Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Around the World in the Company of Women

A few weeks ago, before the pandemic arrived and life had its predictable and even comfortable rhythms, I began a project I’d been thinking about for more than two years—reading a work of fiction written by a woman from every country. That’s 197 books (plus Palestine). I’m not sure I can name even half of the nations now existing, but I recently learned that Massachusetts has welcomed new citizens from almost everyone. As isolated as we may feel right now, during the pandemic, this statistic reminds me of how linked we are to the rest of the world.

My list is limited to fiction, which means novels, short stories, and drama. I doubt I’ll be reading much in the last category but I’m leaving it open just in case something extraordinary comes along.

Once I began to think about the number of books I was going to read, I realized I had to set some parameters. The work has to be written by a woman of the country. This means the author should be someone living primarily in her native or adopted country; I’m not interested in a book about life in Algeria written by someone who has lived most of her life in the United States or Europe. The novel is fertile territory for cross-pollination, but living in a country brings a different perspective that can be gained in no other way. Discovering life lived on the inside through fiction was one of my goals.
                              
Again, the book could be written in any language including English, but since I can only read my native tongue with any fluency, the fiction would have to be available in English. This meant I could be reading a lot of works in translation, and appreciating the quality of a translation was probably going to be one of the side benefits of this.

The books could date from any era, though I suspected most would have been written and published in the last fifty years or so. In the last few decades, even before eBooks, POD books, and self-publishing came to play a near-dominant role, traditional publishing broadened the titles on the shelf to include more work by women, and definitely more work by non-white women. I looked forward to lots of choices, discovering new writers, but I also knew some of the best titles might be difficult to obtain.

Filling in the blanks for some countries seems easy until I realize I have to choose. I have a favorite writer from New Zealand, Ngaio Marsh, who wrote mysteries, and I face a long list of choices for Ireland and England. Some of these slots I’ve left blank while I work my way through other parts of the globe. Right now I’m working on the Middle East.

So far I’ve avoided the big question. Why? Maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe any reason to read beyond my familiar landscape is a good idea, but you must wonder if there is a good reason to do this beyond curiosity. Curiosity, interest in another culture, is always rewarded in my view, and by itself is a good enough reason.

Take a look at the list below, and if you have any suggestions please let me know. When I sit down with a new book by a woman living in a country I’ve never visited and living in a culture I can only imagine, I feel an excitement, an anticipation that is often lacking when I pick up other books. Perhaps you will too.

x UnreadCountryAuthorTitle
Afghanistan
Albania
AlgeriaAhlem MosteghanemiChaos of the Senses
Andorra
Angola
Antiguq and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
The Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia & HerzegovinaAsja BakicMars
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cabo Verde
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
The Cayman Islands
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoros
Congo, Dem. Rep. of
Congo, Rep. of
Costa Rica
Cote d'Ivoire
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican RepublicJulia AlvarezIn the Time of the Butterflies
Ecuador
xEgyptYasmine El RashidiChronicle of a Last Summer: A Novel of Egypt
El Salvador
England
Equitorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Eswatini
Ethiopia
Germany
Fiji
Finland
France
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Holy See
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
IndiaNayantara SahgalMistaken Identity
Indonesia
IranRabeah GhaffariTo Keep the Sun Alive
Iraq
IrelandElizabeth BowenThe Last September
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
JapanRiku OndaThe Aosawa Murders
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Serbia
Kiribati
Korea (north)
Korea (south)
Kosovo
KuwaitBothayna Al-EssaAll That I Want to Forget
Krygyzstan
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Mdagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia
Moldova
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Morocco
Mozambique
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands
New ZealandNgaio MarshDeath and the Dancing Footman
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
xPalestineSahar KhalifehWild Thorns
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Republic of Korea
Romania
Russia
Rwanda
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
SanMarino
SaoTome and Principe
Saudi ArabiaRajaa AlsaneaGirls of Riyadh
Scotland
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
South Sudan
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
xTurkeyElif ShafakThe Bastard of Istanbul
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
United States
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam
Wales
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe