Curated by Ashley Shaw, Special Collections Cataloging Specialist

While Women in Translation Month begins in August, Women’s History Month is also a wonderful time to recognize the diverse voices of women from around the world. Reading stories of women from cultures other than our own provides perspective on the global experiences of women, both historical and contemporary. Here are six books from women across the globe in celebration of these underrepresented, yet brilliant, voices.

Things We Lost in the Fire
By Mariana Enriquez (Argentina)

Mariana Enriquez is counted as part of the “New Argentine Narrative” group of writers. Writer and literary critic Elsa Drucaroff characterizes the work of these writers as a response to fallout from the Argentine military dictatorship. In this short story collection, Enriquez gives a haunting and surreal glimpse into modern Argentina through the eyes of some of its most historically downtrodden figures, especially women. Using horror as her vehicle, Enriquez exposes the turmoil and violence of daily life for those in the margins.

All This Belongs to Me
By Petra Hůlová (Czechia)

Set in the Mongolian steppes and capital city of Ulaanbaatar, All This Belongs to Me is the story of three generations of Mongolian women. It is told from the point of view of five different women, including half-Chinese Zaya, who leaves home for the capital at 16; Naya, her half-Russian sister, and Oyuna, the daughter of their mother and a Mongolian man. This expansive, poetic, and sometimes bleak story captures the experiences of women torn between tradition, modernity and disparate cultures, the cruelty of life on the plains and in the city, and the intergenerational dynamics between those caught between worlds.

Convenience Store Woman
By Sayaka Murata (Japan)

The first of Sayaka Murata’s novels translated into English, Convenience Store Woman is told through the eyes of its 36-year-old narrator Keiko. Keiko finds some solace at 18 in the role of a convenience store worker, where a store manual and mimicking other employees allows her to play the part of a “normal” person. Years later, however, being a good store employee is no longer enough the strange girl to meet societal and familial expectations. With pressure to conform, despite being content in her own life, Keiko tries to find a way to appease others’ expectations while maintaining her own autonomy. Murata’s novel, like many contemporary Japanese women authors, questions the societal roles Japanese women are pressured to perform by crafting a character who rejects these notions.

The Game in Reverse: Poems
By Taslima Nasrin (Bangladesh)

This collection of poems by a Bangladeshi writer, physician, and human rights activist reflects her passionate views on Islam, the religion’s treatment of women, and her own experience as an outspoken woman in a culture that has tried repeatedly to silence her. Controversial, daring, and harshly beautiful, Nasrin’s poetry spares nothing in decrying society’s persecution of and attitudes toward women.

Selected Poems
By Marina Tsvetaeva (Russia)

A contemporary of Anna Akhmatova, Boris Pasternak, and Osip Mandelshtam, Marina Tsvetaeva was a witness to the political turmoil and the social devastation wrought by the Russian Revolution. Tsvetaeva was, as Akhmatova said, “one of the four of us”—a poet who retained her humanity and integrity through years of turmoil, violence and loss, many of which were spent in exile. This collection of poetry showcases the will, determination, and belief in beauty Tsvetaeva held despite it all throughout her short, tumultuous, and tragic life.

Sin is a Puppy That Follows You Home
By Balaraba Ramat Yakubu (Nigeria)

Balaraba Ramat Yakubu is the first woman writer ever translated from Hausa into English. In addition to her literary prowess, Yakubu has also written, directed and produced a number of films for Kannywood, the Hausa language film industry based in Kano, Nigeria. This short novel is a delightful example of Hausa popular fiction known as littattafan soyayya (“love literature”)—books written primarily by and for women and inspired by Hindi films. This laugh-out-loud soap opera follows a devout woman named Rabi and her no-good husband Alhaji Abdu, who treats his family abhorrently and eventually gets his well-deserved comeuppance.