Two Voices Salon: Translator Ann Goldstein and Publisher Michael Reynolds on Elena Ferrante
Center for the Art of Translation | 582 Market Street, Suite 700 | San Francisco, CA
Join us on March 19 to discuss the work of Elena Ferrante with two people who know her work very well: her English language translator and publisher.
Michael Reynolds, publisher of Europa Editions, and Ann Goldstein, literary translator and New Yorker editor, join us via Skype to talk about one of the hottest authors in translation.
The author writing as Elena Ferrante has become big news lately, as the first three books in her Neapolitan series have earned rave reviews—including from James Wood, The New York Times, National Public Radio, Vogue, and many others. Readers “have discovered in Ferrante a writer who speaks with great power and beauty of the mysteries of belonging, human relationships, love, family, and friendship.”
Audio Table of Contents
00:00 Introductions & opening discussion question—what have you all been reading in translation?
05:15 Ann Goldstein’s Primo Levi translation and editing project
07:28 The role of the the Neapolitan dialect in Ferrante’s work, and translation questions
14:38 Ferrante as an “Italian author”
18:55 Ferrante’s style, dialect, and questions of accessibility
21:33 Michael’s and Ann’s first experiences with Ferrante’s work
26:35 How was the four-book series format conceived? Was it a whole novel to begin with or did Ferrante present it as four novels?
28:28 There’s a cliffhanger aspect to the end of each volume. Is that something Ferrante worked on with her Italian publisher?
29:53 The role of Naples as a place in Ferrante’s writing
33:04 Ann’s choice to leave the Italian word stradone in the original
37:15 Discussing the ideas of Naples as a metropolis that anticipates decline, and the feeling of being trapped in a place
41:10 Do you think Ferrante’s a writer of place? Are her other books big on place and the role that plays in the evolution of an individual?
43:31 The translator’s invisibility/visibility, with regards to Ferrante’s wish to be invisible herself
48:12 How the author is often not the best person to ask about their work
53:33 Ann’s approach to translating
56:02 With a writer like Ferrante, whom you’ve [Ann] translated a lot, do you feel like you’ve developed a certain relationship to the style?
56:39 Michael’s role in the process of translation
59:30 Differences between the feel of Ferrante in Italian and in English, and risks Ann has taken as a translator of these books
1:06:50 The role of the Aeneid in the Neapolitan Novels and Ferrante’s engagement with the classics
1:11:00 What do you think of the rumors about her books being written by men?
1:15:15 Have you two interacted with Ferrante?
1:15:30 How have the books been received in Naples and in Italy?
1:19:50 What’s the impact of the book on people in Naples?
1:20:20 Is Ferrante working on anything new?
1:21:01 Could you talk about some of your favorite moments from the books?
1:26:18 Can I get an idea of the kind of research and consultants that you might call upon for some local details about Naples?
1:28:16 What Europa looks for in books, and how Ferrante fits into this
Ann Goldstein is an editor at The New Yorker. She received a PEN Renato Poggioli Translation Award and was a visiting scholar at the American Academy in Rome. She has translated works by Elena Ferrante—including the bestselling Neapolitan Novels—, Pier Palo Passolini, Alessandro Baricco, and many others. She is currently editing the complete works of Primo Levi, for which she received a Guggenheim Translation fellowship.
Michael Reynolds is editor in chief at Europa Editions. He is the author of a collection of short stories entitled Sunday Special, and a book for young readers entitled La notte di Q and illustrated by Brad Holland. He is the editor of 1989, an anthology of ten European writers illustrated by Henning Wagenberth. For Europa Editions his translations include three volumes in Carlo Lucarelli’s De Luca series, children’s fiction by Wolf Erlbruch and Altan, and Daniele Mastrogiacomo’s Days of Fear.
Elena Ferrante is the pseudonym of an Italian author who has written numerous novels, including the bestselling “Neapolitan Novels” (My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and The Story of the Lost Child), The Days of Abandonment, Troubling Love, and The Lost Daughter. Her latest book, the non-fiction Frantumaglia: A Writer’s Journey, will be released in November 2017.