During this residency, I have been translating a new hybrid non-fiction book by the German author and translator Gregor Hens. I translated Hens’ essay-memoir Nicotine for Fitzcarraldo Editions in 2015, my second ever book translation and first for adults, which explored how his long-term addiction to smoking was intertwined with his memories, his sense of […]
BCLT
Against Italicising the ‘Exotic’
A question I often get asked is who my imagined reader is when I translate from Malayalam to English. My answer is that I don’t have an intended or ideal reader, only a reader of English who could be based anywhere in the world, speaking any of the many Englishes (yes, plural). This often generates […]
A Chapter Ends
My time as Translator in Residency at the BCLT has ended. I don’t know that a single blog will sufficiently encapsulate all of my feelings about this epoch in my life as a translator, but I’ll make a worthy attempt. When describing the residency to others I’ve often called it a ‘revelation’. An apt choice […]
BCLT and The Rule of Three
(An extract from My BCLT 30th Anniversary Edition) Third time is the charm, as they say in my part of the world. Having finally come down from the excitement of my third summer at BCLT, I have to admit that my involvement with them has been charmed from the get-go. Prior to my first summer […]
Excitement and Possibility
Excitement and Possibility by Bill Swainson (An extract from My BCLT 30th Anniversary Edition) I first went to the British Centre for Literary Translation in 1991. It had recently won support from the Arts Council and been encouraged to establish a pool of outside advice, so it was as a literary advisor that I first met […]
