December 23, 2024 • 35 mins
In this episode, I chat with translator Oonagh Stransky about her love of the Italian language, the importance of small presses, Héloïse Press, and the art of translating books to English.
Oonagh Stransky has translated a range of fiction and nonfiction writers, including Roberto Saviano, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Giuseppe Pontiggia, and Carlo Lucarelli. Her work has received important prizes and nominations. Born in Paris, Stransky grew up in the Middle East, London, and the United States and attended Mills College, Middlebury College, and Columbia University. A member of PEN American Center and the American Literary Translators Association, she currently lives in Tuscany.
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hi, my name is Mandy Jackson-Beverly and I'm a
bibliophile.
Welcome to the Bookshop Podcast.
Each week, I present interviewswith authors, independent
bookshop owners and booksellersfrom around the globe and
publishing professionals.
To help the show reach morepeople, please share episodes
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(00:33):
subscribe and leave a reviewwherever you listen to this
podcast.
You're listening to episode 278.
Uno Stransky has translated arange of fiction and non-fiction
writers, including RobertoSaviano, pier Paolo Pasolini,
giuseppe Pontigia and CarloLuccarelli.
(00:56):
Her work has received importantprizes and nominations.
Born in Paris, stransky grew upin the Middle East, london and
the United States and attendedMills College, middlebury
College and Columbia University.
A member of PEN American Centerand the American Literary
Translators Association, unacurrently lives in Tuscany.
(01:18):
Hi, una, and welcome to theshow.
It's lovely to have you here.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Oh, thank you so much , Mandy.
It's wonderful to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Abandonment.
What a beautiful story.
It was written in Italian byErminia del Oro and translated
by yourself and published byEloise Press in Canterbury in
the UK Definitely one of myfavorite books of the year.
But before we talk aboutAbandonment, let's begin by
learning about where you wereborn and raised and what first
(01:48):
led you to Florence, Italy, andbecoming a translator of Italian
literature.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Oh, thank you.
It's a pretty long story and Iwill try and capture it the best
way I can.
So I was born in Paris.
My parents were both Americanand we traveled around a lot
because of my father's work.
I lived in Beirut, in Jeddahand in London before going to
(02:15):
boarding school for a couple ofyears outside of Boston, and
then I went to college inCalifornia.
I heard languages as a result oftraveling and also at home
Arabic and French and at home myfather spoke Czech with his mom
and I studied French throughoutschool, and my stepmother is
(02:37):
French, so we spoke French athome and French became one of
the key languages in my life, inthe sense that it was one of
the languages I was studying formy comparative literature major
at college, but I never reallyfelt a connection to French the
way that I felt with Italian,and the first time I went to
(02:57):
Italy was when I was 19.
It was winter break fromcollege and I went to visit an
elderly woman who was a closefriend of my grandmother's and
something about the languagejust electrified me.
It was amazing.
So I got back to collegeafterwards after this great
visit with her and in her city,and I decided that I had to
(03:20):
learn Italian, and that meanttaking classes At my college.
They didn't offer Italian, so Icross-registered at Berkeley
and I took classes there and Ijoined an.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Italian club and what age were you when you decided
to start learning Italian?
Speaker 2 (03:34):
So I was about 19 when I started learning Italian
seriously, and one of the keythings that I did to help me
learn Italian was I applied togo to Middlebury College Summer
Language Program.
I don't know if you've everheard of them, but it's a great
summer intensive program whereyou promise to only speak
Italian, and I got a wonderfulgrounding in grammar and it
(03:59):
positioned me very well forlearning language later on.
And then I went to Italy for myjunior year abroad and I
studied at the University ofFlorence and I had a great time.
And after college, when Igraduated in 1989, I moved back
to Italy and so I lived there orhere, rather, for about five
years, outside of Florence, thistime in the countryside, so
(04:24):
that was really special.
After moving back to New York inwell gosh, what was it then?
1994, I started translating.
Only several years later itmust have been seven or eight
years later First very shortpieces and then longer pieces,
and then in about 2000 or 1999or 2000, I got my first contract
(04:48):
for my first book lengthtranslation, and it's crazy to
think that now it's been 24years that I've been translating
what I love about translationand Italian, because the Italian
was already there.
I knew that I wanted to work inItalian.
But is that translation kind ofwelds together my love for
literature, for stories andbooks?
Reading was a very big part ofmy childhood because it allowed
(05:15):
me to sort of disappear into aworld that was entirely my own.
And translation also allows meto weld that love of literature
with a love for books as objects.
So something that I studiedwhile I was in college was book
arts and everything aboutletterpress, printing and
typography and bookbinding, andso all of these things sort of
(05:37):
confer together in translation.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
I've got a quick question for you.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
When you were a little girl, what language did
your parents read to you in?
Was it English?
When I learned to read, I wouldspend a long time on my own
(06:04):
reading and I just loved that.
I remember the physicalsensation of holding the
oversized storybooks in my hand,the fairy tales in my hands,
and looking at the pictures andtracing with my finger along the
words.
Yeah, reading was very preciousto me.
Since we moved a lot.
Seeing my books get packed upand then reappear in a new house
(06:28):
was very important in terms ofcontinuity.
It allowed me to feel like oh,this is my room now.
Okay, I have my things, mybooks are here, so I am here.
I know that sounds crazy for akid to think like that, but no,
it doesn't sound silly at all.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
I imagine that your books helped you feel settled.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Yes, they helped me settle Exactly.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Let's move on to the book Abandonment, which you
translated from the originaltext by Herminia del Oro from
Italian to English.
This book is beautifullywritten and it won the English
Pen Award.
What drew you to translate thisbook and how difficult was it
to find a publisher?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
All of those are really great questions.
So this book originally waspublished in 1991.
So it's actually a relativelyold book.
I first read it in 2002.
And well, I don't know,something just happened.
I was immediately blown away bythe story and how it was written
(07:31):
.
It's about poverty and hardship, it's about trauma that gets
passed down, it's about beingbiracial and not feeling
accepted and mostly it's aboutreally wanting to find out who
you are and going after that.
I guess what especially made mewant to translate it was the
writing was absolutelyenchanting.
(07:54):
I found it.
It just drew me in.
I love this story because it's asurvival story.
The main character there areactually two, mother and
daughter, salas and Mariana.
But Mariana survives terriblehardships on a daily basis.
She listens to her inner voiceand her dreams.
(08:15):
She constantly questions theworld around her and she stops
at nothing to seek answers.
So those elements, they reallyspoke to me.
I was also drawn to this bookby its descriptions of Eritrea,
in particular of the naturalworld.
It's a country that has longfascinated me and I really liked
(08:37):
the way that DeLoro describeshow nature impacts the soul of
the people.
Nature is as important as thecharacters.
Sometimes you get that feeling.
Then there's the style ofwriting which I mentioned before
, which shifts from these greatdescriptions and sensorial
writing to a lyrical passagesfilled with dreams and creation
(09:00):
stories and marginalized figuresand outsiders.
