Our Women in Translation book group 2024 choices

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.

We are continuing to meet online for the first couple of months of 2024, but after this we’re very excited to be able to invite you to join us in the shop for a few in-person gatherings through the spring and summer. Book group meetings are usually on the last Monday of every month (exact dates are below with locations after July tbc).

On the afternoon of the 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:

Jan 29th, 8pm (online): Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro translated Frances Riddle

Feb 26th, 8pm (online): Butterflies in November by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir translated Brian FitzGibbon

March 25, 6.30pm (in-person at Lighthouse): Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor translated by Sophie Hughes

April 29, 8pm (online): Byobu by Ida Vitale Translated by Sean Manning

May 27, 6.30pm (in-person at Lighthouse): The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa Translated by Stephen Snyder

June 24, 8pm (online): Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung translated by Anton Hur

July 29, 6.30pm (in-person at Lighthouse): Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura translated by Philip Gabriel

Aug 26 (time and place tbc): The Years by Annie Ernaux translated by Alison L. Strayer

Sep 30 (time and place tbc): Nothing Belongs to You by Nathacha Appanah translated by Jeffrey Zuckerman

Oct 28 (time and place tbc): The Lantern and the Night Moths by Qiu Jin, Fei Ming, Dai Wangshu, Zhang Qiaohui, and Xiao Xi, edited and translated by Yilin Wang

Nov 25 (time and place tbc): Sisters in Arms by Shida Bazyar translated by Ruth Martin

Dec 16 (time and place tbc): Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson translated by Thomas Warburton