Stephanie Smee left a career in law to work as a literary translator. She has translated many works including award winning crime fiction, memoirs and children’s literature.
Stephanie mostly works in translating French to English, however her other languages include German, Italian and Swedish.
Stephanie has two grown up children and lives in Sydney with her husband, Paul. Her most recent published translation is that of Joseph Ponthus’ prize-winning work On the Line: Notes from A Factory published in Australia by Black Inc.
During their conversation, Kate and Stephanie discuss:
- Master translators Edith Grossman & Ann Goldstein (Check out Goldstein’s interview with Lithub)
- Recommended reading works in translation including The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischvili and Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann (trans Ross Benjamin).
- How George Saunders discusses translation in A Swim in the Pond in the Rain (we recommend checking out the translation exercise in Appendix C)
- Jhumpa Lahiri – Whereabouts – wrote in Italian and translated her own work back into English
To broaden reading of works in translation, Stephanie recommends:
- Keep an eye on the International Booker Prize
- Subscribe to Peirene Press to receive four works in translation every year. A great intro!
- Check out smaller independent publishers
Stephanie’s debut recommendations:
Find out more about Stephanie Smee and upcoming translations on her website.
Listeners might also like to check out this review of On the Line, recently published by Valentina Gosetti for Australian Book Review.
The First Time podcast 
One thought on “Stephanie Smee on the art of translation”