From the Editors
Spirit is an animating force that keeps us alive, existing within, not taking up physical space. It may be a soul, an essence, an unknown, imbued with the shadow of afterlife. In the world of translation, we talk about the spirit of the author and text—something each translator takes great care to protect.
Spirit felt like a fitting theme as we usher in a new era of Exchanges on a different platform. We hope to honor and embody the kindred spirits of past contributors and editors, as well as all of the beautiful translations we have the privilege of showcasing, of their authors, and their translators.
This issue features poetry and prose translations from ten languages—Bulgarian, Japanese, Korean, Montenegrin, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Tamil, and Turkish—from ten translators. These pieces probe at the workings of individual and cultural memory, featuring fascinating voices like a tyrant who “pelts” a usurping newspaper with exactly “two raw eggs” (Nechit), the odd couple of “historians and gravediggers” (Halilović), and two closeted queer Catholics experimenting with gender (Rakočević).
We want to thank each and every one of our translators and authors: Sofia Monzón and Sara Torres, Joheun Lee and Yuri Lee, Mojisola Bakare and Rahmat Bakare, Tom Phillips and Maria Getova, Venya Guschin and Dordzhi Dzhaldzhireev, Jeffrey Angles and Nakahara Chūya, Vijaysree Venkataraman and Ve La Ramamoorthy, Will Firth and Tijana Rakočević, Mihaela Moscaliuc and Irina Nechit, Katarina Ristanović Acović and Enes Halilović.
A special thank you to our featured artist, Tony Brinkley, whose art encapsulates the haunting yet reinvigorating spirit of this issue. We also want to thank Lauren Haldeman, without whom we could not have made this website; Aron Aji and Thomas Mira y Lopez for their continuing support.
Finally, we would like to thank our editorial team: Andrea Avey, Lisa Bukatina, Allie Fredette, Greta Henderson, Dabin Jeong, Erel Michaelis, Emma Murray, Fabienne Rink, Itamar Shalev, and Fion Tse.
In spirit,
Mars Grabar Sage and Miharu Yano
November 2024