In Some Kind of Beautiful Signal, the widely lauded Two Lines World Writing in Translation series continues its 17-year history of bringing readers essential international voices unavailable anywhere else. Edited by National Book Critics Circle Award-winner Natasha Wimmer and acclaimed poet Jeffrey Yang, this volume delivers dozens of poets and fiction writers working in 18 distinct languages, each representing a unique voice and perspective. The collection is headlined by poetry from China's Uyghur ethnic minority. Though thousands of years old and incredibly diverse, Uyghur culture is increasingly threatened by geographic isolationa nd political oppression. Here, Westerners have a rare chance to hear from this culture in its own words. Also included in this anthology is a broad selection of vital voices: an excerpt from Lydia Davis's new translation of Gustave Flaubert's seminal Madame Bovary; a taste of a never-before-seen essay by Roberto Bolano, translated by Natasha Wimmer; and Susanna Fied's newest translations of poems by Danish master Inger Christensen.
From Zapotec to Indonesian, Hindi to Portuguese, this testament to the expanse of voices in the world shows readers how universal the themes and struggles of humanity really are.