Have you got German family? This question comes up and will maybe always come up when I say I translate from German. It would be the only thing that would make sense, the question seems to say, if it was part of me from birth, part of my heritage. At school, I just felt like […]
Translation
Telling Stories for Children
During this residency, I have been translating a children’s book, Hortusukalude Chomi (tentatively titled, Chomi: Princess of Gardens) by Gafoor Arakkal. The book, set partly in the seventeenth century and partly in the present, has several passages that depict the violence perpetrated by colonialism and caste hierarchies against humans as well as nature. All the […]
When Translating is Not Translating / When Translating is a Break from Translating
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 […]
Resident Shapeshifter
What is a Translation Residency? Well, it depends on whose house you’re in and what kind of guest you are. In 2015, I was doing the first of two year-long stints as acting editor of New Books in German magazine. On the committee of the magazine was Theodora Danek, the Project Manager for Culture at […]
The Three Christmas Eve Masses
A translation, with slight adaptation, of ‘Les Trois Messes Basses’, a short story from Contes du Lundi by Alphonse Daudet, published in 1873. ‘Two stuffed turkeys, Garrigou?’ ‘Yes, Reverend, two magnificent turkeys crammed full of truffles. And I should know; I helped stuff them. They looked as though their skin might burst while roasting, […]
The End of a Residency
Towards the end of my residency at the BCLT, I had just started editing The Djinn’s Apple, a pacey YA murder mystery set in the Abbasid era, due to be published with Neem Tree Press. For the duration of my residency I have been translating this novel, and used it as a foundation for a […]
Translating YA Literature
Earlier this month, approaching the end of my residency, I led a ‘Translating YA Literature’ workshop at the BCLT, where we covered: Pitching YA Arabic literature Situating it in the greater Arabic literary sphere Process of choosing a cover/publicity YA Translation conundrums During this residency I have been translating the Djinn’s Apple,[1] a YA part […]
House-hunting
I find myself in a moment of change. The bookcases are empty, the books packed in boxes stacked high in our living room that will be shipped overseas in a few hours. Save a dictionary or two and a few books I need with me for work, for the first time in years my life […]
Extract from ‘Francesca’
Francesca is a one-act play by emerging Norwegian playwright Tonje Dreyer Sellevoll, developed in a mentorship program called UNG TEKST, run by Unge Viken Teater. I had the pleasure of translating this play for my MA Literary Translation dissertation which I submitted in September 2021, as well as working directly with the playwright for the […]
Developmental Editing
Although I have been translating literature for over a decade, it was only just a few weeks ago that I was involved in my first ever developmental editing session. I’ve co-translated a riveting read by an Eritrean author that delves into identity politics; it will, God willing, be published in 2023. What is it? […]
