In these pages, some of the most accomplished writers in world literature — among them Edwidge Danticat, Ha Jin, Cynthia Ozick, Javier Marias, and Nobel laureates Wole Soyinka, Günter Grass, Czeslaw Milosz, Wislawa Szymborska, and Naguib Mahfouz — have stepped forward to introduce us to dazzling literary talents virtually unknown to readers of English. Most of their work — short stories, poems, essays, and excerpts from novels — appears here in English for the first time.

The Chilean writer Ariel Dorfman introduces us to a story of extraordinary poise and spiritual intelligence by the Argentinian writer Juan Forn. The Romanian writer Norman Manea shares with us the sexy, sinister, and thrillingly avant garde fiction of his homeland's leading female novelist. The Indian writer Amit Chaudhuri spotlights the Bengali writer Parashuram, whose hilarious comedy of manners imagines what might have happened if Britain had been colonized by Bengal. And Roberto Calasso writes admiringly of his fellow Italian Giorgio Manganelli, whose piece celebrates the Indian city of Madurai.

Every piece here — be it from the Americas, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, or the Caribbean — is a discovery, a colorful thread in a global weave of literary exchange.

Edited by Samantha Schnee, Alane Salierno Mason, and Dedi Felman

DEDI FELMAN is a senior editor at Oxford University Press. She lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

SAMANTHA SCHNEE is the former senior editor of Zoetrope: All-Story. She lives in Houston, Texas.

All three are editors at WORDS WITHOUT BORDERS (WWB), the online magazine for international literature (www.wordswithoutborders.org). A partner of PEN American Center, WWB is hosted by Columbia University and Bard College and funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.

ANDRE DUBUS I I I

Where Are You Running To?

MA JIAN

China

Introduced by Jonathan Safran Foer

Translated from the Chinese by Flora Drew

Meteorite Mountain

CAN XUE

China

Introduced by Ha Jin

Translated from the Chinese by Zhu Hong

Looking for the Elephant

JO KYUNG RAN

South Korea

Introduced by Don Lee

Translated from the Korean by Heinz Insu Fenkl

Children of the Sky

SENO GUMIRA AJIDARMA

Indonesia

Introduced by Pramoedya Ananta Toer

Translated from the Indonesian by John H.McGlynn

The Scripture Read Backward

PARASHURAM

Bangladesh

Introduced by Amit Chaudhuri

Translated from the Bengali by Sukanta Chaudhuri

The Unfinished Game

GOLI TARAGHI

Iran

Introduced by Francine Prose

Translated from the Persian by Zara Houshmand

The Day in Buenos Aires

JABBAR YUSSIN HUSSIN

Iraq

Introduced by Alberto Manguel

Translated from the Arabic by Randa Jarrar

Two Poems

SANIYYA SALEH

Syria

Introduced by Adonis

Translated from the Arabic by Issa J. Boullata

Faint Hints of Tranquillity

ADANIA SHIBLI

Palestine

Introduced by Anton Shammas

Translated from the Arabic by Anton Shammas

Shards of Reality and Glass

HASSAN KHADER

Palestine

Introduced by Ahdaf Soueif

Translated from the Arabic by Ahdaf Soueif

A Drowsy Haze

GAMAL AL-GHITANI

Egypt

Introduced by Naguib Mahfouz

Translated from the Arabic by William Maynard Hutchins

The Uses of English

AKINWUMI ISOLA

Nigeria

Introduced by Wole Soyinka

Translated from the Yoruba by Akinwumi Isola

from Provisional

GABRIELA ADAMESTEANU

Romania

Introduced by Norman Manea

Translated from the Romanian by Carrie Messenger

Two Poems

SENADIN MUSABEGOVIC´

Bosnia

Introduced by Aleksandar Hemon

Translated from the Bosnian by Ulvija Tanovi´c

from Experiment with India

GIORGIO MANGANELLI

Italy

Introduced by Roberto Calasso

Translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein

from The Fish of Berlin

ELEONORA HUMMEL

Germany

Introduced by Günter Grass

Translated from the German by Susan Bernofsky

Seven Poems

BRONISLAW MAJ

Poland

Introduced by the Editors

Translated by Clare Cavanagh

from His Majesty, Almighty Death

MYRIAM ANISSIMOV

France

Introduced by Cynthia Ozick

Translated from the French by C. Dickson

from October 27, 2003

ETEL ADNAN

France

Introduced by Diana Abu Jaber

Translated from the French by C. Dickson with Etel Adnan

Vietnam.Thursday.

JOHAN HARSTAD

Norway

Introduced by Heidi Julavits

Translated from the Norwegian by Deborah Dawkin and Erik Skuggevik

Lightweight Champ

JUAN VILLORO

Mexico

Introduced by Javier Marías

Translated from the Spanish by Lisa Dillman

The Sheika’s Condition

MARIO BELLATIN

Mexico

Introduced by Francisco Goldman

Translated from the Spanish by Cindy Schuster

When I Was a Man

AMBAR PAST

Mexico

Introduced by Elena Poniatowska

Translated from the Spanish by Samantha Schnee

from Revulsion

HORACIO CASTELLANOS MOYA

El Salvador

Introduced by Roberto Bolaño

Translated from the Spanish by Beatriz Cortez

The Chareron Inheritance

EVELYNE TROUILLOT

Haiti

Introduced by Edwidge Danticat

Translated from the French by Avriel Goldberger

from Kind’s Silence

MARCELA SOLÁ

Argentina

Introduced by Luisa Valenzuela

Translated from the Spanish by Tobias Hecht

Baked Mud

JUAN JOSÉ SAER

Argentina

Introduced by José Saramago

Translated from the Spanish by Sergio Waisman

Swimming at Night

JUAN FORN

Argentina

Introduced by Ariel Dorfman

Translated from the Spanish by Marina Harss