A Compass on the Navigable Sea - by Daniel Simon (Paperback)

About the Book

A global chorus from the archives of World Literature Today, this landmark collection of fiction, essays, and poetry commemorates a century of exploration through pen and ink.

The Night Closes, the Sky Opens is a bold, global anthology of stories that cross borders and essays that reshape worlds, reimagining what international writing can be. From Nobel laureates to dissident poets, iconic novelists to fresh contemporary voices, this collection brings together powerful essays, visionary lectures, and urgent reflections that speak to the heart of literature's role in a rapidly changing world.

Spanning four dynamic sections--from foundational manifestos to groundbreaking critical takes, from national literatures to transnational identities--this anthology offers readers a vibrant map of how stories cross borders, bridge histories, and shape futures. Alongside works by Octavio Paz, Elie Wiesel, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Toni Morrison, Dubravka Ugresic, and many others. Ultimately, this collection bridges genre, time, and location, and asks us: What can literature do in a time of crisis?

Book Synopsis

From Nobel laureates to dissident authors, iconic mainstays to extraordinary newcomers, this global chorus of fiction, essays, poetry, and critique is a testament to the ways in which stories cross borders, bridge histories, and shape futures. With contributions by Octavio Paz, Elie Wiesel, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Toni Morrison, Dubravka Ugresic, and many others, A Compass On the Navigable Sea spans genre, time, and location to ask: What can literature do in a time of crisis?

Review Quotes

"This is a diverse gathering, to be sure . . . a splendid poem by Czeslaw Milosz ('Whatever evil I had suffered, I forgot') here, a thoughtful consideration of translation and cultural translocation by Mojave writer Natalie Diaz ('It is a gift to have a language that English is too small for, since I have a life that English thinks is small') there; Margarita Engle's insistence that, our freedoms of thought and writing being muscles, 'if we don't use them, they will atrophy, and we won't be able to defend children against tyranny' buttressing Albanian novelist Ismail Kadare's view that belief in literature means knowing that 'the government which dominates you . . . [and] tyranny itself are a passing nightmare, dead matter, compared to the great order of which you have become initiated as a member.' And there it is: literature as news that stays news, because timeless couldn't be more timely."

-- Kirkus Reviews

"What a vibrant, refreshing anthology this is, full of surprising, distinctive writing from every continent, which has been true for every issue of World Literature Today for decades. Editor Daniel Simon is a tremendous guide to the republic of letters. His enduring curiosity for the art of translation and for new literature from other languages is evident in the dynamic range of styles and approaches included here. From the Mozambican novelist Mia Couto to the Mayan poet Briceida Cuevas Cob, the dynamic range of prose and poetry is indeed a compass to a better direction for our species and for the planet that we share."

-- Idra Novey, author of Take What You Need

"A double imperative organizes this luminous anthology: movement and rootedness. The vision of world literature that World Literature Today champions enables us to traverse imaginatively over the mountains and across the navigable seas. . . . WLT actively engages with and extends ceaselessly a call to imagine and reimagine the many worlds that literary works bring into presence. A Compass on the Navigable Sea is an illuminating guide and road map for this continuing endeavor."

-- Amit R. Baishya, South Asian Review

"Transcending the limits of genre, geography, and time period, this superb anthology of world literature deserves a place in every library collection that supports literature and international studies."

-- Library Journal

"Bringing together a century of world literature, with all its voices, histories, tensions, and contradictions, is an enormous undertaking. What struck me most as I read A Compass on the Navigable Sea is how naturally the pieces speak to one another. The book feels less like a compilation and more like a living conversation across time, language, and geography."

-- Yousef Khanfar, award-winning Palestinian writer and photographer

"It's heartening to have collections such as these that gather voices which can still, despite it all, sustain."

-- Ilya Kaminsky, author of Deaf Republic

"As a poet, translator, editor and professor, Daniel Simon is almost single-handedly keeping our world republic of letters vibrant and alive."

-- Frederick Luis Aldama, American Book Review, Spring 2025