Asymptote
Asymptote
Asymptote
Asymptote
Asymptote
The World's Literature. Fresh.
The World's Literature. Fresh.
The World's Literature. Fresh.
The World's Literature. Fresh.
This campaign is closed
Asymptote
The World's Literature. Fresh.
The World's Literature. Fresh.
The World's Literature. Fresh.
The World's Literature. Fresh.
The World's Literature. Fresh.
We’re thrilled to have reached our $25,000 goal, and our profoundest thanks go out to the 287 donors that stepped up before our deadline. This incredible show of generosity blew us away, and we extend our deepest gratitude to all who contributed.
When the good people at Indiegogo suggested we should reignite this campaign, we immediately realized that this could be a great thing: not only would it allow folks who’d only just heard of us to contribute, it could be a point of entry for all those good souls wanting to contribute in their own way to the ongoing business of running a free online journal with global ambition and reach.
Keeping this page open also allows us to offer you some of the same awesome perks received by campaign donors: books autographed by Susan Bernofsky and Reif Larsen, a "Gateway to Singaporean Literature" package donated by Singaporean writers Desmond Kon and Christine Chia, and of course our exclusive AsympTOTE bags, bookmarks, postcards, and posters.
Run by volunteers and big-hearted translators, Asymptote needs all the donations it can get, so, if you like what we’ve been doing, do give what you can in order to keep reading, hearing, and seeing more from us!
We are Asymptote, a truly international journal presenting the very best literature from all corners of the globe.
In a literary world characterized more and more by a lack of diversity, as well as by an increasingly English-centered flow of information, we bring more voices—speaking more languages—into an ever-expanding global conversation.
Hailing from 27 countries, our 70 team members collaborate digitally to search out and commission the finest writing from all corners of the world, with accompanying artwork, audio and video—all for free.
Issue after issue, we’ve
brought you never-before-published work by the best writers and translators of
our time. This year alone, Nobel laureates J.M. Coetzee and Herta Müller appeared
alongside 2014 Singapore Literature Prize-winner Amanda Lee Koe and 2013 EU
Prize-winner Faruk Šehić. We’ve conducted exclusive
interviews with acclaimed writers and artists such as Can Xue and Yoshitomo
Nara in their native languages, which
we then translated into English just for our readers. In our four years, we’ve
presented the best stories, essays, poetry, drama, reviews and conversations from
95 countries and 67 languages.
Some Background
Last year, your overwhelmingly positive support gave us $20,184 to keep us going. In return, we delivered on our promises and brought you even more, including:
• A clickable map allowing the reader to navigate our extensive archives by country;
• A daily blog providing a window into the latest in world literature;
• ‘Close Approximations,’ our contest for emerging translators, judged by Eliot Weinberger and Howard Goldblatt, awarding a total of $3,000 in prize money;
• 14 events on 4 continents (bringing our
global conversation, for the first time, to Boston, Copenhagen, Hong Kong,
Sydney, Shanghai and Zagreb).
It's been a great year, full of excitement, and, despite significant overhead costs, we remain committed to providing our readers unlimited access to our ad-free pages.
Why We Need Your Help Today
Although our mission is simple—to discover and promote the very best in international literature—achieving it isn’t. We are unaffiliated with any institution or university, too geographically dispersed to qualify for most funding options.
The situation is urgent. Our commitment to dialogue, diversity, and access comes at a significant cost. For years, this burden has been shouldered out of pocket, simply because we believe so strongly in the importance of our project, but we’re running out of funds.
And so, we're reaching out to you again. We’re reaching out because we suspect you care just as much. If you too believe in the intrinsic value of literary translation and the free exchange of ideas between cultures around the world, and if we’ve supplied you with even just one exciting longread or devastating poem, please donate today.
