Asymptote - issue 1

Asymptote is a new journal dedicated to literary translation, run by an international team of editors: "We are interested in encounters between languages and the consequences of these encounters. Though a translation may never fully replicate the original in effect (thus our name, “asymptote”: the dotted line on a graph that a mathematical function may tend towards but never reach), it is in itself an act of creation."

Issue Jan 2011 features original essays by Mary Gaitskill and Alain de Botton, fiction by Thomas Bernhard and Yoram Kaniuk, poetry by Aimé Césaire, Tan Chee Lay, and Ko Un, drama by Toshiki Okada, and nonfiction by Masahiko Fujiwara and Pablo Martín Ruiz. In total, Asymptote presents more than thirty-five authors via some of the finest translators working today, including Clayton Eshleman, Forrest Gander, Soren Gauger, Rika Lesser, Pierre Joris and Howard Goldblatt.

Included in the debut issue are stories, poems, visual works, critical essays, and reviews of the latest books. Some recommended links:

• Himalaya Poems by Ko Un, translated from the Korean
• Höpöhöpö Böks by Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl, a video poem from Iceland
• Alain de Botton on La Rochefoucauld - a review
• Literature and Mathematics by Masahiko Fujiwara - an essay from Japan

All of it is available free online at the Asymptote website, which features not only the translated texts, but also, when available, the works in their original languages, audio recordings of those originals, and accompanying artwork specially curated for each issue.

About Asymptote
The editorial team of Asymptote presently comprises the following editors: Chief/Fiction/Visual: Lee Yew Leong(Singapore/Taiwan) ; Poetry/Criticism: Brandon Holmquest(USA); Drama: Nathalie Handal(Palestine/France/USA); Nonfiction: Aditi Machado(India/USA); Special Feature: Anthony Luebbert(USA); Contributing Editor: Sayuri Okamoto(Japan). Asymptote is now inviting submissions for their next issue, feature theme: "encounter between languages" - guidelines.

related links: bilingual authors, international, first issue