Books are my business: Literary translator Deirdre McMahon

'I like the fact that I’m working with really beautiful words and concepts. I don’t have to think up my own plots, and that’s a help'

Deirdre McMahon: 'When I’m working on a book it’s very, very intense, because you’re in that world. You have to remember to come out of it, and go for a walk or something.'

Deirdre McMahon is a literary translator based in Dublin. Her most recent translation is Without Waking Up (Einmal muss ich über weiches Gras gelaufen sein) by Austrian author Carolina Schutti, published by Bullaun Press.

She will discuss her work along with Schutti at the Dingle Literary Festival, which takes place from November 15 to 17.