Rachel Ward
Rachel Ward, MA, FITI, lives in Wymondham, near Norwich, UK, and has been working as a freelance literary and creative translator from German and French to English since gaining her MA in Literary Translation from the University of East Anglia in 2002. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting, and a member of the Society of Authors’ Translators Association. She specialises in translation for children and young adults, as well as in crime fiction and other contemporary literature. Hotel Cartagena by Simone Buchholz (Orenda Books), in her translation, won the 2022 CWA Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger award, while Tasting Sunlight by Ewald Arenz (Orenda Books) was shortlisted for the Society of Authors Schlegel-Tieck Prize 2024. Her non-fiction interests include history, politics, art, journalism and travel.
Rachel can be found at:
Insta: @racheltranslates
Bluesky: @racheltranslates.bsky.social
Web: forwardtranslations.co.uk
What drew you to literary translation, and what do you find most rewarding about it?
I was studying for a BA in Modern Languages and not sure what I wanted to do when I graduated. Then in the final year, there was a translation module, which I really enjoyed, and was getting good marks for. One day, doing a practice translation for that, it just clicked that this was a good way to combine my love of reading and of word puzzles in a career. As I hadn’t done much translation in the degree course, I then applied for the MA in Literary Translation at UEA. Although I have had office jobs, I much prefer the flexibility of freelancing. I find the process of translation enjoyable in itself, and the rewarding parts vary from when the text is flowing freely, to when you find a way to crack a challenge. Plus, there’s the excitement of holding a finished book in my hands, and the feeling when a reader responds to the translation the way I did to the original text.
Can you describe your typical working process for translating a literary text, from initial reading to final polish? Do you read the book multiple times before translating? Do you translate in the order it is written?
Unless I am very pushed for time, I read the text through once before I start so that I know where the story is going and what to expect. It also means that some of the potential issues have already been flagged up in my mind and, hopefully, that my subconscious has already got to work on them a bit. Then I start at the beginning and work through to the end, on a fast first draft. Sections that I’m unsure about I leave in bold, and where there are a lot of options, I’ll stick them all in. Depending on the text, sometimes my husband acts as first reader, and if he has a preference on any of those options, he’ll say so. Not that I necessarily go with that one, but it helps me see how someone else reads it. Once I get to the end, I search for the bold parts, and the slashes, then send a list of queries to the author or editor. I then focus on those sections for the next round of work. Once they’re all resolved, I read through for voice and flow and make any changes to the rest. I like to read it aloud at this stage, although that isn’t always possible for time reasons. For children’s books and authors with a strong voice I would make time for this. At this stage I also compare with the original to make sure that nothing has been omitted or misunderstood. Once I’m happy as I can be, it goes to the editor. I know it’s never going to be perfect, and they will make changes, so I don’t obsess too much at the final draft stage.
Do you ever collaborate with the author during the translation process? If so, what is that like?
It depends on the situation. I like to be in contact with the author if possible, but sometimes they aren’t available for a variety of reasons. It’s hugely helpful to be able to ask questions, such as establishing the way something looks, for example, maybe via photos or other images. I’m not a very visual person, so a picture really helps.
translated by Rachel Ward
What were any surprising moments during the collaboration, or joyful moments, or challenges?
I always come back to the time that Simone Buchholz and I were sending each other GIFs in the good old days of Twitter to express the cartoonish way a particular character moved. That was so unexpected and fun! It’s also been lovely to meet Simone in person, originally on the Orenda Roadshow, back in The Beast from the East of 2018, and, later, to explore some of the settings in Hamburg for her novels together.
How do you strive to capture the author’s unique voice and style in your translation?
This is partly a question of instinct, and with an author I haven’t translated before, it may take a little while to find their voice. This would then mean that the earlier sections of the book would need more reworking later on. It’s about thinking why they’ve used the word that they have, what the overall effect is of the way they write (long or short sentences? Direct or complicated? Slangy or formal?). If there’s a standard word that would fit here, but they’ve chosen a different one, why have they done that? What would be the equivalent in English? I try to make the text feel the way it would have done if they’d written in English in the first place.
How do you ensure the translated text maintains the same rhythm and flow as the original?
A lot of the same points as above really. Reading aloud is really important for hearing the rhythm of a text and seeing if anything makes you stumble. Getting more than one pair of eyes on it helps too, to see if another reader finds anything jarring. (Of course that might be intentional, in which case, great!)
Do you ever find yourself having to make choices that might deviate from the literal meaning, and how do you justify those choices?
In terms of word play or rhyme, then it’s not necessarily going to be possible to replicate the original exactly, and you have to work out in each instance which aspect is the most important. There may be cultural things that need spelling out a little for the reader in English, where the original reader will have been aware of them all along.
Can you share an example of a particularly challenging passage you’ve translated and how you approached it?
I can’t think of a specific example off the top of my head. Things can be tricky for all kinds of reasons, so the approach will vary accordingly, but in general terms, I like to bash out a rough, literal draft and mark it to come back to later on. Sometimes decisions taken later in the text will provide a solution, and sometimes it’s just a matter of working through a range of possibilities over and over again until it feels right. This may also involve the author and editor discussing the original intention and possible options for conveying that in English. When wordplay is involved, there will be all kinds of dictionaries, thesauruses and similar open, so as to work out as many ways as possible for expressing the same idea. I also like to throw things out to friends and colleagues to see if anything occurs to someone who isn’t as close to the original text. Sometimes it’s just a matter of lateral thinking, or of coming back to something after a gap of time, when the subconscious has been working on it, and the answer suddenly seems obvious!
What are some of your favourite translated books and why?
I really admire humour in translation because it’s so hard to do well. David Hackston’s translations of Antti Tuomainen’s darkly comic thrillers really achieve this. Similarly, there’s a playful creativity in Frank Wynne’s translation of Standing Heavy by GauZ. Laura Watkinson’s translation of The Letter for the King, the Dutch classic children’s adventure by Tonke Dragt, is captivating from the first page to the last. Jo Heinrich’s skill in bringing over the many voices of Marzahn Mon Amour helped it on its way to winning the Dublin Literary Award, Annie Rutherford brought out the Scottishness of The Peacock by Isabel Bogdan, and Rosie Hedger conveyed the elegance of Helga Flatland’s prose in A Modern Family, and so many more besides.
What advice would you give to someone who is considering becoming a literary translator?
Read! Read widely, in all kinds of genres and styles in both (all?) your languages. Get familiar with the rhythms, quirks and conventions. There are so many more mentorship opportunities and similar than when I started out too, so find out what’s available for your combinations and area. Puzzles, puns and word games are great ways to get used to playing with language. But also be prepared for it being a hard field to get into, and sadly ever more precarious, with publishers tempted to think AI is able to do our job, or save time/money on the reports and samples that have traditionally been a way in. But not to end on doom and gloom, I would repeat: read!
