Our Women in Translation Book Club Picks 2026

Our Women in Translation book club offers a monthly feminist fiction gathering (with the very occasional poetry or memoir digression), celebrating and exploring translated works by women writers the world over.

Why women in translation? Because less than 31% of books translated into English are written by women, and only 36% of books translated into English are from non-European countries - as the Women In Translation Project puts it, every story counts.

The WiT Book Group provides a free, friendly and gentle environment in which opinions are shared and new appreciations can be discovered. It's a place for curious minds and relaxed conversation hosted by poet and translator Annie Rutherford. Come and join us – all are welcome.

The bookgroup alternates between online and in-person meet-ups with exact dates and times listed below - more online in winter, more in person as the weather improves!

On the afternoon of each book club we'll send everyone the link to join the chat in the evening. We read and discuss one book each month, so we invite readers to sign up for individual discussions - although there is a core group of regulars, new faces join each discussion and some people dip in and out depending on whether the book grabs their attention.

Please support the bookshop & the book club by ordering your books through Lighthouse, use the code LONG-VICTORIOUS-WIT for bookclubbers 10% off.

Book club dates are as follows (sessions tend to last 75 mins, booking links for later dates will be added in due course):

23rd February: online meeting, 8:00 PM on Zoom (sign up to get the link emailed to you!)

• February book club book: The Weasel and the Whore by Martha Luisa Hernández Cadenas, translated by Julia Sanches and Jennifer Shyue

30th March: in-person meeting, 6:30 PM at the bookshop

• March book club book: My Dear Kabul: A year in the life of an Afghan women’s writing group, by various authors, translated by Parwana Fayyaz and Negeen Kargar.

27th April: online meeting, 8:00 PM on Zoom (sign up to get the link emailed to you!)

• April book club book: The Adventures of China Iron by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, translated by Iona Macintyre and Fiona Macintosh

25th May: in-person meeting, 6:30 PM at the bookshop with translator Iliyana Nedkova-Byrne

• May book club book: Balkan Rhapsody by Maria Kassimova-Moisset, translated by Iliyana Nedkova-Byrne

29th June: in-person meeting, 6:30 PM at the bookshop

• June book club book: Capitalists Must Starve by Seolyeon Park, translated by Anton Hur

27th July: in-person meeting, 6:30 PM at the bookshop

• July book club book: Your Wish is My Command by Deena Mohamed, translated by Deena Mohamed

31st August: online meeting, 8:00 PM on Zoom (sign up to get the link emailed to you!)

• August book club book: It Would Be Night in Caracas by Karina Sainz Borgo, translated by Elizabeth Bryer

28th September: in-person meeting, 6:30 PM at the bookshop

• September book club book: What Have You Left Behind? by Bushra al-Maqtari, translated by Sawad Hussain

26th October: online meeting, 8:00 PM on Zoom (sign up to get the link emailed to you!)

• October book club book: White Moss by Anna Nerkagi, translated by Irina Sadovina

30th November: online meeting, 8:00 PM on Zoom (sign up to get the link emailed to you!)

• November book club book: Restoration by Ave Barrera, trans. by Ellen Jones and Robin Myers

14th December: in-person meeting, 6:30 PM at the bookshop

• December book club book: Beasts by Ingvild Bjerkeland, translated by Rosie Hedger