In August 2014, book blogger Maytal Radzinski, launched Women in Translation Month, a campaign designed to call attention to translated works of literature written by women. In just the last six years, the campaign has served to highlight the work of several female writers and translators from around the world. In honour of this year’s Women in Translation Month, here are our top ten recommendations.

The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein): The Days of Abandonment tells the story of Olga, a dutiful housewife. Set in Turin, Italy, the novel maps out the days right after Olga’s husband leaves her for a much younger woman. Stuck at home with their two children, Olga is forced to confront the fact that she has built her whole life around him and hence has no idea how to carry on without him. Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels get a lot of attention (and rightfully so), but this novel is our personal favourite.

Aangan by Khadija Mastur (translated by Daisy Rockwell): Khadija Mastur’s Aangan is set entirely within the confines of the home, where protagonist Aliya along with the rest of the women in her family spend most of their days. Outside, the Indian independence movement is gaining ground, yet Aliya only hears about these happenings through the male members of her family. Her own life consists of carrying out domestic duties, trying to study, and struggling against the limits imposed on her by her family. Mastur’s novel is an example of how the personal is political, and how Aliya’s attempts to live and love as she pleases are as necessary as the struggles for independence that are happening outside the home.

The Vegetarian by Han Kang (translated by Deborah Smith): One of the most disturbing stories we’ve ever come across, The Vegetarian explores the extent to which patriarchy controls women’s bodies. When Yeong-he starts dreaming about blood and gore, she gives up eating meat. Shocked by her ability to make an independent decision, her husband views this as an act of rebellion and involves her entire family in his crusade against her vegetarianism. Han Kang masterfully details how a woman’s small act of subversion upends an entire family, revealing the cracks beneath the façade.

Segu by Maryse Condé (translated by Barbara Bray): Segu is set in West Africa in the late 18^th century. Dousika Traore finds himself unable to keep up with the changing times. When he falls out of favour with the court, his four sons must try to make their own way in life. The novel details the journey of each son; Tiekoro who converts to Islam, Siga who becomes a merchant, Naba who is kidnapped by slave traders, and Malobali who becomes a Christian mercenary. Condé describes the mercilessness of empire in a novel that deserves to be read and reread. If you love historical fiction then you are in for a ride.

A Rebel and Her Cause: The Life and Work of Rashid Jahan by Rakhshanda Jalil: If you would like to read more feminist Urdu literature, we highly recommend this accessible and engaging text on Rashid Jahan. Perhaps best known for her contributions to Angaaray, Rashid Jahan’s stories all grapple with questions of womanhood, patriarchy and culture in a changing India. Jalil has skilfully translated her best-known stories and plays as well as pieced together a compelling biography of a woman ahead of her time.

In August 2014, book blogger Maytal Radzinski, launched Women in Translation Month, a campaign designed to call attention to translated works of literature written by women. In just the last six years, the campaign has served to highlight the work of several female writers and translators from around the world. In honour of this year’s Women in Translation Month, here are our top ten recommendations.

Mere Log Zinda Rahenge by Leila Khaled (translated by Kishwer Naheed): Leila Khaled’s autobiography, translated by one of Urdu’s greatest poets, is a captivating read for anyone interested in revolutionary feminist histories. Leila Khaled is an iconic member of the socialist Palestinian organization, PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine), and became famous for her role in hijacking planes. In her autobiography, she details the heroic moments of her life and also presents her historical and political theories about the liberation of Palestine.

Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor (translated by Sophie Hughes): Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, Hurricane Season is the first novel to appear in English by Mexico’s literary star, Fernanda Melchor. Set in a small town in rural Mexico, the novel investigates an incident of femicide. Though focused on a spectacular murder, the novel’s real achievement is its ability to bare the everyday processes of violence against women at all levels of society through daring experiments with language. Employing claustrophobic text (there are few paragraph breaks) and documentary form (often reading like a police report), the novel leaves the reader nowhere to go but deeper into its darkness.

Panty by Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay (translated by Arunava Sinha): A woman arrives in Kolkata and loses all sense of herself. This short, surreal novella blurs reality and imagination in disorienting and delightful prose, impeccably translated by one of India’s best literary translators. An unidentified woman, who is waiting to undergo an unspecified surgery, moves into a new apartment and finds a stained pair of leopard-print panties in an otherwise-empty wardrobe. She begins to fantasise about the life of the person who owned this pair, perhaps the previous occupant of the apartment. Slowly, her life dissolves into the other’s life and we are not sure any longer who is talking to us.

Sphinx by Anne Garreta (translated by Emma Ramadan): Anne Garreta is one of the few female members of Oulipo, an experimental French literary group that includes writers like George Perec and Italo Calvino. She wrote her debut novel, Sphinx, at the age of twenty-four while she was still a student at the École Normale Supérieure (whose alumni list is a summary of French philosophy: Sartre, Althusser, Weil, Foucault, Derrida, Cesaire). The novel is a love story between two genderless characters, I and A. - it doesn’t mention any gendered pronouns or markers, an impressive achievement in the highly gendered French language. The translator has done a remarkable job in bringing the linguistic manoeuvres of the original text into English.

The Queen of Jhansi by Mahasweta Devi (translated by Sagaree and Mandira Sengupta): Mahasweta Devi was a leftist and feminist activist who worked for the liberation of tribal people in West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Most of her writing addresses this same theme. However, she was also fascinated with one of Indian history’s most enigmatic and least known figures, the Rani of Jhansi. This led her to conduct extensive research based on archives, oral literatures, local histories and interviews. The result is a terrific book that blends history, biography and fiction to give us an account of Lakshmibai’s life.

Amna Chaudhry is a writer based in Lahore. She tweets @amnachaudhry03

Haider Shahbaz teaches at Forman Christian College. He is a member of Progressive Academics Collective.