With your support we will continue providing readers with free online access to all of our content, and do even more, such as:
• Bring you more in-depth coverage of world literature, with our Danish Fiction Feature in January, and, in April, our Vietnamese Diaspora Feature, which will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. Via new partnerships with the best journals in Romania (Steaua) and Thailand (Writer), you’ll also enjoy a front-row seat to these countries’ thriving literary scenes;
• Develop an educational arm so that teachers around the world can incorporate Asymptote into their lesson plans and cultivate a love for world literature in the next generation of readers;
• Support our awesome new podcast, which will go live on 8 December and makes it possible for you to take us on the road (or to the gym);
•
Organize more events around the globe to promote world
literature and translation. Next year, on 19 January, we will
be joined in New York by award-winning translators Edith
Grossman, Damion Searls, and 2014
Guggenheim Fellow Susan Bernofsky. On 21
January, Granta Best Young British Novelist Adam Thirlwell, and celebrated translators Daniel
Hahn, Rosalind
Harvey, and Stefan Tobler will commemorate our anniversary in London. At least eight other anniversary events are in the works.
• And only if we reach our target, we'll hold a second edition of “Close Approximations,” our translation contest, with a new ‘nonfiction’ category to look for the greatest essayists from outside the Anglophone world (the next Sebald!). This means that we will be looking to give out a total of $4,500 in prizes to the best emerging translators worldwide.
What You Get
Be a part of our future today by contributing what you can. You won’t just support great international writing with your donation—you’ll also get the chance to receive a range of exciting perks, too.
To express our gratitude, we’ll give away tickets to our anniversary events, bookmarks based on the first lines of classic books, postcards featuring the gorgeous covers of our guest artists, new posters designed by Nerys Hudson based on some of our favorite first pages by Franz Kafka, Gabriel García Márquez, and Eileen Chang, as well as handy AsympTOTES created just for this campaign by our graphic designer, Berny Tan.
After last year’s popular demand, we’ll also bring back the literary care packages from our editors—stuffed with goodies both edible and legible, just for you or your dearest during this holiday season.
If you or your organization would like to sponsor an anniversary event or contest, we’ll happily acknowledge you in all the related publicity materials and at the events themselves.
Finally, if you live in the US, we have good news for you: your
contribution is completely tax-deductible!
Do your bit for world literature. Donate to Asymptote today!
A: Asymptote’s far-flung team includes Howard Goldblatt, translator of Nobel laureate Mo Yan. Our editor-in-chief is Lee Yew Leong, a Taiwan-based Singaporean writer and translator. Also associated with multiple countries are our drama editor, Obie winner Caridad Svich, born in the US to Cuban-Argentine-Spanish-Croatian parents, and UK-based contributing editor Aamer Hussein, an acclaimed short story writer of Pakistani descent.
This past year, we’ve added editors-at-large from Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, Indonesia, Mexico, Romania, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Our international network of local experts sets us apart from other magazines: we’re the only journal devoted to world literature put together by such a far-flung team of editors.
A: The best way to help us right now is support us with a donation! We also welcome help in many other ways as well:
Share this page with your family and friends, including a personal message describing why the campaign is important to you!
Submit pictures to our Twitter or Tumblr that show why you #SupportAsymptote. The photos with the most retweets or reblogs will win a literary care package, a perk that we give away at the $125 tier. You can also send us a video endorsement!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, and use the #SupportAsymptote hashtag to spread the word about our campaign!
Q: What if I want to donate but don't want a perk?
A: We appreciate your support for our campaign and we welcome your donation even if you do not wish to pick a perk. That just means 100% of your donation will go directly to Asymptote!
Q: Can I donate via check?
A: Yes! If you're in the US, please make your check out to "Fractured Atlas," so that your gift will be tax deductible. In the memo line of your check, please write "Asymptote Journal" so that Fractured Atlas will direct your money to our campaign. Our address in the US is:
Asymptote Journal,
40 Butler St,
Apt 3, Brooklyn 11231,
NY, USA
Asymptote Journal,
No. 84, Section 1,
Zhongshan North Road, #13 – 7
Taipei City 10444
TAIWAN
We appreciate your support so much. Your donation will secure our future beyond 2015 and allow us to bring you even more great issues!