Polly Barton
Polly Barton is a translator of Japanese literature and non-fiction, currently based in Bristol. Her most recent full-length translations include Spring Garden by Tomoka Shibasaki (Pushkin Press) and Where the Wild Ladies Are by Matsuda Aoko (Tilted Axis/Soft Skull Press), and Kikuko Tsumura’s novel, There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job (Bloomsbury). Her debut non-fiction work, Fifty Sounds, is published by Fitzcarraldo Editions in April 2021.
Polly Barton on Granta.com
Fiction | Issue 148
The Water Tower and the Turtle
Kikuko Tsumura
‘It was safe to say I didn’t really know anybody in this town at all.’ New fiction translated from the Japanese by Polly Barton.
Fiction | Issue 148
The Woman Dies
Aoko Matsuda
‘The woman dies. She dies to provide a plot twist. She dies to develop the narrative. She dies for cathartic effect. She dies because no one could think of what else to do with her.’ Aoko Matsuda, translated from the Japanese by Polly Barton.
Fiction | Issue 148
From the Left Bank of the Flu
Misumi Kubo
‘The big road looked to me like a river, the cars rushing by as if carried along on its current.’
Fiction | Issue 148
Smartening Up
Aoko Matsuda
‘‘Let’s become monsters together,’ she said, looking straight into my eyes.’