The Persian translations of three books, namely ‘An Inch and a Half of Glory’, ‘The Collector of Worlds’, and ‘A Fair Maiden’ have been recently published.
‘An Inch and a Half of Glory’
Translated by Bahar Akbarian, it is a collection of ten short stories written by eminent authors, initially published in 2013 in The New Yorker, the American literary magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry, with regard to modern fiction by the inclusion of short stories, ISNA reported.
The book is Akbarian’s second translation from stories published in the magazine. Authors include William Trevor, an Irish novelist, playwright, and short story writer, awarded an honorary CBE in 1977; Alice Munro, a Canadian author who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013; Joyce Carol Oates, an American author of over 700 short stories, among others.
Released by Morvarid Publication, the short stories are written in modern and postmodern literature, which is characterized by reliance on narrative techniques such as fragmentation, paradox, and the unreliable narrator, and often is defined as a style which emerged in the post-World War II era.
With innovative structure and debatable content, the stories challenge the reader to detect the difference between fantasy and reality, lie and truth, betrayal and friendship, and, good and evil.
‘The Collector of Worlds’
Published by Ofogh Publication, this is a translation by Maryam Moayyadpour authored by Ilija Trojanowa, Bulgarian-German writer, translator and publisher, in 2010.
The story is inspired by the life of Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890), the extraordinary traveler and translator. Although the central character is Burton and much of the book is based on facts from his life (incorporating some of his own writings), it is rather freely imagined in fiction genre.
The novel is not only about his travel to India, but also about changing identities, a process of going native and yet reaching an understanding of the limitations to become part of another culture. Although he understands Indian language, he gets to know their culture through his acquaintance with an Indian woman.
‘A Fair Maiden’
The full-length fiction authored by Joyce Carol Oates in 2010 has been translated by Khojasteh Keyhan, and published by Parseh Book Publications.
With a theme of violence, it is the tale of a teenage girl beset by a world that does not have her best interests at heart. The tale explores human complexities in uncomplicated prose.
