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American literary translator
Linda Coverdale is a literary translator from French. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, and has a Ph.D in French Literature. She has translated into English more than 60 works by such authors as
Roland Barthes,
Emmanuel Carrère,
Patrick Chamoiseau,
Maryse Condé,
Marie Darrieussecq,
Jean Echenoz,
Annie Ernaux,
Sébastien Japrisot,
Tahar Ben Jelloun,
Philippe Labro,
Yann Queffélec,
Jorge Semprún,
Lyonel Trouillot,
Jean-Philippe Toussaint,
Jean Hartzfeld,
Sylvain Tesson and
Marguerite Duras.
Translations
- The Grain of the Voice by
Roland Barthes (Hill & Wang, 1985)
- Once Upon A Time: Visions of Old Japan by
Chantal Edel (The Friendly Press, 1986)
- The Stones Cry Out: A Cambodian Childhood by
Molyda Szymusiak (Hill & Wang, 1986)
- Sweet Death by
Claude Tardat (The Overlook Press, 1987)
- The Wedding by
Yann Queffélec (Macmillan, 1987)
- Mortal Embrace: Living With AIDS by
Alain Emmanuel Dreuilhe (Hill & Wang, 1988)
-
The Children of Segu by
Maryse Condé (Viking Penguin, 1989)
- Out of Reach by
Emmanuel Carrère (translation for Macmillan, 1990)
- Lion Mountain by
Mustapha Tlili (Arcade Publishing/Little by Brown & Company, 1990)
- To The Friend Who Did Not Save My Life by
Hervé Guibert (Atheneum, 1991)
- Le Petit Garçon by
Philippe Labro (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1992)
- A Very Long Engagement by
Sébastien Japrisot (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1993)
- Compulsory Happiness by
Norman Manea (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1993)
- The Traveler’s Tree by
Bruno Bontempelli (The New Press, 1994)
- A Frozen Woman by
Annie Ernaux (Four Walls Eight Windows, 1995)
- What the Night Tells the Day by
Hector Bianciotti (The New Press, 1995)
- Creole Folktales by
Patrick Chamoiseau (The New Press, 1995)
- School Days by
Patrick Chamoiseau (The University of Nebraska Press, 1996)
- Naming the Jungle by
Antoine Volodine (The New Press, 1996)
- Black Tunnel White Light by
Philippe Labro (Kodansha America, 1997)
- Pig Tales by
Marie Darrieussecq (The New Press, 1997)
-
Class Trip by
Emmanuel Carrère (Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt, 1997)
- Literature or Life by
Jorge Semprún (Viking, 1997)
- Rider on the Rain by
Sébastien Japrisot (The Harvill Press, 1998)
- Shadows of a Childhood by
Élisabeth Gille (The New Press, 1998)
- Mamzelle Dragonfly by
Raphaël Confiant (Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1999)
- Chronicle of the Seven Sorrows by
Patrick Chamoiseau (The University of Nebraska Press, 1999)
-
Lila Says by Chimo (Scribner, 1999)
- Undercurrents by
Marie Darrieussecq (The New Press, 2000)
- The Adversary by
Emmanuel Carrère (Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt, 2000)
- Speak You Also by Paul Steinberg (Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt, 2000)
- My Forbidden Face by
Latifa (Miramax Books, 2001)
- 'Stories' by
Mohammed Dib &
Monique Agénor (The Hudson Review, Autumn 2001)
-
This Blinding Absence of Light by
Tahar Ben Jelloun (The New Press, 2001)
- The Absolute Perfection of Crime by
Tanguy Viel (The New Press, 2002)
- Making Love by
Jean-Philippe Toussaint (The New Press, 2003)
- Street of Lost Footsteps by
Lyonel Trouillot (The University of Nebraska Press, 2003)
- The Prophecy of the Stones by
Flavia Bujor (Miramax Books, 2004)
- Happy Days by
Laurent Graff (Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2004)
- Massacre River by
René Philoctète (New Directions, 2005)
- A Machete Season by
Jean Hatzfeld (Farrar, Straus & Giroux/Serpent's Tail, 2005)
- The Lecture by
Lydie Salvayre (Dalkey Archive Press, 2005)
- In the Name of Honor by
Mukhtar Mai (Atria/Simon & Schuster, 2006)
- Freedom by
Malika Oufkir (Miramax Books, 2006)
- Life Laid Bare by
Jean Hatzfeld (Other Press, 2007)
- Ravel by
Jean Echenoz (The New Press, 2007)
- A French Life by
Jean-Paul Dubois (Knopf, 2007)
- You Have Only One Picture Left by
Laurent Graff (film script, OuiDO! Entertainment, 2008)
- Beyond Suspicion by
Tanguy Viel (The New Press, 2008)
- Wartime Writings: 1943-1949 by
Marguerite Duras (The New Press, 2008)
