August is Women in Translation (WIT) Month.  Launched in 2014 by Meytal Radzinski, WIT Month was created in response to Radzinski’s observation that only 30% of books published in translation were by women.  Translated works allow us to be more inclusive of writers from different cultural, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds.  Over the years, Radzinski has included and emphasized works from marginalized women (and transgender, nonbinary, or intersex) writers.

My Brilliant Life by Ae-ran Kim, Translated by Chi-Young Kim

Ae-ran Kim’s My Brilliant Life explores family bonds and out-of-the-ordinary friendships, interweaving the past and present of a tight-knit family, finding joy and happiness in even the most difficult times.

Childhood by Tove Ditlevsen, Translated by Tiina Nunnally

The celebrated Danish poet Tove Ditlevsen begins the Copenhagen Trilogy with Childhood, her coming-of-age memoir about pursuing a life and a passion beyond the confines of her upbringing–and into the difficult years described in Youth and Dependency

Consent by Vanessa Springora, Translated by Natasha Lehrer

Already an international literary sensation, an intimate and powerful memoir of a young French teenage girl’s relationship with a famous, much older male writer–a universal #MeToo story of power, manipulation, trauma, recovery, and resiliency that exposes the hypocrisy of a culture that has allowed the sexual abuse of minors to occur unchecked.

American Delirium by Betina González, Translated by Heather Cleary

From award-winning novelist Argentine Betina González, American Delirium is a dizzying, luminous English-language debut about an American town overrun by a mysterious hallucinogen and the collision of three unexpected characters through the mayhem.

The Lost Village by Camilla Sten, Translated by Alexandra Fleming

Documentary filmmaker Alice Lindstedt has been obsessed with the vanishing residents of the old mining town, dubbed “The Lost Village,” since she was a little girl. In 1959, her grandmother’s entire family disappeared in this mysterious tragedy, and ever since, the unanswered questions surrounding the only two people who were left–a woman stoned to death in the town center and an abandoned newborn–have plagued her. She’s gathered a small crew of friends in the remote village to make a film about what really happened.  But there will be no turning back.

Painting Time by Maylis de Kerangal, Translated by Jessica Moore

An aesthetic and existential coming-of-age novel exploring the apprenticeship of a young female painter.

Shoko’s Smile by Choi Eunyoung, Translated by Sung Ryu

A bestselling and award-winning debut collection from one of South Korea’s most prominent young writers.

The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura, Translated by Lucy North

Studiously deadpan and chillingly voyeuristic, The Woman in the Purple Skirt explores envy, loneliness, power dynamics, and the vulnerability of unmarried women in a taut, suspenseful narrative about the sometimes desperate desire to be seen.

What You Can See from Here by Mariana Leky, Translated by Tess Lewis

In this international bestseller by the award-winning novelist Mariana Leky, a heartwarming story unfolds about a small town, a grandmother whose dreams foretell a coming death, and the young woman forever changed by these losses and her loving, endearingly oddball community.

I Was Never the First Lady by Wendy Guerra, Translated by Alicia Achy Obejas

A lush, sensuous, and original tale of family, love, and history, set against the backdrop of the Cuban Revolution and its aftermath.

What do you think of these translated books by women writers?

Have you read any of these books by women in translation?  What are some of your favorite translated works written by women?  Let me know your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions about books by women in translation in the comments below!