Jessica Powell – Translator

Hello! As a Spanish to English literary translator with an M.A. in Latin American Studies and a Ph.D. in Hispanic Languages and Literatures, I have published ten book-length translations to date (by authors including Pablo Neruda, Silvina Ocampo, Antonio Benítez-Rojo and Gabriela Wiener), as well as translations of dozens of short stories, essays, poems and interviews by writers from all over Latin America, the Spanish-speaking Caribbean and Spain.

My translations have been published by well-respected presses (Astra House, Restless Books, City Lights Books, etc.), have been included in several anthologies and have received numerous awards, including: 2016 PEN Center USA Literary Award for Translation Finalist; 2017 National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellowship; 2017 National Translation Award long list; 2017 Best Translated Book Award Finalist; 2021 Firecracker Award Finalist; 2021 Northern California Book Award Finalist. My translations have been reviewed widely in such outlets as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Paris Review, Latin American Literature Today, Publisher's Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, The New York Review of Books and the Los Angeles Review of Books, among others.

I am passionate about translation and work hard to craft accurate translations that capture the author's unique voice while also situating the work within its geographical, linguistic, historical and literary context. I love working closely with authors to ensure their complete satisfaction with the translated text. I value prompt and reliable communication, so you can expect me to reply quickly to queries throughout the translation process and to honor established deadlines. In addition to my years as a literary translator, I also have experience as a copyeditor, so I am able to deliver professionally proofread, publisher-ready manuscripts to my authors.

Please reach out to me about your project, providing a word count, the manuscript in Word or PDF format and a desired deadline, and I'll email you promptly with a price and a proposed delivery date. I am always on the lookout for the next great project, so I very much look forward to hearing from you (y claro, si Ud. prefiere, podemos comunicar en español) and to working together to bring your work to English language readers!