- The Children of Heroes by
Lyonel Trouillot (The University of Nebraska Press, 2008)
- Running by
Jean Echenoz (The New Press, 2009)
- The Antelope's Strategy by
Jean Hatzfeld (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2009)
- Leaving Tangier by
Tahar Ben Jelloun (Penguin, 2009)
- 'Fiction in the First Person, or Immoral Writing',
Marie Darrieussecq (L'Esprit Créateur, Vol. 50, No. 3, Fall 2010)
- A Palace in the Old Village by
Tahar Ben Jelloun (Penguin, 2010)
-
My Life as a Russian Novel by
Emmanuel Carrère (Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt, 2010)
- I Am Nujood, Age Ten and Divorced by
Nujood Ali (Crown/Random House, 2010)
- A Tale of Two Martyrs by
Tahar Ben Jelloun (Granta, 2011)
- Lives Other than My Own by
Emmanuel Carrère (Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt, 2011)
- There Are Things I Want You to Know… by
Eva Gabrielsson (Seven Stories Press, 2011)
- Lightning by
Jean Echenoz (The New Press, 2011)
- La Petite by
Michèle Halberstadt (Other Press, 2012)
- The Suitors by
Cécile David-Weill (Other Press, 2012)
- "On Europa" by
Marie Darrieussecq, The Trunk (Les éditions Gallimard, 2013)
- The Art of Sleeping Alone by
Sophie Fontanelle (Simon & Schuster, 2013)
- Consolation of the Forest by
Sylvain Tesson (Rizzoli Ex Libris, 2013)
-
The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien by
Georges Simenon (Penguin Modern Classics, 2014)
- 1914 by
Jean Echenoz (The New Press, 2014)
- Viviane by
Julia Deck (The New Press, 2014)
- Night at the Crossroads by
Georges Simenon (Penguin Modern Classics, 2014)
- The Queen's Caprice by
Jean Echenoz (The New Press, 2015)
- The Misty Harbor by
Georges Simenon (Penguin Modern Classics, 2015)
- The Emperor, C'est Moi by
Hugo Horiot (Seven Stories Press, 2015)
- Maigret in New York by
Georges Simenon (Penguin Modern Classics, 2016)
- Maigret at the Coroner's by
Georges Simenon (Penguin Modern Classics, 2016)
- The Hand by
Georges Simenon (Penguin Modern Classics, 2016)
- "Julie's Life" by
Emmanuel Carrère (Granta, 2016)
- Maigret Goes to School by
Georges Simenon (Penguin Modern Classics, 2017)
- "New York Diary" by
Édouard Louis (Bomb Magazine, Fall 2017)
- "Who Killed My Father?" by
Édouard Louis (Speech at Litteraturhuset, Oslo, October 2017)
- Slave Old Man by
Patrick Chamoiseau (The New Press, 2018)
- The Punishment by
Tahar Ben Jelloun (Yale University Press, 2020)
Honors
- 1997 French-American Foundation Translation Prize: Literature or Life
- 1999 Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (
Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres).
[1]
- 1999 Finalist French-American Foundation Translation Prize: Chronicle of the Seven Sorrows
- 2003 Finalist PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize:
This Blinding Absence of Light
- 2004
International Dublin Literary Award:
This Blinding Absence of Light
- 2004 Finalist PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize: Street of Lost Footsteps
- 2005 Finalist French-American Foundation Fiction Translation Prize: Making Love
- 2006 Scott Moncrieff Prize (
Scott Moncrieff Prize): Machete Season .
[2]
- 2006 Finalist Independent Foreign Fiction Prize: This Blinding Absence of Light
- 2006 Finalist French-American Foundation Fiction Translation Prize: Massacre River
- 2007 French-American Foundation Translation Prize: Ravel (Fiction)
- 2008 Finalist French-American Foundation Translation Prize: Life Laid Bare (Nonfiction)
- 2009 Finalist International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award: Ravel
- 2010 Runner-up Scott Moncrieff Prize: The Strategy of Antelopes (Serpents Tail)
- 2012 Finalist Best Translated Book Award: Lightning (Fiction)
- 2013 French Voices Award: Viviane
- 2013 A Financial Times Best Book of the Year: Consolations of the Forest
- 2014 Dolman Best Travel Book of the Year Award: Consolations of the Forest
- 2015 Best Translated Book Award Fiction Selection: 1914
- 2018 New York Times Notable Book of 2018: Slave Old Man
- 2019 National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award Finalist: Slave Old Man
- 2019 French-American Foundation Translation Prize Fiction Finalist: Slave Old Man
References