It's a tapestry of life, really.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Yes, and it's based on a true story.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Exactly so.
Herminia del Oro, who was bornin Eritrea and lived there for
much of her life but then movedto Milan and now lives in Milan,
was approached one day by awoman who is the inspiration for
the figure of Mariana.
There's a letter, and a letterthat exists, and the letter was
(09:33):
inspiration for Herminia toconstruct this story.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
So it is based on a true story, but it does also
draw on Herminia de Loro'smasterful storytelling skills
and for anyone interested inpurchasing a copy of Abandonment
at a 40% discount, please go tothe EloisePresscom website.
That'sH-E-L-O-I-S-E-P-R-E-S-Scom.
(10:00):
Click on the catalog, click onthe cover of Abandonment.
Bookshopscom Click on thecatalog, click on the cover of
Abandonment and, as you checkout, the discount code is the
word bookshop B-O-O-K-S-H-O-P,and that will be applied at
checkout and you'll get your 40%discount.
Thanks, ina at Heloise Press,for doing that.
It's great.
Okay, una, how difficult was itfor you to find a publisher to
(10:22):
take on this project?
Speaker 2 (10:24):
It was very difficult .
So, like I said, I read it in2002.
I was traveling to Milan in2003.
And so I wrote to her, toHerminia De Loro, and I said may
I meet with you?
And we had hot chocolate in acafe in the Brera section of
Milan and I was just.
I was really amazed by thiswonderful woman.
(10:47):
She was extremely gracious,very low key, she was not
presumptuous at all, and I toldher I loved her book and that I
wanted to try and translate it.
Now, keep in mind that at thatpoint, 2003, I had only
translated one or maybe twobooks by then, so I was a newbie
and she didn't have to say, oh,yes, by all means.
(11:10):
But she did, she encouraged me,she said oh, I'm so grateful to
you for anything that you cando for this book and for the
story of Mariana and for Celeste.
So here we are, 2024.
And it took me this long oractually the book was finished a
year ago, but it took me thislong to find a publisher for it,
and the reason for that is thatpeople didn't really know what
(11:34):
to do with it.
So I pitched it, becausetranslators periodically are
asked by publishers to translatebooks and occasionally they
also pitch books to publishers.
And occasionally they alsopitch books to publishers.
And I pitched this book tomainstream publishers and
editors and they turned it downbecause they couldn't see how it
fit in with the rest of theirbooks.
I approached academic pressesand they said, oh, we love this
(11:58):
book but we have no money for it.
And I took it to workshops thatI took part in and I got great
feedback.
Everybody really enjoyed it.
And then, about three years ago, I guess now, a couple of
fellow translators told me aboutHeloise Press, and so I
approached Aina Marti about itand said she accepted.
(12:23):
And ever since then it's justbeen one exciting adventure
after the other.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
And for listeners, I recommend you go to
EloisePresscom.
Ina Marti champions worldwidefemale talent and, as said on
their website, Eloise's carefulselection of books give voice to
emerging and well-establishedfemale writers from home and
abroad, with a focus on intimate.
Establish female writers fromhome and abroad with a focus on
(12:49):
intimate, visceral and powerfulnarratives.
Heloise Press brings togetherwomen's stories and literary
sophistication, and kudos to InaMarti for taking on Abandonment
, which was the winner of theEnglish Pen Award.
It's a brilliant, brilliantbook, wonderful story and
beautiful translation.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yeah, she's absolutely doing some phenomenal
work at her press and I reallyapplaud her.
You know, what she's doing isshe's creating a space for books
that would otherwise, you know,get ignored or, you know, never
be published or never betranslated, in my case.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
That's correct and I encourage everyone listening to
search out these small andmedium presses worldwide,
because they are taking a chanceon brilliant writers who, as
you said, would otherwise notget read.
Let's talk about the prose inAbandonment, because it's
lyrical, colorful anddescriptive.
How difficult was this book totranslate from Italian to
(13:44):
English?
Speaker 2 (13:45):
That's a really interesting question.
In my practice in translation,what I like to try and do is I
keep notes about all thechallenges that I encounter
along the way.
I found over time that writingthese down later is very helpful
because it helps me understandthe book and it offers me a kind
of a key to understanding it,to explaining it to other people
(14:07):
.
So in the case of Abandonment,one of the hardest parts was, or
one of the hardest, mostdifficult challenges of the
translation was capturing thedream sequences in a way that
maintained the chimerical toneof the original but that was
also understandable for thereader.
Then, if you've noticed,there's quite a few words in
Tigrina, which is one of theoriginal, but that was also
understandable for the reader.
(14:27):
Then, if you've noticed, there'squite a few words in Tigrinya,
which is one of the Eritreanlanguages in the book.
So I had to find a way ofblending those words and keeping
them in Tigrinya into the textin a very fluid way.
I also needed to maintain agendered use of language for
certain objects that are veryprecious to Salaschi, gives them
(14:48):
male and female pronouns.
And then I struggled and I hopethis comes across, but there's
a way that Erminia dell'Oro,used the Italian to hint at or
denote the oppressive force thatItaly exerted over Eritrea
(15:09):
during the colonial period, andso there are certain words that
are in the Italian which Icarried over into the English
that I chose specific words totry and maintain the harshness
of the Italian presence inEritrea, of the Italian presence
(15:31):
in Eritrea, Also because, evenafter the colonial period was
over, all the psychologicaleffects of colonialism were
still felt for many years.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Yes, and I think in many cases the deep wounds of
colonialism are still raw.
It's such a sad time Now.
As a translator, do you feelanything from the original
writing is lost duringtranslation and do you connect
with the author if you strugglewith certain words or sentences?
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Well, I tend to think of translation as a recreation
of a book, right?
So if I've been very faithfuland creative at the same time
which seems like an oxymoron,but it's not If I understand and
I feel and I experience thebook as well as I possibly can,
and then I try and hopefullymanage to relay those ideas and
(16:21):
feelings and experiences inEnglish, then I don't feel that
anything gets lost.
No, I see the book as a parallelto the original.
I guess the hardest thing somesomething that it doesn't get
lost but it gets changed is thatis, wordplay and humor.
When I encounter word play andhumor in in in a text, often I
(16:43):
have to find alternate solutionsthat work just as well and go
down sort of side paths or thinklaterally instead of just
focusing on what the words are.
And overall, I guess I wouldhave to say that I enjoy working
on my translations without toomuch author input, which is not
(17:05):
to say that I won't ask anauthor if I don't understand
something or the relevance ofsomething or the implications of
a certain word and I have donethat.
I've reached out to authorsbefore.
But generally speaking, I liketo take my time and work on the
translation solo or sola.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
I should say.
I've noticed lately that I'mreading more translated books,
as are many of my friends, andI'm wondering do you feel
translated books are becomingmore popular and if so, is this
due to publishers responding toreader demand?
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Definitely.
One thing I can say is thattranslation has certainly
proliferated and changed a greatdeal since I started
translating 20 years ago.
