Datshiane Navanayagam talks to translators from Turkey and Argentina about giving a writer's work a new life in another language, and whether the age of digital translation is putting the craft in jeopardy. Ekin Oklap is Turkish and grew up in Italy. She's the English language translator for Nobel prize-winning Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk and was shortlisted for the 2016 International Booker Prize. She also translates books from Italian to English for novelist Francesca Manfredi and crime writer Ilaria Tuti. Erika Cosenza is an Argentinian translator, interpreter, editor and proof-reader. She translates English, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. She now lives in Spain and helped set up a gender, diversity and inclusion network for the International Association of Professional Translators and Interpreters. Produced by Jane Thurlow This episode was edited on 6 November 2024 (Image: (L) Erika Cosenza credit Gisela Caffarena. (R) Ekin Oklap credit Alev Arasli Oklap.)
Hello and welcome to the conversation from the BBC World Service.
The show which amplifies women's voices, taking us around the world to hear the extraordinary experiences and personal insights of women doing incredible things today.
The importance of words and the ability to convey what we mean in not just one language, but multiple ones.
For authors and organizations, the work of translators is invaluable when it comes to reaching wider audiences.
But what exactly does the process involve?
Joining me in the studio is Ekin Oklap, who was born in Turkey and grew up in Italy.
She was Shortlisted for the 2016 International Booker Prize for her English language translation of Turkish author Orhan Pamuk's novel A Strangeness in My Mind.
And Erika Cosenza is an Argentinian translator, interpreter, editor and proofreader who now lives in Spain.
She also works as a lexicographer, developing several Spanish language dictionaries.
A very warm welcome to you both.
Hello.
Hello.
Thanks very much for having me.
Thank you so much.
Erika Necken, I wondered if you could give us a flavor of the sorts of work you translate.
Erika, why don't you go first?
Okay.
I do several things.
I'm a literary translator, and I'm also an activist translator.
I do technical stuff sometimes because literary translation doesn't always pay the rent, so we have to do something else.