Polly Barton
Polly Barton is a translator of Japanese literature and non-fiction, currently based in Bristol. She has translated short stories for Words Without Borders, the White Review and Granta. Her full-length translations include Friendship for Grown-ups by Naocola Yamazaki and Mikumari by Misumi Kubo (both Strangers Press) and Spring Garden by Tomoka Shibasaki (Pushkin Press). After being awarded the 2019 Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize, she is currently working on a non-fiction book entitled Fifty Sounds.
Polly Barton on Granta.com
Essays & MemoirEssays & Memoir | The Online Edition
Essays & Memoir | The Online Edition
Commuting Through Coronavirus
Kikuko Tsumura
‘My friend and her colleagues are being told not to get infected. Infections among employees will affect the company’s reputation, and would be an inconvenience to clients.’
FictionFiction | The Online Edition
Fiction | The Online Edition
Enoki
Aoko Matsuda
‘Without any forewarning or explanation, people suddenly began visiting. They came in droves to find her.’
A story by Aoko Matsuda, translated by Polly Barton.
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.’