There are a lot moreopportunities to talk about
translation.
There are more courses thatpeople can take to become
translators.
I think translators are justgenerally more included right,
(18:02):
and that's also thanks to a lotof younger people who are
fighting for translators' rights.
We owe a lot to people whospeak up on behalf of
translators and authorsthemselves, who have earned a
certain status and who use thatstatus in a responsible way.
I also sometimes wonder, though, whether translators aren't
(18:23):
certain kind of superheroes thatare influencing the reading
habits of people like yourself.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Yeah, I tend to agree with you.
I mean, I would not have readthis book had I not been
introduced to Eloise Press andIna Marty through my
daughter-in-law, who is a writerand teaches at the University
of Cork in Ireland in thecreative writing department the
University of Cork in Ireland,in the creative writing
department.
And after a conversation withIna she introduced me to
(18:51):
abandonment.
And you know, here we arechatting.
But that also brings me to oneother question.
It's the cadence of thelanguage that draws me to
reading translated books.
They have a kind of musicalityabout them.
Do you experience this whiletranslating?
Speaker 2 (19:06):
musicality about them .
Do you experience this whiletranslating?
Well, music is definitely alarge part of the craft of
translation.
When I work, I go through and Ido a first draft, and that is.
It's a very rough first draft,and then I go back over and over
and over it and edit, and edit,and edit, so that, generally
speaking, I would say I will gothrough a book, I'll edit it
(19:27):
about six to seven, eight timesand until I feel that it is
perfectly polished and ready tobe sent in.
But before I send it in, onething that I always do is I read
it out loud.
It has to capture the musicthat the original has, and so
this also goes back to thequestion that we were talking
about before, where I read withgreat care.
(19:51):
So translators have to not justknow the language and
understand the culture and getall the references and do that
too, but they just have to readwith feeling.
It's very important to readwith feeling.
It's very important to readwith feeling.
So if the tone is there in thefinal and if it reads fluidly,
(20:11):
then I think it's ready to go.
I'm ready to send it in.
But if there's something thatit feels funny or it doesn't
sound quite right, or the music,maybe there's a pitch change of
some kind that just in Italianwe say that makes you trip over
it a little bit.
Then I'll go back to theoriginal and I'll double check
(20:33):
and even very late on in theprocess I might find oh well,
there's that, so let me switchit around.
Yeah, so yes, music is veryimportant, also as a practice
for the translator to listen.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
In essence, music is another language.
Now we've talked about InaMarty at Heloise Press and the
authors she represents and thebooks, many of which are
translated from variouslanguages.
How important are small pressessuch as Heloise Press in the
publishing world right now?
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Press in the publishing world right now.
Heloise Press is critical fortranslators because you have a
direct channel of communicationwith an editor, right.
So you are working.
She's got a ton of things to do, but Ina makes time to talk to
you about your work and when sherecognizes that something is
worthy of being translated, thenyou feel welcomed.
(21:35):
A small press makes you feellike you are stepping into
somebody's sitting room, intotheir living room, and you're
working with them and you'reconferring with them and
planning the book together.
It's a great feeling and I alsowant to mention, since we're
talking about Heloise Press soIna makes the decisions, but the
editor on the book was a womannamed Ruth Clark and Ruth's work
was amazing.
So it would be remiss of me notto mention the great job that
(22:00):
Ruth did working with me on thetranslation after I handed it in
, you know just like shaping it,and we had some great
discussions about the book andabout Herminia del Oro and what
it means for a woman to writeabout the colonial period.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
I just thought of a question while I was listening
to you and I think you justanswered it, though you have
multiple editors, obviously,when you're a translator,
correct?
Speaker 2 (22:30):
There's an editor who goes through it and she ought
to, or usually does.
In this case, ruth did speakthe language of the book that's
being translated so that theycan double check things and you
work with her closely.
And then it gets line edited orproofread by a different editor
so that it goes through and Inais available.
(22:52):
We bounce some ideas off of herbut generally speaking, she
will put the ball back in ourcourt and say you to work it out
or decide how you want tohandle it.
I trust you.
Or maybe she'll say no,actually I think this is better,
and so we work as a team.
It's a team effort in the longrun.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Yes, as it needs to be.
Una.
What drew you to relocate toItaly?
Speaker 2 (23:15):
So, it's funny, in 2009, I decided to leave New
York City, where I was livingand working as a teacher of
English in the New York Citypublic high schools, to move
back to Italy and spend moretime translating and still teach
, but less time teaching,because I had found that in New
York City, with my full-timeteaching job, I didn't have the
(23:38):
time that I needed to translate.
Yes, I had summers, but youalso need to unwind and I have
children or had children.
They're now adults, so I hadother things to take care of and
to do.
But now, well, since I movedback in 2009, I've held down
(23:58):
other jobs, but I've tried toput more energy into translation
and living here.
That has been possible.
Living in New York City, thatwasn't possible for me.
I have worked in wineries, I'vetranslated commercial things.
Like I said, I've translatedeverything from legal agreements
to love letters in order tomake ends meet.
(24:20):
But when I have a book, I loveto dedicate my time entirely to
translating that book and all myenergy goes into the literary
translations.
So in the past I guess in thepast what five, six, maybe six
or seven years I've been able toonly do literary translations
and that feels to me like a hugeachievement and something that
(24:43):
I've only been able to dobecause I have persisted.
I stayed with my dream, whichwas to translate literature, and
I've achieved that, so I'm veryhappy about that.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
And as you were born in Paris, I'm guessing you had
an EU passport.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
No, because actually to have a French passport then
and maybe also now, your motherneeds to be French.
So, and my mother wasn't French.
My stepmother was French later,but my mother was American and
I married an Italian aftercollege and then I got Italian
citizenship through that, whichwas very helpful and that's such
(25:20):
a gift to give to your children.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
I think If you can give them a passport to another
country, what a gift.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Oh yes.
Well, they've had a bilingualeducation their whole life, so
good.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Yeah, they are lucky children.
While we're talking aboutFlorence, italy, there's a story
that I'd like to introducepeople to who have not heard of
it, and that is the story of themud angels in Florence.
Are you familiar with them?
Yes, I found out about the mudangels while I was in Florence.
I won't go into the intricatestory and synchronicity that
(25:51):
helped me find this story, butit was part of a missing link
that I needed for a story I waswriting and I just want to share
it with everyone.
So in 1966, florence was flooded.
The banks of the Arno Riverbroke, the city lost a lot of
art and books from the library.
I think almost about 100 peopledied, and it also actually
(26:13):
flooded in Venice as well.
But I'm just going to stick toFlorence for now.
So there are a lot of studentsbackpacking around Europe.
At the time there were studentsin Florence from America who
were doing a semester abroad,and they ended up helping
retrieve artwork and books fromthe mud that was just feet deep
(26:34):
in some of the buildings and thestreets.
What came out of this tragedywas the advancements made in
book conservation and artrestoration.
In the show notes I'll makesure to put some links to the
stories about the mud angels,but it's a part of Florentine
history that I think isincredibly important and needs
(26:54):
to be remembered.
