2026 Reading Challenge: April Translations

Welcome to April and the next prompt for our 2026 reading challenge: read a work translated into English from another language. One of the joys of reading translations is the multitudes of ways in which they represent differences in cultures, experiences and values not just through the story itself, but through the structure of the story as well.

Translators also play a huge role in the reception of translated works, having to choose how best to interpret not just the words the author has used, but the meaning and intent behind those words - often in circumstances where no direct translations exist.

Join us this month in exploring the wonderful world of translated texts. Below are a few examples to get you started.

Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
Translated to English from Spanish by Sarah Moses

Written by Argentinian author Agustina Bazterrica, Tender is the Flesh is set in a world where animals are infected with a virus and their meat has become poisonous. Then governments initiated the Transition. Now, 'special meat' - human meat - is legal.

Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans - only no one calls them that. He works with numbers, consignments, processing. One day, he's given a gift to seal a deal: a specimen of the finest quality. He leaves her in his barn, tied up, a problem to be disposed of later. But she haunts Marcos. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost - and what might still be saved.

A haunting book about relationships - between a father and son, a husband and wife, a brother and sister, an uncle and his nibblings, a man and his friends, colleagues and fellow humans, a man and the world around him.

Holy Boy by Lee Heejoo
Translated to English from Korean by Joheun Lee

Yosep is the impossibly beautiful K-Pop idol who inspires religious mania among his millions of fans; he seems so perfect he might not be of this world at all. Sacred, angelic: a Holy Boy.

His devoted followers come to find companionship in their shared obsession. From adoring fans Mihee and Nami, Heeae, who has a mysterious connection to Yosep’s past, to Ahnna, the darkly fanatical ringleader of the group. Each wish to possess Yosep more than the other; save him, protect him, from the shackles of fame. But together, they might be able to achieve it. As their fixation spirals into delusion, secrets come to light and shocking acts are committed. How far will they go to claim what they desire? Deceit? Kidnap? Murder?

A sensational Korean literary thriller about the dangerous compulsion to possess, Lee Heejoo’s Holy Boy is a darkly subversive, electric-shock of a novel.

The Iliad by Homer
Translated to English from Homeric Greek by Emily Wilson

Okay so maybe you've read Homer's Odyssey and Iliad before, but have you read Emily Wilson's translations of Homer before?

Apart from addressing issues of gender bias in the translations (as the first woman to translate Homer into English from the original source material), Emily Wilson's translations of Homer's classics have been lauded as fresh, unpretentious, and forever changing how Homer is read in English.

The Iliad is the first and the greatest literary achievement of Greek civilization--the cornerstone of Western culture and an epic poem without rival in world literature. The story centers on the critical events in the last year of the Trojan War, which lead to Achilleus's killing of Hektor and the fall of Troy. But Homer's theme is not simply war or heroism. With compassion and humanity, he presents a universal and tragic view of the world: human life lived under the shadow of suffering and death set against a vast and largely unpitying divine background.

The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu
Translated to English from Mandarin by Ken Liu

This hit hard sci-fi epic was written by China's number one SF writer, Cixin Liu who worked as an a power plant engineer prior to his writing career. Translated from Mandarin to English by Ken Liu, a literary powerhouse in his own right with multiple awards under his belt, The Three-Body Problem combines history, physics and science with a secret that will rock mankind.

1967: Ye Wenjie witnesses Red Guards beat her father to death during China's Cultural Revolution. This singular event will shape not only the rest of her life but also the future of mankind. Four decades later, Beijing police ask nanotech engineer Wang Miao to infiltrate a secretive cabal of scientists after a spate of inexplicable suicides.

Wang's investigation will lead him to a mysterious online game and immerse him in a virtual world ruled by the intractable and unpredictable interaction of its three suns. This is the Three-Body Problem and it is the key to everything: the key to the scientists' deaths, the key to a conspiracy that spans light-years and the key to the extinction-level threat humanity now faces.

Discontent by Beatriz Serrano
Translated to English from Spanish by Mara Faye Lethem

An audacious, darkly funny novel and perfect summer read about a young woman in Madrid whose carefully crafted office persona threatens to crack when she's forced to attend her company's annual retreat.

This book is for everyone who has ever wanted more- more time, more meaning, more connection. On the surface, Marisa's life looks enviable. She lives in a nice apartment in the heart of Madrid, her friendly neighbour and lover Pablo lives downstairs, and she's risen quickly through the ranks at a successful advertising agency. And yet Marisa hates her job and everything about it. Over one hot summer, she spends her working hours locked in her office, bingeing on YouTube videos and getting high on tranquilizers, wondering if everyone cries when their alarm goes off in the morning. When she can, she escapes to the air-conditioned basement of the Prado Museum.

But Marisa's facade of success is in danger of being exposed as she's forced to deliver a talk on creativity at her company's horrendous annual team-building retreat. Surrounded by psychopathic bosses, annoyingly overzealous colleagues, flirty facilitators, and an excess of drugs, Marisa is pushed to the brink of a complete spiral.

Told with acid humour to explosive consequences, Discontent is a dazzling tale of modern angst and finally acting on our wilder impulses to reclaim our lives from work.

Hooked by Asako Yuzuki
Translated to English from Japanese by Polly Barton

From the award-winning author of Butter, this thrilling and unsettling new story of friendship and dangerous obsession sees Polly Barton return for the translation.

Eriko really wouldn't mind being savaged, if it was her best friend doing the savaging ... Eriko's life appears perfect - devoted parents, spotless apartment and a job in the seafood division of one of Japan's largest trading companies. Her latest project, to reintroduce the controversial Nile perch fish into the Japanese market, is characteristically ambitious.

But beneath her flawless surface she is wracked by loneliness. Eriko becomes fascinated with a popular blog written by a housewife, Shoko. Shoko's posts about eating convenience store food and her untidy home are the opposite of the typical Japanese housewife's manicured lifestyle.

When Eriko tracks Shoko down at her favourite restaurant and befriends her, Shoko is at first charmed by her new companion. But as Eriko's obsession with Shoko deepens, her increasingly possessive behaviour starts to raise suspicion. As Eriko's carefully laid plans begin to unravel, how far will she go to hold on to the best friend that she's ever had?

Trials of Hope by Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes
Written in both English and Amharic by the author

Trials of Hope is a slightly different addition to this list. Written in both English and Amharic by the author, this book crosses boundaries of translation, offering readers a glimpse of the same expression across both of the author's spoken languages.

Winner of the 2024 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award, Trials of Hope tells the story of a shepherd boy turned human-rights academic set against the backdrop of the author's beloved Ethiopia, and the family and friends he has left behind.

In this profound and groundbreaking narrative, Ethiopian-born Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes weaves together stories of heritage and heartache. This unique memoir celebrates the beauty of Ethiopian culture while mourning its erosion - first under colonial forces, and later through internal conflict.

Framing his work via the Ethiopian belief in the four elemental stages of human experience - water, fire, soil and wind - Yirga's story celebrates and honours the voices that fight to preserve his culture. This is an essential exploration of the human condition, urging us to connect with a nation of people whose sagacity and spirit have endured through generations.