Elizabeth Bryer
Untying the Tongue – The Elusive Art of Interpreting
Yumna Kassab sends in this favourite read of her year, written by literary translator Elizabeth Bryer and originally published in 2011. 'I find translation fascinating, and this is ten years old – and interesting that it’s from Elizabeth’s early translation years...eggs without their clothes...hehe.'
'I concentrated on finding an alternative until I mentally restructured my sentence into: "Would you like me to remove the eggs’ shells?" But the alternative was worse because there were now two words I didn’t know how to render – the verb "to remove" and the noun "shell". Which led me to try again, this time resorting to thinking metaphorically. Bingo. A thrill surged through me; I was able to make myself understood.
"Mamá."
"Yes, darling?"
"Would you like the eggs without their clothes?"
(Screech of laughter.) "Yes darling, I want them nude! Nude is exactly how I want them!"'
Abandoned Gods: An Interview with María José Ferrada
To translate is, first and foremost, to engage in close reading
Elizabeth Bryer recently published her first novel (From Here On, Monsters) and is at work on her second. Her translations include Napoleon’s Beekeeper by José Luis de Juan and The Palimpsests by Aleksandra Lun.
She recently translated How to Order the Universe and Billboard Man by María José Ferrada, and in this conversation, Ferrada and Bryer discuss the intricacies of translation, revealing the process to be the deepest form of reading.