I know I will mispronounce itif I try saying mud angels in
Italian Una.
Would you say it for me, youcould?
Speaker 2 (27:03):
say Angeli del Fango would be the translation of that
phrase, but I don't knowwhether they use that.
I've only always heard it inEnglish.
Isn't that funny?
Maybe because people arereferring to themselves or to
that period as the Mud Angels,or maybe they were seen as the
foreigners who came and lent ahand.
I know a lot of universitystudents from all over Europe
(27:25):
came.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Yes, it is a wonderful story For listeners
who may be interested inbecoming a translator.
Could you tell us about anyorganizations that are helpful,
please?
Speaker 2 (27:36):
So there are two very important associations for me.
One is the American LiteraryTranslators Association and one
is Penn.
When I started translating inaround 1999, I applied for an
American Literary TranslatorsAssociation fellowship for young
translators to travel to theconference.
(27:56):
Every year they have aconference and it used to be in
a different city around theUnited States every year and I
won this travel fellowship andso I guess it was in 2000,.
The conference was held in SanFrancisco and I attended an
event and I was surrounded,suddenly surrounded by
translators of literature.
(28:16):
It was the most amazingexperience because I had been
thinking about doing this work,I had started working and I had
always felt very, very alone inthis work and all of a sudden,
wonderful people.
We were all talking about books.
I met other people working inmy same language or from my same
language into English, andthere were some wonderful panels
(28:39):
and talks and discussions.
And so ever since then, anyyear that I can actually attend
the ALTA conference, I do.
Since I moved back to Italy,obviously that's been much
harder, but I attended oneinoston and chicago.
There was one in new york, ofcourse, the san francisco one,
and then one or two others, andthis year, I'm very excited to
(29:02):
say, one of the one of mytranslations is up for the um.
It's called the ipta award, soitalian prose and translation
award, which is governed by alta, and I'm very excited about
that.
The other association that I amproud to be a part of is Penn,
and the reason for that isbecause it also similarly
(29:23):
offered me that community, thatsense of community of
translators.
When I lived in New York City,so between the years of 2000 and
roughly 2009,.
When I was translating I thinkit was about once a month or
once every couple of monthsthere was a translation
committee meeting down at theirheadquarters off of Houston
(29:44):
Street, and it was a very smallgroup Maybe there would be 10 of
us, maybe 15, but we would sitaround a table and we would
discuss all the problems that wewere dealing with, whether it
was publishers or actual textualproblems, and then we would all
go out for drinks afterwards.
So it was a great way to talk,work, talk shop and then just
(30:05):
relax and know that there wereother people who were going
through some of the similarchallenges that you were.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
Yeah, and it's just wonderful being part of a
community.
I think we're involved with thework that you're doing.
Okay, let's talk books.
What are you currently reading?
Speaker 2 (30:20):
Actually, since I'm trying to write about what
attracted me to Italian in thefirst place, I've been doing a
lot of reading of memoirs and Irecently finished A Ghost in the
Throat I don't know if you knowit by Dorin Negrifa.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
Yes, I love that book .
In fact, the author, johnMcGregor, turned me on to it.
It's fabulous.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
I absolutely loved it and it shows the intense and
the embodied kind of connectionthat one can have with the text
where she translates.
But she relates very closely tothis text.
She literally lives through it.
It's a beautiful, beautifulbook and so well written.
And then recently I started DogFlowers by Danielle Geller,
(31:02):
which is I don't know if you'veread that, but it's a beautiful
book, also dealing with somevery difficult topics and
mother-daughter relationshipthat is very complex.
I'm looking at a stack of bookshere.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Everyone who is related to writing, publishing
in any field of the publishingindustry.
We all have stacks of booksthat are sitting on our desks,
beside our bed, around the house, in our bookcases, that we both
need to read for work and thatwe also want to read of our own
(31:37):
need to read for work and thatwe also want to read of our own.
It's a pretty good problem tohave.
And, going back to our earlierconversation, books are like
friends and they help us feelsettled.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Absolutely, absolutely.
And new friends too, becausewhen you encounter a book and
you're like this book I'm sograteful that I opened this book
and I'm reading these pages itcan fill you with wonder.
Una, are you a?
Speaker 1 (31:58):
rereader.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Yes, yes, I am, because I love the first
impressions, but I also like togo back and understand what it
is that triggered that.
Especially as I'm doing more ofmy own writing now.
That is very important to me.
Curiously, a book that I havereread many, many times is Moby
Dick.
(32:20):
I can't explain.
I mean, I can't explain, it'sjust.
The prose is amazing and I'vealways loved that book, since I
read it in college.
But it's been several years nowsince I've gone back to it.
Maybe I've evolved a little bit.
I'm not sure.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
Maybe you finally extracted what you needed out of
that prose and now you can moveon.
Yes, well, I'm the same.
I am a rereader, especially ofbooks that just capture me
immediately.
And, of course, because Iinterview so many authors, I go
back and often reread the booksbefore I get into conversation
(32:55):
with them.
Whenever I ask this question toauthors about rereading books,
I always feel a bit sorry forthe ones that say no, I don't
reread.
I feel like they're missing outon secrets.
But in your form of work, I'msure you are used to rereading
and rereading and rereading.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
It would be strange for a translator not to be a
rereader, since really at theheart of what we do is reading
and rereading.
It would be strange for atranslator not to be a rereader,
since really at the heart ofwhat we do is reading and
rereading, and editing andre-editing.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
Well, it's been lovely chatting with you, una,
and getting to know more aboutyou and translations, and
congratulations again onTranslating Abandonment, written
by Arminia De Lauro andpublished through Heloise Press
in England.
Such a beautiful book and Ilook forward to reading some of
your own writing.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
Thank you so much, mandy.
This has been a wonderfulconversation.
I really appreciate it.
I am very, very grateful and Ireally am so glad that you read
the book and I am very happythat you enjoyed it too.
That's the key thing.
Kudos to you andcongratulations on doing such a
great series.
I listened to several otherepisodes and I was really amazed
(34:02):
by your commitment and yourother guests, how they spoke so
eloquently and had so much toshare.
It's really really well done.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
You've been listening to my conversation with the
translator, una Strunsky, abouther translation of Herminia
Deloro's book Abandonment,published by Heloise Press.
To help the show reach morepeople, please share episodes
with friends and family and onsocial media, and remember to
subscribe and leave a reviewwherever you listen to this
(34:34):
podcast.
To find out more about theBookshop Podcast, go to
thebookshoppodcastcom and makesure to subscribe and leave a
review wherever you listen tothe show.
You can also follow me at MandyJackson Beverly on X, instagram
and Facebook and on YouTube atthe Bookshop Podcast.
(34:54):
If you have a favorite indiebookshop that you'd like to
suggest we have on the podcast,I'd love to hear from you via
the contact form atthebookshoppodcastcom.
