Description: A multilayered exploration of poetry, authorship, and digital intelligence by "a writer of immense poetic power" (The Guardian)
Review Quotes: "A genre-blending, time-bending, poetic novel. . . . We Computers is [Ismailov's] most expansive and imaginative creation yet."--Matthew Janney, Financial Times
"A dizzying postmodernist confection translated with tireless ingenuity by Shelley Fairweather-Vega. . . . A thronged, esoteric, besottedly allusive novel, one of the most niche things I have ever reviewed. But niche pleasures, for those who partake in them, are often the keenest."--Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal "Hamid Ismailov's wildly experimental novel . . . creates an alternate history in which a 1980s computer intelligently generates a new kind of mind-expanding, transnational literature."--Boris Kachka, The Atlantic "We Computers is a novel that fully embraces ambiguity."--Anu Khosla, The Rumpus "An exuberant homage to all forms of translation and reinvention."--Thúy Ðinh, NPR, "Books We Love," 2025 One of World Literature Today's 75 Notable Translations of 2025 "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 "Tremendously funny and charming (I read it in one sitting) and one of the most original, sideways explorations of how AI will affect literary authorship and innovation."--Celine Nguyen, personal canon Voted Best Book Cover of 2025 at Electric Literature Featured by Literary Hub in "17 Great Books in Translation from University Presses" "Remarkable. . . . Full of sly humor, surprising compassion, and genuine wonder. . . . To translate all of this complexity into something readable would be an achievement alone, but Fairweather-Vega has ensured that it is also beautiful."--Hannah Weber, Words Without Borders "We Computers stages an encounter between east and west, past and future, and the literary production of organic and computerized beings. . . . A playful burst of a challenge. . . [and a] fascinating read, thanks to Fairweather-Vega's immensely impressive translation."--Alex Lanz, Full Stop "A love letter to the Uzbek language and to the region's literary traditions, and a meditation on literature itself."--Sarah Gear, Asymptote "Sparkling and timely. . . . Ismailov's novel is, among other things, an ode to the poet Hafez, a deep dive into the classics of Sufism, and an absurdist techno-tragicomedy that's also a resounding high-five to the power of literary art."--Diane Josefowicz, Necessary Fiction, "Recommended Reading 2025" "A simultaneously challenging and deeply pleasurable read."--Sophia Marisa Lucas, Words Without Borders, "Best Books in (and on) Translation," 2025 Finalist for the National Book Awards Translated Literature Prize, 2025, sponsored by The National Book Foundation Shortlisted for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Literature Prize, 2026 "A feat of translation from Shelley Fairweather-Vega, Hamid Ismailov's novel is a timely meditation on the limits of language, art, and what's human in human creativity."--Judges' citation, National Book Awards "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