Global Book Domination

Here on The Sirenic Codex, we like to rant a lot. Although our rants vary in degree and topic, we always seem to come back to this one or at least I do. DIVERSITY! I love diversity and I was just about dancing in my chair when I saw the #WeNeedDiverseBooks trend on twitter.

The reason #WeNeedDiverseBooks: So both my daughters can see themselves—and each other—in books. pic.twitter.com/b96OHssagN
— gayle forman (@gayleforman) April 30, 2014

Recently, I stumbled on a new development while I was watching one of my favourite booktuber/vloggers Sanne @booksandquills. Sanne is Dutch, hence she is familiar with some dutch literature that the rest of the world has been deprived of. This got me thinking, there are so many countries, and cultures, and languages in which stories have been told but we in North America don't get access to them. Many of our stories get translated for other countries to enjoy but we don't get to try their books as often. 

Sanne then highlighted the company Pushkin Press, names after the Russian poet whose works would've forever remained a mystery if some kind hearted person hadn't translated them. Taking it a notch further, without the translation Paulina Simmons might have never written The Bronze Horseman one of my favourite books! Similarly, the role of Pushkin Press is to discover and translate popular works to English. 

This makes me so excited for the future. I wonder how many more companies are attempting the same task. I wonder how many amazing books have already been translated and made accessible to me but I had no idea. 

My vision for the future of the book world has always been a place where book from all times and places are available in many languages. I adore English but I also see the importance of preserving other languages and their stories. I'm looking for a diverse book world and it's definitely in the works. 

What's Your Vision? How Do You Feel about a Global Book Domination?

-MARI