The Bookshop Podcast is writtenand produced by me, mandy
Jackson-Beverly, theme musicprovided by Brian Beverly,
executive assistant to MandyAdrian Otterhan, brian Beverly,
(35:18):
executive assistant to MandyAdrian Otterhan, and graphic
design by Francis Barala.
Thanks for listening and I'llsee you next time.
Hi, my name is Mandy Jackson-Beverly and I'm a
bibliophile.
Welcome to the Bookshop Podcast.
Each week, I present interviewswith authors, independent
bookshop owners and booksellersfrom around the globe and
publishing professionals.
To help the show reach morepeople, please share episodes
with friends and family and onsocial media, and remember to
(00:33):
subscribe and leave a reviewwherever you listen to this
podcast.
You're listening to episode 278.
Uno Stransky has translated arange of fiction and non-fiction
writers, including RobertoSaviano, pier Paolo Pasolini,
giuseppe Pontigia and CarloLuccarelli.
(00:56):
Her work has received importantprizes and nominations.
Born in Paris, stransky grew upin the Middle East, london and
the United States and attendedMills College, middlebury
College and Columbia University.
A member of PEN American Centerand the American Literary
Translators Association, unacurrently lives in Tuscany.
(01:18):
Hi, una, and welcome to theshow.
It's lovely to have you here.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Oh, thank you so much , Mandy.
It's wonderful to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Abandonment.
What a beautiful story.
It was written in Italian byErminia del Oro and translated
by yourself and published byEloise Press in Canterbury in
the UK Definitely one of myfavorite books of the year.
But before we talk aboutAbandonment, let's begin by
learning about where you wereborn and raised and what first
(01:48):
led you to Florence, Italy, andbecoming a translator of Italian
literature.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Oh, thank you.
It's a pretty long story and Iwill try and capture it the best
way I can.
So I was born in Paris.
My parents were both Americanand we traveled around a lot
because of my father's work.
I lived in Beirut, in Jeddahand in London before going to
(02:15):
boarding school for a couple ofyears outside of Boston, and
then I went to college inCalifornia.
I heard languages as a result oftraveling and also at home
Arabic and French and at home myfather spoke Czech with his mom
and I studied French throughoutschool, and my stepmother is
(02:37):
French, so we spoke French athome and French became one of
the key languages in my life, inthe sense that it was one of
the languages I was studying formy comparative literature major
at college, but I never reallyfelt a connection to French the
way that I felt with Italian,and the first time I went to
(02:57):
Italy was when I was 19.
It was winter break fromcollege and I went to visit an
elderly woman who was a closefriend of my grandmother's and
something about the languagejust electrified me.
It was amazing.
So I got back to collegeafterwards after this great
visit with her and in her city,and I decided that I had to
(03:20):
learn Italian, and that meanttaking classes At my college.
They didn't offer Italian, so Icross-registered at Berkeley
and I took classes there and Ijoined an.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Italian club and what age were you when you decided
to start learning Italian?
Speaker 2 (03:34):
So I was about 19 when I started learning Italian
seriously, and one of the keythings that I did to help me
learn Italian was I applied togo to Middlebury College Summer
Language Program.
I don't know if you've everheard of them, but it's a great
summer intensive program whereyou promise to only speak
Italian, and I got a wonderfulgrounding in grammar and it
(03:59):
positioned me very well forlearning language later on.
And then I went to Italy for myjunior year abroad and I
studied at the University ofFlorence and I had a great time.
And after college, when Igraduated in 1989, I moved back
to Italy and so I lived there orhere, rather, for about five
years, outside of Florence, thistime in the countryside, so
(04:24):
that was really special.
After moving back to New York inwell gosh, what was it then?
1994, I started translating.
Only several years later itmust have been seven or eight
years later First very shortpieces and then longer pieces,
and then in about 2000 or 1999or 2000, I got my first contract
(04:48):
for my first book lengthtranslation, and it's crazy to
think that now it's been 24years that I've been translating
what I love about translationand Italian, because the Italian
was already there.
I knew that I wanted to work inItalian.
But is that translation kind ofwelds together my love for
literature, for stories andbooks?
Reading was a very big part ofmy childhood because it allowed
(05:15):
me to sort of disappear into aworld that was entirely my own.
And translation also allows meto weld that love of literature
with a love for books as objects.
So something that I studiedwhile I was in college was book
arts and everything aboutletterpress, printing and
typography and bookbinding, andso all of these things sort of
(05:37):
confer together in translation.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
I've got a quick question for you.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
When you were a little girl, what language did
your parents read to you in?
Was it English?
When I learned to read, I wouldspend a long time on my own
(06:04):
reading and I just loved that.
I remember the physicalsensation of holding the
oversized storybooks in my hand,the fairy tales in my hands,
and looking at the pictures andtracing with my finger along the
words.
Yeah, reading was very preciousto me.
Since we moved a lot.
Seeing my books get packed upand then reappear in a new house
(06:28):
was very important in terms ofcontinuity.
It allowed me to feel like oh,this is my room now.
Okay, I have my things, mybooks are here, so I am here.
I know that sounds crazy for akid to think like that, but no,
it doesn't sound silly at all.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
I imagine that your books helped you feel settled.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Yes, they helped me settle Exactly.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Let's move on to the book Abandonment, which you
translated from the originaltext by Herminia del Oro from
Italian to English.
This book is beautifullywritten and it won the English
Pen Award.
What drew you to translate thisbook and how difficult was it
to find a publisher?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
All of those are really great questions.
So this book originally waspublished in 1991.
So it's actually a relativelyold book.
I first read it in 2002.
And well, I don't know,something just happened.
I was immediately blown away bythe story and how it was written
(07:31):
.
It's about poverty and hardship, it's about trauma that gets
passed down, it's about beingbiracial and not feeling
accepted and mostly it's aboutreally wanting to find out who
you are and going after that.
I guess what especially made mewant to translate it was the
writing was absolutelyenchanting.
(07:54):
I found it.
It just drew me in.
I love this story because it's asurvival story.
The main character there areactually two, mother and
daughter, salas and Mariana.
But Mariana survives terriblehardships on a daily basis.
She listens to her inner voiceand her dreams.
(08:15):
She constantly questions theworld around her and she stops
at nothing to seek answers.
So those elements, they reallyspoke to me.
I was also drawn to this bookby its descriptions of Eritrea,
in particular of the naturalworld.
It's a country that has longfascinated me and I really liked
(08:37):
the way that DeLoro describeshow nature impacts the soul of
the people.
Nature is as important as thecharacters.
Sometimes you get that feeling.
Then there's the style ofwriting which I mentioned before
, which shifts from these greatdescriptions and sensorial
writing to a lyrical passagesfilled with dreams and creation
(09:00):
stories and marginalized figuresand outsiders.
It's a tapestry of life, really.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Yes, and it's based on a true story.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Exactly so.
Herminia del Oro, who was bornin Eritrea and lived there for
much of her life but then movedto Milan and now lives in Milan,
was approached one day by awoman who is the inspiration for
the figure of Mariana.
