Katherine E. Young

Upstart Crow

Literary translator Katherine E. Young joins host William Miller to talk about her latest project, the first-time-in-English volume People and Trees by Azerbaijani writer Akram Aylisli.

Set in the Caucuses during and right after War War II, the three novellas capture the coming-of-age story of the narrator, a boy named Sadyk, but also the struggles of the village and its people, notably the women who were left behind when the men went off to war and who must deal with their return after both they and the men have been changed by what has happened. This translation captures the rich subtleties of the story, the characters, the situations they confront, their conflicts both internal and external, and it makes these far-away events real and important to understanding today’s world. The volume is available from Plamen Press.

The conversation also covers the life situation confronting Aylisli, now almost 87, still writing, and living in the Azerbaijani capital as a political detainee after another story, published in 2012, offended some of his countrymen and their leaders. Katherine E. Young also has translated that work, and she discusses it and the larger issue of Aylisli’s political plight, as well.

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Learn more and connect with Katherine E. Young here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katherine.young.338/

X: @KEYoung_Poet

website: https://katherine-young-poet.com/

Bluesky: @katherineeyoung.bsky.social

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Recorded & Produced by Jon D. Miller / AmberTree Media