Rahul Bery

INTERVIEW WITH RAHUL BERY

Rahul Bery translates from Spanish and Portuguese into English and is based in Cardiff. He was the British Library's translator in residence for 2018-2019, and his debut full-length translation, of David Trueba's Tierra de Campos is out with Weidenfeld and Nicolson in 2020.

1. Your job as Translator in Residence at the British Library ended on 31st May. Tell us about the course of your residency, the content of your role, responsibilities, targets, achievements etc.

The aims of the residency, which is a fairly new scheme (I was the second ever resident) were sort of vague so as to leave lots of space for interpretation, but there was definitely meant to be a focus on raising the profile of translation (in a fairly wide sense of the word) in the library, which could include public events, community engagement, blogs etc. I organised several events, including translation slams, public discussions and readings, as well as community and educational events, including translation workshops for both adults and primary school children. I also blogged fairly frequently about a wide range of subjects, and they can all still be read on the Library's website. It doesn't sound that grand now, but it was a life-changing opportunity for me, and I met so many interesting people as a result of it.

2. You´ve come to literary translation relatively recently, what made you decide to be a translator?

I studied Spanish and English at university, and then was planning to go and live in Mexico after finishing an MA in Latin American Studies. This never happened because of a joyous event: the birth of my son, when I was a mere 25 years of age. I trained to be a teacher but tried to keep a deeper involvement than the secondary school syllabus in the UK allows, sadly, by continuing to read in Spanish, and by doing a few translations for the then-nascent White Review. I really enjoyed it, and then was lucky enough, in 2014 to be selected to attend a 'Literary Translation Winter School' in Brazil, paid for by the British Council, which put me into contact with a lot of interesting an inspiring people. I continued doing short translations while teaching part-time and then being a stay-at-home parent for a while. It was only after gaining the residency though, and getting my first book-length translation contract, that I really considered actually being principally a translator. And I still don't feel I'm on steady footing as a freelancer.

3. What do you enjoy most about translating?

I love writing, but not so much thinking about what to write. And I love reading too, so it's almost the ideal job for me! For some reason it satisfies the demands of my brain in a way nothing else I've done has. If only it involved more physical exercise, I'd be over the moon.

4. What authors have you translated and are you currently working on any translations?

I've translated mostly short works by writers from Spain, Portugal, and all over Latin America. My most recent published fiction translations include stories by the Eduardo Plaza (Chile), Patricia Portela (Portugal) and José J. Veiga (Brazil). I was lucky to have some very early opportunities to translate very well-known authors, including Enrique Vila-Matas, Cesar Aíra and Guadalupe Nettel. Currently I'm working on a novel by David Trueba, Tierra de Campos which will be published next year by W & N.

5. Is there a book or author that you dream of translating?

Too many! To narrow the focus of the question a little, the books in Spanish that I've read recently and would love to translate (and am trying to convince publishers to let me translate) are both Mexican: Olinka by Antonio Ortuño and Pandora by Liliana V. Blum. If I'm allowed to dream big, well, I think like many other translators I'd love to have a go at Pedro Páramo, but that's beyond the realms of fantasy! And there are several Brazilian authors, including Campos de Carvalho and José J. Veiga's Sombras de reis barbudos.

6. Which new voices in Spanish literature are most exciting to you?

I have to admit that I've had my eye off the ball regarding recent Spanish literature, which is why NSB was such a great opportunity for me. I thought one of the books I read- Estabulario by Sergi Puertas- was unbelievably good, unlike anything else I can think of. I've really enjoyed Thomas Bunstead's English translations of Agustín Fernández Mallo's Nocilla Trilogy, and I can't wait to read his Trilogia de la Guerra. The other Spanish book I read recently and loved was Marta Sanz's Clavícula. I can't believe she hasn't yet been translated into English.

7. If your house was on fire, which three books would you save from the flames?

That's just too hard, so I'm going to limit myself by only choosing books by Spanish authors. I'd go for Viento del Pueblo by Miguel Hernández because it's the first book that got me really interested in Spanish literature, and I never fail to find those poems energising and inspiring. Then I'd say Carmen Laforet's Nada, because it's just a wonderful novel, almost perfect really. Then I'm tempted to go for something long and old, like Don Quijote, but I think I'll actually go for El Libro de Buen Amor, which was an unexpected highlight of my undergraduate studies, and something I think would keep my busy as I slowly rebuilt my collection after the fire.

8. Can you recall a particularly difficult expression and how you resolved its translation?

Tierra de Campos is full of tricky puns and word games, starting with the title (an area in central Spain but also Campos is the narrator's surname). Also the narrator's father is very old and always dispensing pearls of wisdom in the form of refranes, aphorisms. Many of them do have English versions (the early bird catches the worm, etc.) but one has no obvious equivalent: "a la ramera y al juglar a la vejez les viene el mal" which means something like "evil comes to the harlot and the minstrel with old age". I have resolved not to try to domesticize it, but give it a polish and present it as an pure, unfiltered piece of Castillian wisdom, though I haven't quite decided how to render it just yet!

9. Can you name your favorite word in Spanish?

Hmm, that's a hard one. I quite like anything to do with sosiego, desasosiego, desasosegado. I remember saying it out loud for the first time to a friend in Madrid, and impressing them. I also like arrorró, because I struggle to roll my rs, and it's almost unpronounceable!

10. You have taught modern languages at secondary schools. Is it true that pupils are not interested in studying languages anymore?

There are some ingrained attitudes about languages being pointless and everyone speaking English, and they tend to be more common in schools and regions where there aren't all that many languages spoken at home by the students. Generally though, young people enjoy learning languages as long as it's done in an engaging way, and as long as they feel empowered. That, I think, means learning grammar somewhat explicitly - an attitude that not everyone agrees with - from the start, so that they are freer to improvise and aren't just limited to repeating the sentences their teacher has taught them. Also, the skepticism tends to set in at around age 10-11. Teach a bunch of 7-year-olds and they treat it like any other subject. The main issue is we don't start young enough in the UK. Then there is something slightly harder to combat: a Spanish child is likely to hear English, through music, films etc, whereas a British child - with rare exceptions like 'Despacito' and other Spanish-language crossover hits - will barely ever hear any Spanish in the UK.

11. You have also taught English as an additional language to young people who have recently arrived in the UK. Can you tell us more about it?

Working with those children, many of whom had been through unbelievably difficult circumstance, was a humbling and unforgettable experience. It's so much more than teaching, because you're also there to ease their transition into a new culture. The job involved everything from teaching children to read from scratch to helping them with the finer points of GCSE-level writing. It was also fascinating to watch how young people- even when they are 14, 15- effortlessly acquire languages when they are suddenly immersed in them. I'm sure we could learn something from the point of view of MFL teaching.

12. What’s next for you?

I need to finish Tierra de Campos, survive the school summer holidays, and then find a new book to translate, so if any publishers are reading this, get in touch! I'll also be working quite a bit with the Stephen Spender Trust, trying to devise new ways of increasing engagement with languages in UK classrooms through creative translation workshops.