Asymptote (magazine)

Asymptote is a Taiwan-based online literary magazine dedicated to translations of world literature, including poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and drama, mostly to English, but also to other languages.^[1] Reviews, interviews, blogs, visual arts and audiovisual materials are also found on the website; issues are released four times a year. As of July, 2018, Asymptote had published work translated from 100 language by writers from 117 different countries.^[2] Writers such as Mary Gaitskill, Jose Saramago, J. M. Coetzee, Junot Díaz, Yann Martel, and Mo Yan have appeared in the magazine.^[3]

Asymptote

Type of site	Online literary magazine
Available in	English
Created by	Lee Yew Leong
Editor	Lee Yew Leong
URL	www.asymptotejournal.com
Launched	2011; 14 years ago (2011)

The magazine was established in 2011 by the Taipei-based Singaporean writer Lee Yew Leong, who is the editor-in-chief.^[4] Lee said in 2011, "We operate differently from other translation journals in that we don't just sit back and wait for translations to come to us. We actually identify the good work from writers [that haven't yet been introduced to the English-speaking world] and actively seek out translators to help to translate the work for us."^[5]

In 2016, Asymptote celebrated its fifth anniversary with public events held in New York, London, Ottawa, and Chicago.^[3]

Awards

In 2015, the magazine received the International Literary Translation Initiative Award, one of a dozen awards given yearly by the London Book Fair.^[6]

Asymptote (1950)

Asymptote - an earlier, but fictional, avant garde literary magazine - features in the A. A. Milne short story A Rattling Good Yarn, published in 1950 in his collection A Table Near the Band. The story is summed up on the dust wrapper as "a hilarious spoof about an extremely popular writer and an avant garde literary critic." Asymptote is the "advanced literary monthly" wherein the two protagonists do battle. ^[7]

References

1. "Asymptote". Poets and Writers. 29 March 2011. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
2. Tanasescu, Raluca; Tanasescu, Chris (2019). "Translator Networks of Networks in Digital Space: The Case of Asymptote Journal". In Marais, Kobus; Meylaerts, Reine (eds.). Complexity Thinking in Translation Studies Methodological Considerations. Routledge. pp. 134–135. ISBN 978-1138572485.
3. Hertzberg, Andrew (2016-04-08). "Asymptote Journal: A Five-Year Anniversary Celebration". Third Coast Review. Archived from the original on 2016-04-08. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
4. "Lee Yew Leong on Asymptote". Poetry Society of America.
5. Habash, Gabe (September 29, 2011). "Young Journal 'Asymptote' Takes Literature All Over the World". Publishers Weekly.
6. "LBF International Excellence Awards 2015: Winners Announced". London Book Fair. 21 April 2015. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
7. Milne, A. A. (1950). "A Rattling Good Yarn". A Table Near The Band. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. pp. 153–172. OL 6070089M. Retrieved 25 Sep 2024 – via archive.org.

External links

• Official website