Portfolio
My name is Ian J. Battaglia, and I am an American writer and editor based out of Tokyo. I serve on staff at the Chicago Review of Books as the New Initiatives Director and an Editor, and previously was an Editor and Writer at Tofugu. I'm also the author of the column "The Translator's Voice," which is published at the Chicago Review of Books.
I'm a writer of fiction, literary criticism, interviews, essays, and beyond. My writing has been featured in The LA Review of Books, Input Magazine, The Kenyon Review, The Chicago Reader, and Full Stop Magazine, among others. As a screenwriter, I was selected to write the official adaptation of Nathaniel Rich's short story, "Hermie". I was accepted to the Residencia Corazón in La Plata, Buenos Aires, as well as the Gradient Residence on Galiano Island, and was a member of the 2024 StoryStudio StoryBoard fiction cohort. I am currently working on a novel manuscript.
For a more complete C.V. or other writing samples, please contact me.
Selected Writings:
ESSAYS & FEATURES:
"Street Papers: A Story of Housing, Publishing, and Noir," The LA Review of Books
"Fujifilm dropped a top street photographer, but did he cross a line?" Input Magazine
The Liminality of Craig Mod, The Chicago Review of Books
"HOW and WHY TO FIND A JAPANESE TUTOR: A PRACTICAL GUIDE," Tofugu
"HOW TO LANGUAGE EXCHANGE SUCCESSFULLY," Tofugu
REVIEWS:
The Lingering Pain of Grief in Yiyun Li’s “Wednesday’s Child” (on Yiyun Li’s Wednesday’s Child), The Chicago Review of Books
Choose Your Own Myth in “Where You Come From” (on Saša Stanišić's Where You Come From, t.r. Damion Searls), The Chicago Review of Books
Lives After Murder in “Lemon” (on Kwon Yeo-sun's Lemon, t.r. Janet Hong), The Chicago Review of Books
The Weight and Tenderness of the Present in “After the Sun” (on Jonas Eika's After the Sun, t.r. Sherilyn Nicolette Helberg), The Chicago Review of Books
The Resonance of Memory in “Tokyo Ueno Station” (on Miri Yu's Tokyo Ueno Station, t.r. Morgan Giles), The Chicago Review of Books
The Intimacy of a Moment (on Garth Greenwell's Cleanness), The Chicago Review of Books
INTERVIEWS:
"The Translator’s Voice — Morgan Giles on Translating Yu Miri’s “The End of August”," The Chicago Review of Books
"The Translator’s Voice — Frances Riddle on Translating Claudia Piñeiro’s “A Little Luck”," The Chicago Review of Books
"Sam Bett and David Boyd on Translating Kawakami Mieko's Heaven," Full-Stop Magazine
An Interview with Keiler Roberts About The Evolution of Comic Autobiography in “My Begging Chart,” The Chicago Review of Books
Duality, Complexity, and the Architecture of a Story in “Consent,” The Chicago Review of Books
PODCASTS:
Things I Wish I Knew When I Was A Beginner Japanese Learner, Feat. Ian Battaglia
Why Is Everyone Raving about "Yotsuba&!"?