The filing system of the national library in El Salvador
I began this project in 2017. Before that, I’d already read and been to many countries – but rarely at the same time.
This page is a mini-audit: of how international my reading is and of progress on this project. When I started, I was surprised by the holes in my list. How can I be that I’ve never read a single author from Jamaica, Morocco or Serbia? How is there a tick next to Albania, but none next to the Netherlands?
In a grand sense, organising literature “by country” might just be as meaningful as organising it “by word count” or “by author’s preference for fruit”. In an age of increasing globalisation and intercultural exchange, do we really think that the best category of a writer is the place where they learned to eat solid food?
So is there anything to be learned by doing it? Honestly, I don’t know. But like with most things, there’s only one way to find out.
| Been | Read | Country | What I read (for this project): | Reading guide: |
| | | Afghanistan | ||
| X | X | Albania | ||
| | | Algeria | ||
| | | Andorra | ||
| | | Angola | ||
| | | Antigua and Barbuda | ||
| | X | Argentina | ||
| | | Armenia | ||
| X | X | Australia | ||
| X | X | Austria | ||
| | | Azerbaijan | ||
| | | Bahamas | ||
| | | Bahrain | ||
| | | Bangladesh | ||
| | | Barbados | ||
| | | Belarus | ||
| X | X | Belgium | ||
| X | X | Belize | Zoila Ellis – On heroes, lizards and passion | Reading guide |
| | | Benin | ||
| | | Bhutan | ||
| X | X | Bolivia | ||
| X | X | Bosnia and Herzegovina | ||
| | | Botswana | ||
| | X | Brazil | ||
| | | Brunei Darussalam | ||
| X | | Bulgaria | ||
| | | Burkina Faso | ||
| | | Burundi | ||
| | | Cambodia | ||
| | | Cameroon | ||
| | X | Canada | ||
| | | Cape Verde | ||
| | | Central African Republic | ||
| | | Chad | ||
| | X | Chile | ||
| | X | China | ||
| X | X | Colombia | ||
| | | Comoros | ||
| X | X | Costa Rica | ||
| | | Cote D’ivoire | ||
| X | X | Croatia | ||
| X | X | Cuba | ||
| X | X | Cyprus | ||
| X | X | Czech Republic | ||
| | X | Democratic People’s Republic of Korea | ||
| | | Democratic Republic of The Congo | ||
| X | X | Denmark | ||
| | | Djibouti | ||
| | | Dominica | ||
| | | Dominican Republic | ||
| X | X | Ecuador | ||
| | X | Egypt | ||
| X | X | El Salvador | Claribel Alegria – Ashes of Izalco | |
| | | Equatorial Guinea | ||
| | | Eritrea | ||
| X | | Estonia | ||
| | | Ethiopia | ||
| | | Federated States of Micronesia | ||
| | | Fiji | ||
| | | Finland | ||
| | | Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia | ||
| X | X | France | ||
| | | Gabon | ||
| | | Gambia | ||
| | | Georgia | ||
| X | X | Germany | ||
| | | Ghana | ||
| X | X | Greece | ||
| | | Grenada | ||
| X | X | Guatemala | Rigoberta Menchu – I, Rigoberta Menchu; Miguel Angel Asturias – Leyendas de Guatemala | |
| | | Guinea | ||
| | | Guinea-Bissau | ||
| | | Guyana | ||
| | | Haiti | ||
| X | X | Honduras | Guillermo Yuscaran – Points of Light; Roberto Quesada – The Man Who Fooled the Border Patrol | |
| X | X | Hungary | ||
| X | X | Iceland | ||
| | X | India | ||
| | | Indonesia | ||
| | | Iraq | ||
| X | X | Ireland | ||
| | X | Islamic Republic of Iran | ||
| | | Israel | ||
| X | X | Italy | ||
| | | Jamaica | ||
| | X | Japan | ||
| | | Jordan | ||
| | | Kazakhstan | ||
| | | Kenya | ||
| | | Kiribati | ||
| | | Kuwait | ||
| | | Kyrgyzstan | ||
| | | Lao People’s Democratic Republic | ||
| X | | Latvia | ||
| | | Lebanon | ||
| | | Lesotho | ||
| | | Liberia | ||
| | | Libya | ||
| | | Liechtenstein | ||
| | | Lithuania | ||
| X | | Luxembourg | ||
| | | Madagascar | ||
| | | Malawi | ||
| | | Malaysia | ||
| | | Maldives | ||
| | | Mali | ||
| X | | Malta | ||
| | | Marshall Islands | ||
| | | Mauritania | ||
| | | Mauritius | ||
| X | X | Mexico | Laura Esquivel – Like Water for Chocolate | Reading guide |
| | | Monaco | ||
| | | Mongolia | ||
| X | X | Montenegro | ||
| X | | Morocco | ||
| | | Mozambique | ||
| | | Myanmar | ||
| | | Namibia | ||
| | | Nauru | ||
| | | Nepal | ||
| X | | Netherlands | ||
| | X | New Zealand | ||
| X | X | Nicaragua | Gioconda Belli – The Country Under My Skin | |
| | | Niger | ||
| | X | Nigeria | ||
| X | X | Norway | ||
| | | Oman | ||
| | | Pakistan | ||
| | | Palau | ||
| X | | Panama | ||
| | | Papua New Guinea | ||
| | | Paraguay | ||
| X | X | Peru | ||
| | | Philippines | ||
| X | X | Poland | ||
| X | | Portugal | ||
| | | Qatar | ||
| | X | Republic of Congo | ||
| | | Republic of Korea | ||
| | | Republic of Moldova | ||
| X | | Romania | ||
| | X | Russian Federation | ||
| | | Rwanda | ||
| | | Saint Kitts and Nevis | ||
| | | Saint Lucia | ||
| | | Saint Vincent and The Grenadines | ||
| | | Samoa | ||
| | | San Marino | ||
| | | Sao Tome and Principe | ||
| | | Saudi Arabia | ||
| | | Senegal | ||
| X | | Serbia | ||
| | | Seychelles | ||
| | | Sierra Leone | ||
| | | Singapore | ||
| X | | Slovakia | ||
| X | | Slovenia | ||
| | | Solomon Islands | ||
| | | Somalia | ||
| | X | South Africa | ||
| | | South Sudan | ||
| X | X | Spain | ||
| | | Sri Lanka | ||
| | | Sudan | ||
| | | Suriname | ||
| | | Swaziland | ||
| | X | Sweden | ||
| | X | Switzerland | ||
| | | Syrian Arab Republic | ||
| | | Tajikistan | ||
| | | Thailand | ||
| | | Timor-Leste | ||
| | | Togo | ||
| | | Tonga | ||
| | | Trinidad and Tobago | ||
| | | Tunisia | ||
| X | | Turkey | ||
| | | Turkmenistan | ||
| | | Tuvalu | ||
| | | Uganda | ||
| | | Ukraine | ||
| | | United Arab Emirates | ||
| X | X | United Kingdom | ||
| | | United Republic of Tanzania | ||
| X | X | United States | ||
| | | Uruguay | ||
| | | Uzbekistan | ||
| | | Vanuatu | ||
| | | Venezuela | ||
| | | Viet Nam | ||
| | | Yemen | ||
| | | Zambia | ||
| | X | Zimbabwe |
