Advice to the New Guard: A Conversation with Translator Jessica Cohen by Veronica Esposito

Interviews Since 2003, Jessica Cohen has published over twenty books translated from Hebrew to English. Among other honors, she shared the 2017 Man Booker International Prize with author David Grossman for her translation of Grossman’s A Horse Walks into a Bar. She has also translated the work of Amos Oz, Etgar Keret, and many others. Veronica Esposito: You are a translator who has quite a bit of success in terms of publishing consistently and working with very high-quality authors and presses. What would you say to younger translators who are looking to reach a more established place in the translation field and become a part of its new guard? Jessica Cohen: Stay current with the literary scene in your source country/ies and read as much as you can. It’s important to have a sense of the broader literary trends and lineages but also to figure out which kinds of books and writers you connect with, because they will be the ones you will translate best and have the passion to promote. Contact agents who represent the authors you like. My long-standing relationship with a premier literary agent in Israel has been hugely important to my career and has opened doors for me that I could never have opened myself. Try to also contact authors directly (this is easier in a small country like Israel, where there are usually only two or three degrees of separation between you and an author); tell them you like their work and would like to... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'

[ World Literature Today | 2020-11-20 16:36:29 UTC ]

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