Department
Translation
A translator at her bench in Catalan-to-English, co-translation as collaboration, the translator's preface as an art form.
Across the Alphabet: The Politics of Transliteration
How a translator spells a name in English can carry centuries of imperial history. A close look at three writers whose transliterated names have changed in print across a decade.
The Footnote or the Gloss: A Translator's Invisible Decisions
When a foreign word will not behave, the translator can footnote it, gloss it inside the sentence, or trust the reader. Three recent books test all three.
Dialect and the Translator: When Andalusian Becomes Appalachian
How do translators handle regional voice when the target language has no equivalent dialect? A look at three uneasy solutions.
When to Retranslate a Classic: The Case of the Sixth Madame Bovary
In October a new English Madame Bovary will appear from Penguin Classics, the sixth in a century. What does each generation think the last one missed?
Translating Poetry: Three Case Studies from a Difficult Year
Three recent poetry translations, three different solutions to the same impossible problem. Notes on the working choices behind English versions of Akhmatova, Adonis, and a young Vietnamese poet.
The Translator's Preface as an Art Form
What can a translator say before her book begins? A close reading of five recent prefaces and the small rhetorical tradition they belong to.
Two Hands on the Page: Co-Translation as a Working Method
When Jenny Erpenbeck's American voice belongs to two people, what does the second translator actually do? A look at four working co-translation partnerships.
Anna Mareu at Her Bench: A Translator's Working Day in Catalan
A morning with the Barcelona translator Anna Mareu, whose new English version of Mercè Rodoreda's late stories is out from a small Brooklyn press this autumn.