Padma Viswanathan

A taste of this wonderful Brazilian author, two of whose novels I’m currently translating.

This short story was published years ago, but this praise from George Saunders, who chose it as The Boston Review Annual Fiction Contest winner, still makes my day: I found this piece imaginative and original; the author has taken an odd and beautiful concept and expanded upon it in a daring and beautiful way. The story has a nice dramatic arc, and the final image was oddly moving, satisfying. The story has real heart, and the author seems willing to go into strange territories. The story reminds me of the work of Steven Millhauser, Aimee Bender, or Ben Marcus: using fantastic elements to get at very real emotional material. Promising and exciting work.

A short story based on the absurdities of the US Border Patrol Agency. “The new security was going to be unpredictable, by design.”

Graciliano Ramos famously came to national attention in Brazil when the annual reports he submitted to the state government, in his capacity as mayor of his hometown, mysteriously made their way into the press. Here’s the first, in my translation.

In which I ask a few questions about comparing authors and cultural dominance.

About a viral narrative lurking within a story I thought I knew.