There's a letter, and a letterthat exists, and the letter was
(09:33):
inspiration for Herminia toconstruct this story.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
So it is based on a true story, but it does also
draw on Herminia de Loro'smasterful storytelling skills
and for anyone interested inpurchasing a copy of Abandonment
at a 40% discount, please go tothe EloisePresscom website.
That'sH-E-L-O-I-S-E-P-R-E-S-Scom.
(10:00):
Click on the catalog, click onthe cover of Abandonment.
Bookshopscom Click on thecatalog, click on the cover of
Abandonment and, as you checkout, the discount code is the
word bookshop B-O-O-K-S-H-O-P,and that will be applied at
checkout and you'll get your 40%discount.
Thanks, ina at Heloise Press,for doing that.
It's great.
Okay, una, how difficult was itfor you to find a publisher to
(10:22):
take on this project?
Speaker 2 (10:24):
It was very difficult .
So, like I said, I read it in2002.
I was traveling to Milan in2003.
And so I wrote to her, toHerminia De Loro, and I said may
I meet with you?
And we had hot chocolate in acafe in the Brera section of
Milan and I was just.
I was really amazed by thiswonderful woman.
(10:47):
She was extremely gracious,very low key, she was not
presumptuous at all, and I toldher I loved her book and that I
wanted to try and translate it.
Now, keep in mind that at thatpoint, 2003, I had only
translated one or maybe twobooks by then, so I was a newbie
and she didn't have to say, oh,yes, by all means.
(11:10):
But she did, she encouraged me,she said oh, I'm so grateful to
you for anything that you cando for this book and for the
story of Mariana and for Celeste.
So here we are, 2024.
And it took me this long oractually the book was finished a
year ago, but it took me thislong to find a publisher for it,
and the reason for that is thatpeople didn't really know what
(11:34):
to do with it.
So I pitched it, becausetranslators periodically are
asked by publishers to translatebooks and occasionally they
also pitch books to publishers.
And occasionally they alsopitch books to publishers.
And I pitched this book tomainstream publishers and
editors and they turned it downbecause they couldn't see how it
fit in with the rest of theirbooks.
I approached academic pressesand they said, oh, we love this
(11:58):
book but we have no money for it.
And I took it to workshops thatI took part in and I got great
feedback.
Everybody really enjoyed it.
And then, about three years ago, I guess now, a couple of
fellow translators told me aboutHeloise Press, and so I
approached Aina Marti about itand said she accepted.
(12:23):
And ever since then it's justbeen one exciting adventure
after the other.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
And for listeners, I recommend you go to
EloisePresscom.
Ina Marti champions worldwidefemale talent and, as said on
their website, Eloise's carefulselection of books give voice to
emerging and well-establishedfemale writers from home and
abroad, with a focus on intimate.
Establish female writers fromhome and abroad with a focus on
(12:49):
intimate, visceral and powerfulnarratives.
Heloise Press brings togetherwomen's stories and literary
sophistication, and kudos to InaMarti for taking on Abandonment
, which was the winner of theEnglish Pen Award.
It's a brilliant, brilliantbook, wonderful story and
beautiful translation.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yeah, she's absolutely doing some phenomenal
work at her press and I reallyapplaud her.
You know, what she's doing isshe's creating a space for books
that would otherwise, you know,get ignored or, you know, never
be published or never betranslated, in my case.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
That's correct and I encourage everyone listening to
search out these small andmedium presses worldwide,
because they are taking a chanceon brilliant writers who, as
you said, would otherwise notget read.
Let's talk about the prose inAbandonment, because it's
lyrical, colorful anddescriptive.
How difficult was this book totranslate from Italian to
(13:44):
English?
Speaker 2 (13:45):
That's a really interesting question.
In my practice in translation,what I like to try and do is I
keep notes about all thechallenges that I encounter
along the way.
I found over time that writingthese down later is very helpful
because it helps me understandthe book and it offers me a kind
of a key to understanding it,to explaining it to other people
(14:07):
.
So in the case of Abandonment,one of the hardest parts was, or
one of the hardest, mostdifficult challenges of the
translation was capturing thedream sequences in a way that
maintained the chimerical toneof the original but that was
also understandable for thereader.
Then, if you've noticed,there's quite a few words in
Tigrina, which is one of theoriginal, but that was also
understandable for the reader.
(14:27):
Then, if you've noticed, there'squite a few words in Tigrinya,
which is one of the Eritreanlanguages in the book.
So I had to find a way ofblending those words and keeping
them in Tigrinya into the textin a very fluid way.
I also needed to maintain agendered use of language for
certain objects that are veryprecious to Salaschi, gives them
(14:48):
male and female pronouns.
And then I struggled and I hopethis comes across, but there's
a way that Erminia dell'Oro,used the Italian to hint at or
denote the oppressive force thatItaly exerted over Eritrea
(15:09):
during the colonial period, andso there are certain words that
are in the Italian which Icarried over into the English
that I chose specific words totry and maintain the harshness
of the Italian presence inEritrea, of the Italian presence
(15:31):
in Eritrea, Also because, evenafter the colonial period was
over, all the psychologicaleffects of colonialism were
still felt for many years.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Yes, and I think in many cases the deep wounds of
colonialism are still raw.
It's such a sad time Now.
As a translator, do you feelanything from the original
writing is lost duringtranslation and do you connect
with the author if you strugglewith certain words or sentences?
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Well, I tend to think of translation as a recreation
of a book, right?
So if I've been very faithfuland creative at the same time
which seems like an oxymoron,but it's not If I understand and
I feel and I experience thebook as well as I possibly can,
and then I try and hopefullymanage to relay those ideas and
(16:21):
feelings and experiences inEnglish, then I don't feel that
anything gets lost.
No, I see the book as a parallelto the original.
I guess the hardest thing somesomething that it doesn't get
lost but it gets changed is thatis, wordplay and humor.
When I encounter word play andhumor in in in a text, often I
(16:43):
have to find alternate solutionsthat work just as well and go
down sort of side paths or thinklaterally instead of just
focusing on what the words are.
And overall, I guess I wouldhave to say that I enjoy working
on my translations without toomuch author input, which is not
(17:05):
to say that I won't ask anauthor if I don't understand
something or the relevance ofsomething or the implications of
a certain word and I have donethat.
I've reached out to authorsbefore.
But generally speaking, I liketo take my time and work on the
translation solo or sola.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
I should say.
I've noticed lately that I'mreading more translated books,
as are many of my friends, andI'm wondering do you feel
translated books are becomingmore popular and if so, is this
due to publishers responding toreader demand?
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Definitely.
One thing I can say is thattranslation has certainly
proliferated and changed a greatdeal since I started
translating 20 years ago.
There are a lot moreopportunities to talk about
translation.
There are more courses thatpeople can take to become
translators.
I think translators are justgenerally more included right,
(18:02):
and that's also thanks to a lotof younger people who are
fighting for translators' rights.
