Patricia Schaefer Röder: Biologist and Writer Turned
Literary Translator
by
Stacy McKenna for Intalingo.com | Feb 28, 2017 | Interviews
| 0 comments
I
had the pleasure of meeting Patricia Schaefer Röder at the 2016 San
Jeronimo Translation and Interpretation Conference in Guadalajara,
Mexico, and then had the pleasure of interviewing her and learning even more
about her work.
SM:
How did you get started as a literary translator?
PSR:
I have been writing creatively all my life; and interpreting—informally—my
whole life, too. I have a passion for biology, and got my Bachelor of Science
in Caracas, Venezuela. Nevertheless, the lab was not really where I wanted to
be. I found a way to match my knowledge of sciences with my language and
writing skills by translating scientific texts for the general public. I worked
for some years, acquired experience as a translator, and got certified by the
American Translators Association (ATA). Then I diversified to different
scientific and technical subjects and even reached out to other fields, such as
media and advertising, but I kept on writing short fiction stories. One day, a
friend told me about her friend who was an editor and publisher, and who was
looking for a translator who also was a writer, so I sent the editor some
samples, and she gave me an excellent opportunity: I translated from English
into Spanish The Reddening Path, a beautiful and powerful
novel by Amanda Hale. I really loved every part of the
project: the challenges, the creative process, the research, and the final
rendition of the book translated into my mother tongue, under the title of El
sendero encarnado. I definitely fell in love with literary
translation; since then, I have kept on translating for other writers.
SM:
What languages and genres do you translate?
PSR:
I like to translate narrative—short and long—of all genres, but I have to admit
that I enjoy translating song lyrics very much, too. Although I’ve done some
literary and lyrical projects from German into Spanish, most of my translations
in this field have been from English into Spanish.
SM:
Do you do other creative writing?
PSR:
Oh, yes! I write short fiction, as well as poetry. I like to play with the
language, that’s why in Yara y otras historias—my first collection of
short stories—I included nine tautograms: stories in which each word starts
with the same letter. Ironically, these stories cannot be translated.
In
poetry, I created the form “siglem 575”, a type of minimalist poetry consisting of stanzas composed
of three verses of five, seven and five syllables, respectively. Being so
didactic in its nature, the siglem 575 is now used by people from many
countries and is now taught in different schools around the Americas. I have to
say that it’s really difficult to translate siglems 575.
SM:
What do you love most about literary translation?
PSR:
Literary translation is a way to reach out to the public and break down cultural
barriers, while helping to build tolerance among different peoples. The
challenge of transmitting the feelings, emotions and depictions created by the
author, so that they can be enjoyed and felt by people of a different culture,
motivates me to always reach for perfection. Getting into the characters and
giving them life in another language lets me be creative with them, while at
the same time, I learn from them. And, since I will always be a scientist, I
also love doing research.
SM:
What’s a recent project you’ve worked on? What was most challenging about it?
PSR:
My last literary translation, published in 2016, was El mundo oculto—the Spanish translation of
the novel The World Unseen, by Shamim Sarif. It’s a beautiful and important
story about human and women’s rights in 1950’s South Africa. I found out that
Ms. Sarif’s writing style is very similar to mine, which made this project very
delightful. It felt as if I was writing the story from scratch, my hand held by
the author, guiding me. The translation received wonderful comments, for which
I am very grateful.
At
this very moment, I am working on Mi dulce curiosidad, the Spanish
translation of the novel My Sweet Curiosity, by Amanda Hale. It’s a very
interesting book with two parallel stories, which include modern day Toronto
and 16th century Europe. Although Ms. Hale and I share a similar writing style,
the biggest challenge is the slang in the young people’s dialogue. But I’m
working on that. Each project has its own character and poses its own
challenges, and I love them because they make me learn and grow even more.
SM:
Many thanks to you, Patricia, for your time and sharing a
bit of your path to literary translation with us. I always enjoy hearing about
how talented people in other fields find their way and get started. It’s also
interesting to learn about translators’ other creative outlets and writing.
Fellow
readers, do you do any creative writing outside of literary translation? Does
it compliment or sharpen your literary translation skills? If so, please share
your thoughts with us!
If
you enjoyed this article, please consider giving it a Like or a share!
Stacy McKenna
received her MFA in English and Creative Writing from Mills College in Oakland,
California. Her translations have appeared in The Other Poetry of Barcelona,
Códols in New York, 580 Split, Cerise Press, and Río Grande Review. She has
taught English and ESL throughout the Bay Area and worked at several nonprofit
organizations including the Center for the Art of Translation. She has recently
returned to the Bay Area after teaching literary translation and English at the
Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro in Querétaro, Mexico.
Patricia Schaefer Röder: Biologist and Writer Turned Literary Translator by Stacy McKenna | Feb 28, 2017
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