luisa agnese dalla fontana – Translator

I'm an experienced freelance literary translator (English-Italian, French-Italian, Russian-Italian). For over thirty years I have been working with well-established, traditional Italian publishing houses (Mondadori, Feltrinelli, Utet etc), and still do. Please find a selection of my translations below. During my long career I’ve translated fiction for both adults and young readers, and non-fiction (especially historical books), by distinguished authors, such as Dick Francis (fiction), Robert Service, Catherine Merridale, Anne Applebaum (non-fiction), Michael Morpurgo and Philippa Pearce (for young readers); as well as Bulgakov (from Russian) and Eliane Viennot (from French). Every new book is a challenge: one has to find the author’s voice, and make it resonate with the reader’s perception reader (in my case, the readers – although always Italian – include children, academics and everything inbetween). Furthermore I worked as a copy editor for a monthly magazine for some years, and therefore am skilled in editing and proofreading.

My approach

When I receive a new text I will read parts of it in order to understand its structure. I will then contact you and we will agree on a deadline. Usually I make a first quick draft, in order to get a “feel” of the text, and familiarize myself with own vocabulary and turns of phrase, as well as understand if there are some issues that should be clarified, or possible alternatives in translation to be considered. Next comes the longest phase in the translation proces. I’ll re-read (and re-write) my translation to produce the most accurate rendering, both in conveying the original meaning and in giving the reader the best Italian output. Finally, I will read the translation one last time, in order to hone the last improvements and proofread my text.