We owe a lot to people whospeak up on behalf of
translators and authorsthemselves, who have earned a
certain status and who use thatstatus in a responsible way.
I also sometimes wonder, though, whether translators aren't
(18:23):
certain kind of superheroes thatare influencing the reading
habits of people like yourself.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Yeah, I tend to agree with you.
I mean, I would not have readthis book had I not been
introduced to Eloise Press andIna Marty through my
daughter-in-law, who is a writerand teaches at the University
of Cork in Ireland in thecreative writing department the
University of Cork in Ireland,in the creative writing
department.
And after a conversation withIna she introduced me to
(18:51):
abandonment.
And you know, here we arechatting.
But that also brings me to oneother question.
It's the cadence of thelanguage that draws me to
reading translated books.
They have a kind of musicalityabout them.
Do you experience this whiletranslating?
Speaker 2 (19:06):
musicality about them .
Do you experience this whiletranslating?
Well, music is definitely alarge part of the craft of
translation.
When I work, I go through and Ido a first draft, and that is.
It's a very rough first draft,and then I go back over and over
and over it and edit, and edit,and edit, so that, generally
speaking, I would say I will gothrough a book, I'll edit it
(19:27):
about six to seven, eight timesand until I feel that it is
perfectly polished and ready tobe sent in.
But before I send it in, onething that I always do is I read
it out loud.
It has to capture the musicthat the original has, and so
this also goes back to thequestion that we were talking
about before, where I read withgreat care.
(19:51):
So translators have to not justknow the language and
understand the culture and getall the references and do that
too, but they just have to readwith feeling.
It's very important to readwith feeling.
It's very important to readwith feeling.
So if the tone is there in thefinal and if it reads fluidly,
(20:11):
then I think it's ready to go.
I'm ready to send it in.
But if there's something thatit feels funny or it doesn't
sound quite right, or the music,maybe there's a pitch change of
some kind that just in Italianwe say that makes you trip over
it a little bit.
Then I'll go back to theoriginal and I'll double check
(20:33):
and even very late on in theprocess I might find oh well,
there's that, so let me switchit around.
Yeah, so yes, music is veryimportant, also as a practice
for the translator to listen.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
In essence, music is another language.
Now we've talked about InaMarty at Heloise Press and the
authors she represents and thebooks, many of which are
translated from variouslanguages.
How important are small pressessuch as Heloise Press in the
publishing world right now?
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Press in the publishing world right now.
Heloise Press is critical fortranslators because you have a
direct channel of communicationwith an editor, right.
So you are working.
She's got a ton of things to do, but Ina makes time to talk to
you about your work and when sherecognizes that something is
worthy of being translated, thenyou feel welcomed.
(21:35):
A small press makes you feellike you are stepping into
somebody's sitting room, intotheir living room, and you're
working with them and you'reconferring with them and
planning the book together.
It's a great feeling and I alsowant to mention, since we're
talking about Heloise Press soIna makes the decisions, but the
editor on the book was a womannamed Ruth Clark and Ruth's work
was amazing.
So it would be remiss of me notto mention the great job that
(22:00):
Ruth did working with me on thetranslation after I handed it in
, you know just like shaping it,and we had some great
discussions about the book andabout Herminia del Oro and what
it means for a woman to writeabout the colonial period.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
I just thought of a question while I was listening
to you and I think you justanswered it, though you have
multiple editors, obviously,when you're a translator,
correct?
Speaker 2 (22:30):
There's an editor who goes through it and she ought
to, or usually does.
In this case, ruth did speakthe language of the book that's
being translated so that theycan double check things and you
work with her closely.
And then it gets line edited orproofread by a different editor
so that it goes through and Inais available.
(22:52):
We bounce some ideas off of herbut generally speaking, she
will put the ball back in ourcourt and say you to work it out
or decide how you want tohandle it.
I trust you.
Or maybe she'll say no,actually I think this is better,
and so we work as a team.
It's a team effort in the longrun.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Yes, as it needs to be.
Una.
What drew you to relocate toItaly?
Speaker 2 (23:15):
So, it's funny, in 2009, I decided to leave New
York City, where I was livingand working as a teacher of
English in the New York Citypublic high schools, to move
back to Italy and spend moretime translating and still teach
, but less time teaching,because I had found that in New
York City, with my full-timeteaching job, I didn't have the
(23:38):
time that I needed to translate.
Yes, I had summers, but youalso need to unwind and I have
children or had children.
They're now adults, so I hadother things to take care of and
to do.
But now, well, since I movedback in 2009, I've held down
(23:58):
other jobs, but I've tried toput more energy into translation
and living here.
That has been possible.
Living in New York City, thatwasn't possible for me.
I have worked in wineries, I'vetranslated commercial things.
Like I said, I've translatedeverything from legal agreements
to love letters in order tomake ends meet.
(24:20):
But when I have a book, I loveto dedicate my time entirely to
translating that book and all myenergy goes into the literary
translations.
So in the past I guess in thepast what five, six, maybe six
or seven years I've been able toonly do literary translations
and that feels to me like a hugeachievement and something that
(24:43):
I've only been able to dobecause I have persisted.
I stayed with my dream, whichwas to translate literature, and
I've achieved that, so I'm veryhappy about that.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
And as you were born in Paris, I'm guessing you had
an EU passport.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
No, because actually to have a French passport then
and maybe also now, your motherneeds to be French.
So, and my mother wasn't French.
My stepmother was French later,but my mother was American and
I married an Italian aftercollege and then I got Italian
citizenship through that, whichwas very helpful and that's such
(25:20):
a gift to give to your children.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
I think If you can give them a passport to another
country, what a gift.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Oh yes.
Well, they've had a bilingualeducation their whole life, so
good.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Yeah, they are lucky children.
While we're talking aboutFlorence, italy, there's a story
that I'd like to introducepeople to who have not heard of
it, and that is the story of themud angels in Florence.
Are you familiar with them?
Yes, I found out about the mudangels while I was in Florence.
I won't go into the intricatestory and synchronicity that
(25:51):
helped me find this story, butit was part of a missing link
that I needed for a story I waswriting and I just want to share
it with everyone.
So in 1966, florence was flooded.
The banks of the Arno Riverbroke, the city lost a lot of
art and books from the library.
I think almost about 100 peopledied, and it also actually
(26:13):
flooded in Venice as well.
But I'm just going to stick toFlorence for now.
So there are a lot of studentsbackpacking around Europe.
At the time there were studentsin Florence from America who
were doing a semester abroad,and they ended up helping
retrieve artwork and books fromthe mud that was just feet deep
(26:34):
in some of the buildings and thestreets.
What came out of this tragedywas the advancements made in
book conservation and artrestoration.
In the show notes I'll makesure to put some links to the
stories about the mud angels,but it's a part of Florentine
history that I think isincredibly important and needs
(26:54):
to be remembered.
I know I will mispronounce itif I try saying mud angels in
Italian Una.
Would you say it for me, youcould?
Speaker 2 (27:03):
say Angeli del Fango would be the translation of that
phrase, but I don't knowwhether they use that.
