News | Amanda Sarasien

Magazine cover showing a headless fish, ice blue, lying among a dried-up riverbed amid submerged rocks, the thin, gray layer of water glistening in the sun. The magazine's title, The Massachusetts Review, stretches up the left side of the cover.

2026 Chametzky Prize

I'm deeply honored to share that The Massachusetts Review has awarded my incredibly talented colleague Elton Uliana and me the 2026 Chametzky Translation Prize for our co-translation of José Luís Peixoto's enchanting short story "The Woman Who Dreamed." Named in memory of the magazine's founder Jules Chametzky, the prize recognizes an exceptional work of literary translation published in The Massachusetts Review over the preceding two years. Peixoto's hauntingly poetic story

Translation

21 hours ago

An eerie postapocalyptic scene in shades of gray and brown, with four scaffoldings surrounding tarp-wrapped skyscrapers rising out of a miasmic bank of clouds that are brown and almost watery, stretching toward a darker, blacker bank of clouds at the image's top.

Short Story Publication

It was such a pleasure having my short story "The Cicadas" featured in the latest issue of Strange Pilgrims, not least because the publication included a fun and thought-provoking interview about my writing life. Enjoy reading this foray into the speculative, stay a while for the interview, and/or listen to my "atmospheric" reading in the accompanying audio.

Publication

5 days ago

A poster with whimsically abstract figures in pink, black and orange, dancing across a white background. The words "Day of Translation, September 24, 2026, Brooklyn" scrawl across the top and middle of the poster. In the center, in small type, are the names of all panelists. And at the bottom are the words "The Center for Fiction."

2026 Day of Translation Lineup Announced

The Center for the Art of Translation will once again be partnering with the Center for Fiction in Brooklyn, New York, to offer a day jam-packed with dynamic talks on the art of literary translation. I'm proud to be among the panelists in the September 24, 2026, lineup and look forward to my discussion with colleagues on the topic "The Art of Embodied Translation: The Role of Disability in Translation Today." Other panels include "Care, Collaboration, Transformation: Feminist

Translation

Jul 31

Magazine cover showing a dark-, wavy-haired woman with dark eyes and a half smile staring out at the camera like Mona Lisa, her hand casually toying with her curls and set against a black background. The magazine title "World Literature Today" is spelled out at the top left of the cover, and the feature story on Iranian Literature is teased below, along with several other featured articles. A seal or stamp representing the magazine's 100th year is emblazoned midway down the left side.

Springtime in the Bones Reviewed

The July-August '26 issue of World Literature Today, the venerable magazine which is celebrating its 100th year and was called by the Nobel Prize committee "one of the best edited and most informative literary publications", is brimming with global voices, rigorous criticism, and thrilling new books to discover. I'm proud that my translation of Állex Leilla's Springtime in the Bones was highlighted in a poetic and probing review by my colleague, fellow Portuguese translator E

Translation

Jun 30

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A Literary Tour of Állex Leilla's Salvador

In Állex Leilla's Springtime in the Bones, the city of Salvador, capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia, is as much a character as the novel's two protagonists, Luísa and Michel. Storied. Reticent. Presiding. So timeworn that it is described as only a local would know it, with equal parts awe, scorn, comfort, and annoyance. Luísa, who muses about the rusting, "worm-eaten" sights and the challenges of living in "such an old place", at one point suggests fleeing the city for B

Literary Tourism

May 24

A Literary Playlist

Állex Leilla's groundbreaking novel Springtime in the Bones is replete with musical (as well as literary, filmic, and pop-culture) references. Apart from the monumental challenge posed to me as the translator, this density of allusions created a rich world for the reader to step into and inhabit. Before learning anything else about her, we are provided the protagonist Luísa's CV, in which her reading and listening habits are just as important as her professional background:

Literary Tourism

Apr 9

Appearance on the Hablemos, escritoras. podcast

Hablemos, escritoras. is a bilingual podcast celebrating Latin American women's voices in literature and featuring conversations with writers, translators, publishers, and critics. More than a simple interview, Hablemos, escritoras. sees their platform as an encyclopedic "voice repository" meant to archive these pivotal women's stories into an enduring canon, building the geography of feminist literature across time. With such a boundary-breaking mission, I'm honored to be p

Translation

Mar 11

Pushcart Nominees Announced

I'm honored to share that The Massachusetts Review has nominated my work for a Pushcart Prize ! The story, a haunting tale of memory, grief, and the quiet details of life in a nursing home, was written by the award-winning Portuguese author José Luís Peixoto and featured in the magazine's summer 2025 issue. I and my talented colleague Elton Uliana co-translated the author's signature incantatory prose, finding the collaborative process incredibly rewarding. To see this piece

Awards

Dec 11, 2025