Please introduce yourself in two or three sentences.
I’m a British translator and writer and have lived in Berlin since 1998. I am the co-founder of Transfiction, a collective for cultural/arts translators. Mostly I translate novels, journalism, art and museum texts. I used to run a reading series called Fiction Canteen for works-in-progress.
What professional experience do you have in your field of consultation?
I have worked in Germany as a freelancer since the mid-1990s and am a member of the KSK and VG Wort. I have broad experience in working as a freelance translator of literary prose and arts texts. My clients on the German side include Aufbau Verlag, Hanser Kiwi and Dumont, and on the English-language side, Penguin, Transit Books, Seagull and Scribe.
What are typical questions that prospective clients might ask you in a consultation?
Can I be in the KSK and employed part-time? Am I eligible to join the KSK? How do I go about setting up my business as a freelancer? Where can I meet people in Berlin’s literary scene? How do I get started as a literary translator? What kind of support is there for translators in Berlin?
What successes do you have in your professional field?
I was shortlisted in 2023 for the Society of Authors Schlegel-Tieck Prize (for “Siblings”). I am a recipient of several grants from the DÜF (German Translators’ Association) and have been awarded scholarship residencies from the Goethe Institute, Ledig House in New York state, Übersetzerhaus Straelen and other European translators’ institutions.
In which languages can you offer consultations?
English and German
What advice would you give to anyone interested in your field?
Go out and talk to as many people as you can. But the work is done at home sitting on a chair!
What were your biggest challenges during the first years in your profession?
On a practical level, it was hard to make contact with German publishing houses in the beginning without any work to my name. Later, it was difficult to justify my work as it paid so little. Luckily both these things have slowly improved – but it took time!