Jill! Features Hua Lin Xie's Another Band’s Treasure

“The world sends us its garbage. We give it back music.” ~ Favio Chávez, founder of La Orquesta de Instrumentos Reciclados de Cateura

I’m proud to be reading as a part of Jill!’s reading series.

Based on the incredible and inspiring true story of the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, Hua Lin Xie's big-hearted graphic debut is an ode to the universal power of music, from Lerner Graphic Universe.

In a small village in Paraguay, Diego dreams of giving music lessons to the children he sees each day. The only problem: there aren’t enough instruments to go around.

But when he and Nicolas, a carpenter, look to a nearby landfill, they see instruments in the making. Soon, a paint can, a wooden plank, and a faucet knob become the start of a violin—and their recycled instruments give the kids in town new ways to express themselves.

Jill! is a virtual Women+ in Translation reading series that spotlights women, trans, and/or nonbinary translators or translators of women, trans, and/or nonbinary authors.

Larissa Kyzer (founder; co-organizer) is a writer and Icelandic to English literary translator, currently based in Brooklyn, NY. Her translation of Kristín Eiríksdóttir’s A Fist or a Heart was awarded the American Scandinavian Foundation’s 2019 translation prize. The same year, she was one of Princeton University’s Translators in Residence. She served as the co-chair of PEN America’s Translation Committee from 2019 - 2021. Her translation of Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir’s The Fires was published in February 2023, and will be followed by Fríða Ísberg’s The Mark in 2024.

Lisbeth Redfield (co-organizer) is an editor based in Oregon.