World Literature

Hispanic Heritage Month runs from 15 September to 15 October every year in the United States. To mark the occasion, we've put together a reading list of books by Hispanic authors—both in the US and elsewhere—that have been recommended by our expert interviewees over the years.

Long before we published books, tales were told around the campfire, or recited by a professional one episode at a time. So why not go straight to the wellspring of literature, and read stories so good they have been told and re-told for centuries? Here, Five Books contributing editor Tuva Kahrs recommends timeless books that began life in oral storytelling traditions from around the world, whose themes have resonated through the ages.

It's notoriously difficult to recognise great works of literature at the time of publication, but certain books come to the fore as 'modern classics': exceptional texts that will stand the test of time. We asked James Rebanks, the Lake District shepherd and celebrated author, to recommend five books that deserve the label.

Japanese literature has always performed strongly on Five Books, so we've put together an overview of some of the books on our site by Japanese authors that have previously been recommended by our expert interviewees—from contemporary novels shortlisted for the International Booker Prize to classic works of literature, and everything in between.

Want to read something that won’t feel out of date next year? Something from a different time and place, but with universal resonance? Five Books contributing editor Tuva Kahrs picks five classic books from China, Japan and Korea that have stood the test of time, from a blockbuster adventure novel to a murderous memoir.

We asked the award-winning Mexican novelist Ave Barrera—whose latest book, The Forgery, has recently been translated into English—to recommend five classic Mexican novels. Here she discusses her choices, which include books by Juan Rulfo, Elena Garro and Nellie Campobello.

The writer and translator Jenny Bhatt selects five key works of South Asian literature, all historical novels available in English translation, that showcase the richness and diversity of the region's lesser known languages: from a modernist classic decrying the depradations of the coal mining industry to a 'loose, baggy monster' of a Victorian novel exploring utopian ideals.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, many people around the world have become more familiar with the country's recent history, but many of us still don't know much about its literary traditions. Academic and activist Sasha Dovzhyk introduces five works of Ukrainian literature, from an early 20th-century dramatic poem to devastating first-person accounts of the war that started in 2014.

The award-winning Cameroonian novelist Mutt-Lon selects five of the best recent novels from Francophone Africa, including Mohamed Mbougar Sarr's Prix Goncourt-winning La plus secrète mémoire des hommes. These novels, he notes—as with many others from West and Central Africa—are united by a common search for identity in post-colonial Africa.

For a long time, Catalan fiction was eclipsed by books in Spanish but these days it's flourishing, says translator and editor Gala Sicart. Here, she recommends four of the best contemporary Catalan novels and one book of short stories, from the classic Mercè Rodoreda to her 21st-century equivalent.