature in Review | 96 Outpost What’s on worldlit.org Visit our website for exclusive content including original audio recordings, photo galleries, blog posts, and more. digital enhancements online extras ON THE WLT BLOG Showcasing Poems That Present the Palestinian Narrative: A WEB PHOTO EXCLUSIVE GALLERY Conversation with Naomi Foyle by Valentina Viene “Writing poetry is a lifeline, and the poetry I AUDIO VIDEO love the best has a sense of absolute PHOTO: YVO YVO LUNA PHOTO: necessity about it.” 5 favorite literary instas (p. 10) Look for these icons throughout the issue for information about exclusive content found online. digital enhancements digital enhancements Reflecting Iraq to the Outside World: A Conversation with Anoud by Claire Riggs “We change the status quo by communicating with those who challenge us.” PHOTO: UNAMI/SARMAD AL-SAFY PHOTO: Read more at Bilingual audio fiction by Aleksey A Riffle Books listing of all our Lukyanov (p. 54) summer reading recommendations worldlit.org/blog Join the WLT community Get Literary Join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, GoodReads, Pinterest, and on Instagram Flickr to share ideas, view photos, and read book reviews. Follow WLT on Instagram and fill your feed with inspiration for writers and readers. Facebook Twitter Instagram GoodReads facebook.com/ @worldlittoday @worldlittoday goodreads.com/ worldlittoday worldlittoday Sunny Chermé Cooper‏ Kathleen Rooney Jason Bayani Join the conversation @SunnyCherme @KathleenMRooney @jasonbayani SIMON So thrilled and proud Thanks to Michelle I have a new poem Join our community of readers of Oklahoma-based Johnson for the up @worldlittoday ALBA and writers on Twitter. Use the @worldlittoday for featuring fabulous interview Proud to share this : hashtag #IReadWLT and tell and nominating Zoë Urness’s questions about space with some us about your favorite features story/photo of #StandingRock. lillian boxfish amazing writers that PHOTO from this issue. Timely. Poignant. Well- @StMartinsPress I greatly admire. deserved. @PulitzerPrize & flânerie for #filamlit #filipino @NativeOklahoma #zoeurness @worldlittoday #pilipnx EDITOR’S NOTE ot only is World Literature Today sophisticated design aesthetic throughout one of the oldest continuously the current issue. Rob Vollmar, while con- published magazines devoted to tinuing to serve as our polymath book Ninternational literature, but a remarkable review editor, has also assumed Jen’s former continuity has prevailed on our masthead online editing role. And we’re delighted to page in the past couple of decades. Dr. RC welcome Cassady Dixon as our new full- Davis-Undiano will soon celebrate twenty time colleague in marketing, public rela- years as WLT’s executive director in what tions, and social media. Behind the scenes I like to characterize as a third golden age but no less vital to our presence on campus, of Oklahoma must begin fostering contri- in the magazine’s history, following the Terri Stubblefield will consolidate her role butions to the scholarly and cultural activi- tenures of our founding editor (1927–49), as office manager in charge of programs, ties of the nation.” That utilitarian emphasis Roy Temple House, and our longtime edi- event planning, and development, and Kay remains at the core of our mission, even tor (1967–91) Ivar Ivask. Moreover, as of Blunck continues to keep the WLT ship as the university’s scholarly and cultural 2018, I’ll become the third longest-serving afloat by managing our subscriptions and activities have expanded beyond the state editor in chief (2008–18) in the publica- accounts. and region to become not only national but tion’s history, following House and Ivask. What remains unchanged is the unwav- international in scope. Standing on the shoulders of such giants, ering support of the University of Oklahoma As I wrote in a previous issue, “To the we feel fortunate to survey the horizons of in providing WLT with both an operational students in my magazine publishing class, the international literary scene from the base and an intellectual home. Speaking of I often cite Michael Robert Evans’s asser- Southern Plains of Oklahoma, a place that golden ages, we salute OU’s longtime presi- tion that ‘editing is primarily about people,’ has always been a crossroads of languages, dent, David L. Boren, upon his retirement not words. By extension, universities are cultures, and the imagination. this year and thank him for his generous less about buildings and the spaces—geo- Mindful of the continuity of our history support of the arts and humanities, and graphical or intellectual—they occupy than here, I’m also pleased to announce four new WLT in particular, during his tenure. We about the people who inhabit and enliven staffing changes for 2018: Michelle John- also thank Dr. Kyle Harper, OU’s senior them” (May 2015). While a JSTOR keyword son, who has served as WLT’s gifted man- vice president and provost, for his deep and search might provide a “big data” view of aging editor since 2008, is adding “culture passionate investment in fostering our con- world literature as cataloged in our pages editor” to her title—in the July issue, poet tinued excellence. In October 1926, when since 1927, most readers who pick up a John Kinsella and visual artist Helen John- Dr. House initially approached President book are looking for deep immersion in son will offer a lively Q&A from Australia, William Bennett Bizzell to request a startup the unique time and place of that writer’s and Michelle is already developing a music- budget of $150 for the first two issues of the world. Words always reflect back upon the themed cover feature for the September quarterly that eventually became WLT, his multiverse at large—we read such literature issue. Also of note, Jen Rickard Blair, previ- rationale was strikingly modest: “I know to be enlightened and inspired, even within ously our online editor and web developer, our little magazine will be useful in various the spatial and temporal circumscriptions took over as WLT’s art director as of the quarters. A good many of us, I think, are of our horizons. March issue—readers will appreciate her coming to feel strongly that the University Daniel Simon SIMON ALBA : PHOTO Have a comment, critique, or inspiration you’d like to share? Write to us on Facebook, reach out on Twitter @worldlittoday, or email the editor in chief ([email protected]). WORLDLIT.ORG 3 World Literature Today May –June 2018 Volume 92, Number 3 Print/Digital Combo EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & NEUSTADT PROFESSOR Robert Con Davis-Undiano ASSISTANT DIRECTOR & EDITOR IN CHIEF Daniel Simon WORLD LITERATURE TODAY MANAGING & CULTURE EDITOR Michelle Johnson Wherever you are BOOK REVIEW & ONLINE EDITOR Rob Vollmar For the first time ever, combine a print ART & WEB DIRECTOR subscription with full digital access for the Jen Rickard Blair same price as print alone. PROGRAMS & DEVELOPMENT Digital Only: $18/year Terri D. Stubblefield PUBLICITY & MARKETING Print Only: $35/year Cassady Dixon Print + Digital: $35/year CIRCULATION & ACCOUNTS Kay Blunck Thank you for making World Literature Today your passport to great reading! EDITORIAL BOARD Roger Allen Manuel Durán César Ferreira George Gömöri Alamgir Hashmi Farzaneh Milani INTERNS Tanure Ojaide Reid Bartholomew Nii Ayikwei Parkes Erin Donnelly Ilan Stavans James Farner Michelle Yeh Taylor Hickney Theodore Ziolkowski Tyler McElroy Claire Riggs CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Grant Schatzman Jeanetta Calhoun Mish Linda Stack-Nelson Armando Celayo J.