We Computers

Hamid Ismailov, born in Kyrgyzstan and raised in Uzbekistan, is considered Central Asia’s foremost living author. His novels include The Railway, The Dead Lake, and The Underground. He lives in Hertz, UK. Shelley Fairweather-Vega is a translator who specializes in prose and poetry from Central Asia. She lives in Seattle, WA.

“A genre-blending, time-bending, poetic novel. . . . We Computers is [Ismailov’s] most expansive and imaginative creation yet.”—Matthew Janney, Financial Times“Centuries of poetic tradition and the possibilities of artificial intelligence animate this dizzying and gorgeous novel. . . . A rich and sensual tableau that makes an implicit argument for the value of human thought. Readers will go all in for this ambitious, genre-defying work.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)“Timely, interesting, poetic—and quite good fun, too.”—M. A. Orthofer, Complete Review“A wonderfully chaotic novel.”—Modern NovelLonglisted for the National Book Awards Translated Literature Prize, sponsored by The National Book Foundation “Many paths cross in Ismailov’s beautiful new work—poetry, history and the infinite imagination. Every path winding into another. Every path worth taking.”—Patti Smith“Ismailov’s best novel yet, We Computers braids together exquisite classical and modern poetry, disorienting autofiction, and Oulipian metaliterary trickery, without ever losing its sense of fun. Fairweather-Vega’s translation handles the multilingual quotations and protean range of pastiche with remarkable deftness.”—Samuel Hodgkin, Yale University