Questions for Translators
I’ve been thinking of expanding the interview section of the blog for a long time now and felt that translators would be the first of the new sections, offering literary translators an opportunity to talk about themselves and their process.
I’m absolutely fascinated by the process of translation and feel it is often an under appreciated facet of the literary world.
If you’re a translator and would like to let the world know what you do please join in, answer at least six of the questions and send me a picture of yourself to add to the post on the blog.
Once you’ve got everything done please send to bigbeardedbookseller@gmail.com and I’ll get the post up on the blog ASAP.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
- What drew you to literary translation, and what do you find most rewarding about it?
- How do you select the texts you want to translate? What are your criteria?
- Can you describe your typical working process for translating a literary text, from initial reading to final polish?
- Do you ever collaborate with the author during the translation process? If so, what is that like?
- What are the biggest challenges you face as a literary translator?
- How do you determine the pacing of your translation, and does that differ from the source text?
- Do you read the book multiple times before translating?
- Do you translate in the order it is written?
- How do you strive to capture the author’s unique voice and style in your translation?
- Are there any stylistic choices that you find particularly difficult to replicate?
- What do you consider the most crucial aspects of a literary translation?
- How do you ensure the translated text maintains the same rhythm and flow as the original?
- Do you ever find yourself having to make choices that might deviate from the literal meaning, and how do you justify those choices?
- Can you share an example of a particularly challenging passage you’ve translated and how you approached it?
- How do you choose names for characters in a translated novel?
- Have you ever translated a book that was particularly difficult to translate due to cultural differences or historical context?
- What are some of your favourite translated books and why?
- What is your relationship with the original author, if any?
- What were any surprising moments during the collaboration, or joyful moments, or challenges?
- What advice would you give to someone who is considering becoming a literary translator?
