By Ainsley Lin and Nicole Sterba
To celebrate Black History Month, we’ve put together a collection of translated works by Black authors from around the world. From memoirs to fantasy, the following are our picks translated from a variety of different languages.
The Madwoman of Serrano by Dina Salústio, translated from Portuguese by Jethro Soutar
The Madwoman of Serrano is a short novel that follows characters from the small village of Serrano. Hidden away in a valley, the residents of Serrano are seemingly frozen in time, trapped by the mysterious magic of their home, almost unable to think for themselves and hesitant to ever leave. Filipa, born in Serrano but forced to leave in childhood, pieces together the unusual circumstances of her birth and the identity of the man who raised her, through memories and the madwoman who foretells the doom of the town.
Dina Salústio is a Cape Verdean author, who has also worked as a teacher, a social worker and a journalist. She is the first woman from Cape Verde to publish a novel and the first to have it translated into English. She has also written short story collections, three novels and has contributed to short story and poetry anthologies. She was awarded the PEN Galicia Prize for lifetime achievement in 2016, was a co-recipient of the 2018 English PEN Translation Award for The Madwoman of Serrano and was a founding member of the Cape Verdean Writers Association.
Moonbath by Yanick Lahens, translated from French by Emily Gogolak
Yanick Lahens is a Haitian-French writer with several awards to her name. Her first novel Dans la Maison du Pere was published in 2000, and she has greatly contributed to Haiti’s culture. In 2014, she received the Prix Fémina, a French literary prize led by an all-female jury.
Moonbath’s stunning narration style follows four generations of a poor Haitian family. Themes like gender inequality, patriarchy and voodoo are explored through beautifully crafted prose, which includes both Haitian and French words that are kept in the English translation. Moonbath is told through multiple perspectives, including that of a ghost as we follow this family’s story through hundreds of years, showing how Haitian history, religion and violence affect the family.
The story begins with Olmène, a young girl selling vegetables in a market and her courtship with a rich and powerful man of the village. Through this relationship, we learn how generational trauma and cycles unfold, as well as strict gender roles. As the story progresses, we meet the deceased Cétoute as she recounts her memories and retells the stories of generations before her. This narrative style is unique, creating a sense of nostalgia within the generations of the Haitian family.
La Bastarda by Trifonia Melibea Obono, translated from Spanish by Lawrence Schimel
La Bastarda follows a young orphan, Okomo, whose mother died during childbirth. The story follows Okomo, who lives in a small traditional village just outside of Gabon and grows up being rejected from birth as a bastard child as well as an orphan. Over the course of the novel, Okomo attempts to seek out her birth father but is constantly stopped by her grandmother. Later she joins the outcasts of the village, and soon falls for the rebelling leader of the group.
La Bastarda is the first novel by an Equatorial Guinean woman to be translated to English. Obono is known as a valiant woman for writing about LGBTQIA+ themes and exploring gender norms through her writing. In 2017, Obono completed her doctorate at the Universidad de Salamanca writing her thesis about traditional marriage in her home country.
Return to the Enchanted Island by Johary Ravaloson, translated from French by Allison M. Charette
Born in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Johary Ravaloson is now living in Normandy as an author and publisher. His first novel to be translated to English, Return to the Enchanted Island, is a coming-of-age story laced with the beautiful origin myths of Madagascar. Young Ietsy Razak, whose name comes from the man who created the world in Malagasy mythology, struggles with keeping up with his ancestor’s expectations on him. Soon, Ietsy is shipped off to France to attend a boarding school and loses his identity. As he struggles to grasp his privilege and the legacy of his family, he realises that only returning home can help him ease the chaos.
Return to the Enchanted Island won the Prix du roman de l'Océan Indien. In 2006, Ravaloson founded Dodo Vole Publishing with his wife, the contemporary artist Sophie Bazin, adding to the publishing scene in Madagascar. Ravaloson has also won numerous prizes for his other works, such as the 2016 Prix du Livre Insulaire and the 2017 Prix Ivoire for Francophone African Literature for his novel Vol à Vif.