Books are My Business: Jo Heinrich, literary translator

Jo Heinrich for Books are my Business

Jo Heinrich is a translator based in the English city of Bristol. She translated Marzahn, Mon Amour, by Katja Oskamp, which has been shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, the winner of which will be announced on May 25.

How did you become a translator?

Many years ago, I did French and German at university and a bit of Swedish. And then I kind of forgot about it, and I did lots of other jobs for years. 

Then, about seven or eight years ago, somebody got in touch who I had been at college with and asked me if I had thought about translation. 

It sowed a seed and I ended up going off and doing an MA in translation. I did a lot of commercial translation work, things like shoe brochures, websites and other bits and pieces. 

I always fancied a little bit of literary work and I just thought I’d give it a go and here we are, being shortlisted for awards and all sorts. It's remarkable.

Can you tell me a bit more about what a translator does?

A lot of people think it’s just word for word — kind of ‘the cat sat on the mat’ but actually it’s about getting deeper than that. 

The essence is about getting the full concept in your head and then describing it in a way that is completely natural with the voice of what you imagined the author would sound like if she or he could speak in English. So it’s not at all just looking up words. 

A lot of people also think that as a translator, I know every single word there is to know but I spend most of my life on online dictionaries and using my thesaurus, it is just finding a different way of saying something so that it sounds really natural and beautiful.

What do you like most about being a translator?

I love that challenge. It’s like a puzzle — every time you think, 'gosh, that’s a really difficult thing', how would you say that so that people can understand it? 

You sit there thinking about it like a crossword — then I go off and sometimes I’ll have my little bit of inspiration while I'm in the shower or in the middle of the night. 

And I love that feeling when you’ve got something and you can say it in a way that is understandable.

What do you like least about being a translator?

In terms of literary translation, I’m new to this, and there’s a lot of scrabbling around trying to get work with publishers. 

I've read so many German and French books…you do a little sample translation of about 3,000-4,000 words, put a synopsis together, and send it off to publishers, and nine times out of 10 you don't hear anything back at all. 

That is usually unpaid. It’s all good for my experience, learning to write in different voices, but it can be really soul-destroying. 

If it was not for various things, like this shortlisting, I think I probably might have given up at some points. But it’s where I'm at my happiest.

Why should people read more books in translation?

It’s about being given a view into a different life — it’s empathy, a way of seeing the world in a different way. 

I’ve read books from Palestine, books from Vietnam, like Em by Kim Thúy, which is also on the shortlist. 

You get to understand the way people in a certain situation function in a way that you would never have known otherwise.

Could you recommend three books in translation?

Brickmakers by Selva Almada translated by Annie McDermott: a dark Argentinian tale of two young men dying after a knife fight. 

The Blacksmith’s Daughter by Selim Özdogan translated by Ayça Türkoglu and Katy Derbyshire: it’s a fabulous warm family saga and insight into Turkish life. 

While We Were Dreaming by Clemens Meyer translated by Katy Derbyshire: a beautifully written account of a group of teenagers growing up in Leipzig around the time of German reunification.

What good books have you read recently?

I loved Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. 

I’m reading Trespasses by Louise Kennedy, it’s wonderful, it’s keeping me up at night because I can’t stop reading it.