French publisher Éditions Goater acquired the rights to my first novel, “The Book of the Unnamed Midwife” about a year ago. Like most pieces of news, I promptly forgot about it.
So it was a wonderful surprise over the last weekend to wake up and find photos of the cover and see the announcement that the work is forthcoming on October 25. “Le livre de la sage-femme sans nom” is a direct translation of the original title, and TIL that midwife in French is literally “wise-woman.”
The novel was translated by the talented and subtle Ludivine Fournier, who also handled my short story collection “Big Girl” originially from PM Press under the title “La pilule suivi de Big Girl: et autres textes.” This gives us both hope that more of my work will be translated into French, and that she will continue to do excellent work on my novels for a long time to come.
Translation is an incredibly subtle art. It requires not only mastery of two languages, but also literary sensibility, cultural competence, and a knack for capturing voice. I’m humbled by this partnership across time and space, and I consider Ludivine something like co-author of the book in French; a language I can speak, but I cannot make it sing.
I’m almost grateful that I can forget about something so wonderful that it becomes a surprise again. It’s a message in a bottle, sent with two hands.
