Carolina Pihelgas at Litquake!

Part of Words Around the World
Sponsored by Center for the Art of Translation

Poet, author, translator, and editor Carolina Pihelgas is a leading literary figure in her home country of Estonia. Now, with The Cut Line, translated by Darcy Hurford, Pihelgas’s “extraordinary” (Estonian Literary Magazine) prose writing is available to English readers for the first time. In fewer than 100 pages, Pihelgas takes readers to a near-future Estonian countryside, plagued by the effects of climate change and poised for an impending conflict. These hints of future violence recall the protagonist’s own troubled history, even as she attempts to find serenity and order in the rhythms of nature and simple work. Joining Pihelgas in conversation is Sasha Vasilyuk, award-winning author of the novel Your Presence Is Mandatory. Doors at 6:30pm.

Sasha Vasilyuk is a journalist and author of a debut novel, Your Presence Is Mandatory (Bloomsbury), winner of the California Book Award and the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature. It has been translated into seven languages. Her nonfiction has been published in the New York Times, CNN, Harper’s Bazaar, Time, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Telegraph, KQED, and elsewhere. Sasha grew up between Ukraine and Russia before immigrating to the U.S. at the age of 13.