Fiction in Translation
September is National Translation Month, a time to honor translated literature and the work of translators. Here is a selection of recently published fiction in translation, chosen by Seattle Public Library librarians. Created August 2026
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Lázár
(Switzerland, German) An aristocratic Hungarian family copes with cascading trauma over three generations and two world wars in the extraordinary English-language debut from Swiss writer Biedermann. (Publishers Weekly)
Format: eBook
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Listen
(The Netherlands, Dutch) Bronwasser’s second novel takes a studied look at how “the banal and the exceptional” interact in the lives of three relative strangers. (Kirkus)
Format: eBook
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All Flesh
(Mauritius, French) A searing satire of how society engages with and consumes otherness. A young woman, sick of the way she's treated because of her weight, begins to performatively eat for an internet audience-a decision that soon sends her into a dark spiral. (NoveList)
Format: eBook
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Delicious Hunger
(Singapore, Chinese) The Malaysian Communist Party’s insurgency is rendered in vivid detail by Fan, a member of the party’s guerrilla forces from 1976 to 1989, in this remarkable collection, his English-language debut. (Publishers Weekly)
Format: eBook
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The Ferryman and His Wife
(Norway, Norwegian) Grytten’s first novel, translated into English from the author's native Norwegian, is a meditative, ethereal journey following Nils Vik as he sets sail across the fjord to the sea on a final journey to once again be with his wife, Marta. (Booklist)
Format: eBook
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The Lack of Light
(Georgia, German) A brilliant epic follows four Georgian friends through the tragedies of their country and the challenges of their lives. (Kirkus)
Format: eBook
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We Would Have Told Each Other Everything
(Germany, German) In this deeply affecting English-language debut, German writer Hermann reflects on the connections between art and experience, delving into her protagonist’s family history in West Germany and the relationships that shaped her life. (Publishers Weekly)
Format: eBook
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Dead Weight
(Iceland, Icelandic) A woman leading a routine life is pushed by circumstance to violent extremes in this impressively subtle and slow-burning psychological chiller. (Publishers Weekly)
Format: eBook
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City of Fiction
(China, Chinese) In early 20th-century China, a man journeys through a snowstorm with a newborn searching for its mother, arriving in the hometown of the woman who abandoned him, uncovering stories of vanished traditions, love, violence and the transformative power of storytelling. (NoveList)
Format: eBook
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The Abyss
(India, Tamil) Originally published in 2003, this deeply human story from Jeyamohan tells of slavery, religious hypocrisy, official corruption, and arranged marriage in 1991 Tamil Nadu. (Publishers Weekly)
Format: eBook
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