“The thirty-two German-to-English book-length translations submitted for this year’s Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator’s Prize are most impressive in their scope, their storytelling, and their masterful language, and from this remarkable group of texts, the five that constitute this year’s shortlist stand out for their exquisite and compelling wordsmithery.” From the Jury Statement
Profile in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 16 April 2022
Kämpferin für das, was es nicht leicht hat
Guter Geist der Literatur: Ein Besuch bei der amerikanischen Übersetzerin Tess Lewis, die derzeit fellow der American Academy in Berlin ist. Von Andreas Platthaus
Wie übersetzt man Virginia Woolf ins Englische? Man könnte über die Frage lachen, aber das kann sich Tess Lewis nicht leisten. Denn genau dieser Frage muss sie sich bald stellen. Noch ist sie mit der Übertragungsarbeit an Lutz Seilers jüngstem Roman, „Stern 111“, beschäftigt, doch danach steht ein französisches Buch auf der Agenda der amerikanischen Übersetzerin: Cécile Wajsbrots „Nevermore“, dessen von Anne Weber besorgte deutsche Fassung gerade den Übersetzerpreis der Leipziger Buchmesse gewonnen hat…
Kraft nominated for the 2022 Dublin Literary Award
Nominations include 30 novels in translation, spanning 19 languages, with works nominated by 94 libraries from 40 countries across Africa, Europe, Asia, the US & Canada, South America and Australia & New Zealand. 16 are debut novels. If the winning book has been translated, the author receives €75,000 and the translator receives €25,000. Complete list of nominees
Kraft on Dublin Literary Award Longlist:
An entertainingly evil novel: Richard Kraft, the eponymous hero and a professor of rhetoric, participates in a competition to answer a literal million-dollar-question that could free him from his misery. A satire on neoliberal values and the merits of technology.
NEA Translation Fellowship for Karl-Markus Gauß's In The Forest of the Metropoles
The National Endowment of the Arts has awarded Tess Lewis a fellowship to support the translation from the German of the essay collection In the Forest of the Metropoles by Karl-Markus Gauß (b. 1954), who has written more than two dozen books and numerous articles and essays for German, Swiss, and Austrian newspapers and magazines. In the Forest of the Metropoles chronicles the diversity and wealth of languages, cultures, and individuals, predominantly from Eastern Europe, that have played a formative role in shaping contemporary Europe but now risk being forgotten.
https://www.arts.gov/impact/literary-arts/translation-fellows/tess-lewis
Epic Annette: a Heroine's Tale wins a PEN Translates Award
Epic Annette, forthcoming in August 2022 with The Indigo Press received a PEN Translates Award.
Books from 15 countries and 13 languages have won English PEN’s flagship translation awards. Books are selected for PEN Translates awards on the basis of outstanding literary quality, the strength of the publishing project, and their contribution to UK biblio-diversity.
2021-22 Berlin Prize Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin
Kraft shortlisted for the Helen & Kurt Wolff Prize
The four books that constitute this year’s shortlist—Judith Schalansky’sAn Inventory of Losses, translated by Jackie Smith, Jonas Lüscher’sKraft, translated by Tess Lewis, Volker Ullrich’sHitler: Downfall, 1939-1945, translated by Jefferson Chase, and Sasha Marianna Salzmann’sBeside Myself, translated by Imogen Taylor—stood out for their ingenuity, beauty, and accuracy in capturing the letter and spirit of their respective source texts.
The Quarantine Tapes Podcast
On episode 184 of The Quarantine Tapes, guest host Naveen Kishore is joined by Tess Lewis. Tess is a translator and she and Naveen dig into how she has experienced translation during this time of quarantine. Tess explains how she sees translation as an act of intimacy and a responsible, responsive act.
Naveen and Tess touch on the recent controversy around the Dutch translation of Amanda Gorman’s work and discuss the politics and ethics of translation. They talk about the incredible diversity that exists within languages and how translation can work to give smaller languages their due. Tess ends the episode by reading from two of the writers whose work she has translated, Philippe Jaccottet and Maja Haderlap.
Ten Questions from the Massachusetts Review
Reflections on translating Karl-Markus Gauß’s essays and the beauty of Vienna
Interview on The Virtual Memories Show
A conversation with Gil Roth about Festival Neue Literatur, translation, and European fiction.
My Mother's Tears named a finalist for French-American Foundation Award
The winner of the 33rd annual French-American Foundation Translation Prize will be announced on May 6th.
Interview with Tupelo Quarterly about translating Philippe Jaccottet and others
Seeding Time: on Philippe Jaccottet, translating, and translation
One Another chosen as Asymptote's April book of the month
In Conversation with Asymptote Editor Chris Powers.
Kruso named runner-up for Schlegel-Tieck Prize
On February 13, the Society of Authors named Kruso runner-up for the 2018 Schlegel-Tieck Prize, awarded annually for a translation from German.
From the TLS
Kruso is a novel steeped in locality – there are numerous references to the Naturalist playwright Gerhart Hauptmann, who holidayed on Hiddensee and was buried on the island – but an important work, too, in its chronicling of the final days of communism in East Germany. Tess Lewis’s excellent translation is runner-up for the Schlegel-Tieck.
Translation of Kruso nominated for the Schlegel-Tieck prize
Jury Citation: Tess Lewis’ translation is absorbingly readable; she is closely attuned to the lyricism of Seiler’s prose and deftly conveys its fantastical, mesmeric quality.
Translation of Kruso nominated for the 2019 International DUBLIN Literary Award
http://www.dublinliteraryaward.ie/
Translation of Christine Angot's Incest nominated for the Best Translated Book Award
Long list announced at The Millions
Interview with Bookwitty about translating Christine Angot
On translating Incest, by Christine Angot, nominated for the 2018 Albertine Prize
Voting on the prize is open until May 1st
Translation of Christine Angot's Incest Nominated for 2018 Albertine Prize
Voting open until May 1st
Trafika Europe Swiss Literature Issue released
Edited by Tess Lewis, Swiss Delights presents works by 12 of Switzerland's most engaging and intriguing contemporary writers.
Presenting Michael Fehr, Max Lobe, Leta Semadeni, Ilma Rakusa, Odile Cornuz, Michel Layaz, Klaus Merz, Noëlle Revaz, Mariella Mehr, Frédéric Pajak, Dana Grigorcea and Matteo Terzaghi.
Translations by Alta Price, Shaun Whiteside, Marc Vincenz, Roger Russi, and Tess Lewis