Cardinal Sins of Translation #10: Not Knowing When to Stop
There is something about the Energizer Bunny that captures the imagination of people everywhere. Its message of endurance is inspiring at best, but can spell trouble if you just keep going and going when it is actually time to stop. This is one of my biggest...
What Authors Need to Know to Find a Literary Translator
Where’s a literary translator when you need one? While this is not a question commonly heard shouted in frustration on street corners or even posed hypothetically in conversations at social gatherings, there are answers, and some answers are more likely than others to...
One Book, Two Voices, Two Translators
Many of you may know Peter McCambridge from his posts here and here on Intralingo. This time, we’re pleased to present an interview between Peter, as fiction editor for the amazing publisher QC Fiction, with literary translators Madeleine Stratford and Arielle...
Cardinal Sins of Translation #9: Relying on “Unreliable” Sources
Decades ago, before the advent of the Internet, there was a popular saying suggesting that you didn’t need to know it all, you just had to know where to find what you needed to know. Though Millennials may find such a statement puzzling (after all, you can find...
Translation and Diversity: Samples from Recent Books
September 30 is International Translation Day, and the theme for this year is "Translation and Diversity." Every book I read offers a different perspective, on life and the human condition. Every book I translate or am involved in as an editor is a chance to share...
Don’t Trip! Joys and Challenges of Straddling Two Cultures to Research and Write a Biography of Archbishop Romero
Don’t Trip! Joys and Challenges of Straddling Two Cultures to Research and Write a Biography of Archbishop Romero By Emily Wade Will Why did you choose to write a biography of Archbishop Romero? He’s not exactly a household name outside Latin America. Due to my...
Cardinal Sins of Translation #8: Ignore the Language Police
Recently, I attended the Editors Canada annual conference. One of the presentations especially caught my attention as it dealt with instances in which it is acceptable for editors to break the rules or bypass the style guide, a subject matter that seemed a little...
When should a translator NOT translate?
What sorts of phrases or words are best left in the original language? In 2014, Renée Morel and I published Shipwrecked on Traffic Island and Other Previously Untranslated Gems by Colette. One of the questions that Renée and I mulled over repeatedly in our...
Literary Translation: A Translator’s Perspective
This is the second post in a two-part series. Do read author Luis Sanz Irles’ perspective on our collaboration first. When I was offered the possibility of translating a novel from Spanish into English for an author, I immediately realized two things: what a great...
Literary Translation: An Author’s Perspective
By Luis Sanz Irles When I was offered the possibility of having one of my novels translated into English, I immediately realized two things: what a great opportunity it was, and what a challenge. It must have been my lucky week, for I was also given the possibility of...