I've only always heard it inEnglish.
Isn't that funny?
Maybe because people arereferring to themselves or to
that period as the Mud Angels,or maybe they were seen as the
foreigners who came and lent ahand.
I know a lot of universitystudents from all over Europe
(27:25):
came.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Yes, it is a wonderful story For listeners
who may be interested inbecoming a translator.
Could you tell us about anyorganizations that are helpful,
please?
Speaker 2 (27:36):
So there are two very important associations for me.
One is the American LiteraryTranslators Association and one
is Penn.
When I started translating inaround 1999, I applied for an
American Literary TranslatorsAssociation fellowship for young
translators to travel to theconference.
(27:56):
Every year they have aconference and it used to be in
a different city around theUnited States every year and I
won this travel fellowship andso I guess it was in 2000,.
The conference was held in SanFrancisco and I attended an
event and I was surrounded,suddenly surrounded by
translators of literature.
(28:16):
It was the most amazingexperience because I had been
thinking about doing this work,I had started working and I had
always felt very, very alone inthis work and all of a sudden,
wonderful people.
We were all talking about books.
I met other people working inmy same language or from my same
language into English, andthere were some wonderful panels
(28:39):
and talks and discussions.
And so ever since then, anyyear that I can actually attend
the ALTA conference, I do.
Since I moved back to Italy,obviously that's been much
harder, but I attended oneinoston and chicago.
There was one in new york, ofcourse, the san francisco one,
and then one or two others, andthis year, I'm very excited to
(29:02):
say, one of the one of mytranslations is up for the um.
It's called the ipta award, soitalian prose and translation
award, which is governed by alta, and I'm very excited about
that.
The other association that I amproud to be a part of is Penn,
and the reason for that isbecause it also similarly
(29:23):
offered me that community, thatsense of community of
translators.
When I lived in New York City,so between the years of 2000 and
roughly 2009,.
When I was translating I thinkit was about once a month or
once every couple of monthsthere was a translation
committee meeting down at theirheadquarters off of Houston
(29:44):
Street, and it was a very smallgroup Maybe there would be 10 of
us, maybe 15, but we would sitaround a table and we would
discuss all the problems that wewere dealing with, whether it
was publishers or actual textualproblems, and then we would all
go out for drinks afterwards.
So it was a great way to talk,work, talk shop and then just
(30:05):
relax and know that there wereother people who were going
through some of the similarchallenges that you were.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
Yeah, and it's just wonderful being part of a
community.
I think we're involved with thework that you're doing.
Okay, let's talk books.
What are you currently reading?
Speaker 2 (30:20):
Actually, since I'm trying to write about what
attracted me to Italian in thefirst place, I've been doing a
lot of reading of memoirs and Irecently finished A Ghost in the
Throat I don't know if you knowit by Dorin Negrifa.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
Yes, I love that book .
In fact, the author, johnMcGregor, turned me on to it.
It's fabulous.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
I absolutely loved it and it shows the intense and
the embodied kind of connectionthat one can have with the text
where she translates.
But she relates very closely tothis text.
She literally lives through it.
It's a beautiful, beautifulbook and so well written.
And then recently I started DogFlowers by Danielle Geller,
(31:02):
which is I don't know if you'veread that, but it's a beautiful
book, also dealing with somevery difficult topics and
mother-daughter relationshipthat is very complex.
I'm looking at a stack of bookshere.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Everyone who is related to writing, publishing
in any field of the publishingindustry.
We all have stacks of booksthat are sitting on our desks,
beside our bed, around the house, in our bookcases, that we both
need to read for work and thatwe also want to read of our own
(31:37):
need to read for work and thatwe also want to read of our own.
It's a pretty good problem tohave.
And, going back to our earlierconversation, books are like
friends and they help us feelsettled.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Absolutely, absolutely.
And new friends too, becausewhen you encounter a book and
you're like this book I'm sograteful that I opened this book
and I'm reading these pages itcan fill you with wonder.
Una, are you a?
Speaker 1 (31:58):
rereader.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Yes, yes, I am, because I love the first
impressions, but I also like togo back and understand what it
is that triggered that.
Especially as I'm doing more ofmy own writing now.
That is very important to me.
Curiously, a book that I havereread many, many times is Moby
Dick.
(32:20):
I can't explain.
I mean, I can't explain, it'sjust.
The prose is amazing and I'vealways loved that book, since I
read it in college.
But it's been several years nowsince I've gone back to it.
Maybe I've evolved a little bit.
I'm not sure.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
Maybe you finally extracted what you needed out of
that prose and now you can moveon.
Yes, well, I'm the same.
I am a rereader, especially ofbooks that just capture me
immediately.
And, of course, because Iinterview so many authors, I go
back and often reread the booksbefore I get into conversation
(32:55):
with them.
Whenever I ask this question toauthors about rereading books,
I always feel a bit sorry forthe ones that say no, I don't
reread.
I feel like they're missing outon secrets.
But in your form of work, I'msure you are used to rereading
and rereading and rereading.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
It would be strange for a translator not to be a
rereader, since really at theheart of what we do is reading
and rereading.
It would be strange for atranslator not to be a rereader,
since really at the heart ofwhat we do is reading and
rereading, and editing andre-editing.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
Well, it's been lovely chatting with you, una,
and getting to know more aboutyou and translations, and
congratulations again onTranslating Abandonment, written
by Arminia De Lauro andpublished through Heloise Press
in England.
Such a beautiful book and Ilook forward to reading some of
your own writing.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
Thank you so much, mandy.
This has been a wonderfulconversation.
I really appreciate it.
I am very, very grateful and Ireally am so glad that you read
the book and I am very happythat you enjoyed it too.
That's the key thing.
Kudos to you andcongratulations on doing such a
great series.
I listened to several otherepisodes and I was really amazed
(34:02):
by your commitment and yourother guests, how they spoke so
eloquently and had so much toshare.
It's really really well done.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
You've been listening to my conversation with the
translator, una Strunsky, abouther translation of Herminia
Deloro's book Abandonment,published by Heloise Press.
To help the show reach morepeople, please share episodes
with friends and family and onsocial media, and remember to
subscribe and leave a reviewwherever you listen to this
(34:34):
podcast.
To find out more about theBookshop Podcast, go to
thebookshoppodcastcom and makesure to subscribe and leave a
review wherever you listen tothe show.
You can also follow me at MandyJackson Beverly on X, instagram
and Facebook and on YouTube atthe Bookshop Podcast.
(34:54):
If you have a favorite indiebookshop that you'd like to
suggest we have on the podcast,I'd love to hear from you via
the contact form atthebookshoppodcastcom.
The Bookshop Podcast is writtenand produced by me, mandy
Jackson-Beverly, theme musicprovided by Brian Beverly,
executive assistant to MandyAdrian Otterhan, brian Beverly,
(35:18):
executive assistant to MandyAdrian Otterhan, and graphic
design by Francis Barala.
Thanks for listening and I'llsee you next time.
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