Twenty Questions with Jesse

Episode 8: Helen Vassallo


Listen Later

This month’s podcast is with Helen Vassallo.
Helen is the founder of the Translating Women project, and a translator of Francophone women's writing. She writes regular reviews and opinion pieces for the Translating Women blog, and tweets about the project at @translatewomen. 
Helen’s favourite book, and why you love it so much: Fish Soup by Margarita García Robayo (tr. Charlotte Coombes), published by Charco Press
A book or two that everyone loved but Helen didn’t: Anything by Haruki Murakami (Helen’s answer explains why!)
A book that has left an everlasting impression on Helen: Le Jour où Nina Simone a cessé de chanter by Darina Al Joundi (in English translation: The Day Nina Simone Stopped Singing, tr. Helen Vassallo)
Helen’s favourite childhood book: The Animals of Farthing Wood by Colin Dann
Helen’s favourite non-fiction book: Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado-Perez (winner of the Royal Society Science Books Prize)
The last book that Helen read: Paradais by Fernanda Melchor (tr.Sophie Hughes), published by Fitzcarraldo Editions
A book that Helen will read next: All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami (tr. Sam Bett and and David Boyd), published by Picador Books
A book that Helen wants everyone to read: Black Box by Shiori Ito (tr.Allison Markin Powell), published by Tilted Axis Press
A book that Helen can’t live without: Living a Feminist Life by Sara Ahmed
 
Bonus Question: 2-3 Independent publishers that Helen recommends: Tilted Axis Press, Charco Press and Comma Press
Other Books Mentioned
Holiday Heart by Margarita García Robayo (tr. Charlotte Coombes), published by @charcopress
Shadow the Sheep-Dog by Enid Blyton
Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl
Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor (tr. Sophie Hughes), published by Fitzcarraldo Editions
Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami (tr. Sam Bett and David Boyd), published by Picador Books
Heaven by Mieko Kawakami (tr. Sam Bett and David Boyd), published by Picador Books
Ms Ice Sandwich by Mieko Kawakami (tr. Louise Heal Kawai), published by Pushkin Press
Towards a Feminist Translator Studies: Intersectional Activism in Translation and Publishing by Helen Vassallo (to be published in Autumn 2022)
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Twenty Questions with JesseBy jessethayre