10 Questions for Nathalie Harty
- By Franchesca Viaud
In the village we let the nail go deep into the foot until picking up tetanus like
a surprise. We watch each other live, we turn to see every car that passes: it’s
winter’s fierce dance as it wraps us in its cure for lethargy.
I don’t know what it will take to be strong enough, with bedroom wi-fi needed
half the time to know how to look at the earth’s stark naked body.
—from Marie-Andrée Gill's "In the Village," Volume 65, Issue 2 (Summer 2024)
Tell us about one of the first pieces you translated.
The first literary translation I did was an excerpt of La route du lilas by Quebec novelist Eric Dupont. This long novel follows seventy-year-old Maria Pia. With the help of Americans Laura and Shelly, Maria is fleeing her native Brazil and heading to Montreal via camper. Fleeing is the keyword: why is this Brazilian woman on the run? And what role do lilacs play in the novel? The author slowly unravels Maria’s tale by alternating the time period from her nineteenth century European ancestors to present day events and everything in between. This novel is rich with historical fiction and laden with themes of horticulture, feminism, activism, politics, and love. Mr. Dupont even inserted some magical realism into this award-winner. I stumbled on this novel when searching contemporary Quebecois literature to read. After I read it, I translated a sample and submitted it with my application to the Bread Loaf Translators’ Conference. I was accepted to the conference and got great feedback on my translation.
What other professions have you worked in?
I have been a customer service representative and a restaurant server. I also delivered newspapers as a teenager. For the last 20+ years, I’ve been a librarian. I started out in school libraries and then landed at public libraries. It’s my current work as a cataloger in a public library that inspired me to take up literary translation. Each year I catalog hundreds of books (fiction and nonfiction) that are literary translations. This got me wondering if I could do some translating myself. It also led to my creating a list of more than 100 companies that publish literary translations. It’s always so exciting to unpack a box of new books and find a few literary translations in there. (I love reading about the original author and the translators).
What did you want to be when you were young?
I was going to be a French teacher at either the high school or college level. I grew up in a French-speaking home and majored in French in college. But, once I got a taste of substitute teaching in a middle school, I knew this wasn’t the right fit for me.
What drew you to write a translation of this piece in particular?
Marie-Andree Gill’s “Au Village” poem is edgy and gritty but funny and hopeful. There were lines that reminded me of my own childhood in a French-Canadian home and extended family in Quebec (e.g. the “beer” song and eating fondue on New Year’s Eve). I found her poem in an issue of Lettres Quebecoises during my first visit to the French Library in Boston. A week before the world shut down because of COVID, I became a member for access to a larger collection of French literature than I could get from my local library system. And then I discovered Lettres Quebecoises. I borrowed and read through an issue and landed on “Au Village”.
Is there any specific music that aids you through the writing or editing process?
I need complete silence (to the point of needing ear plugs) to be able to work on translations.
Do you have any rituals or traditions that you do in order to write?
When I’m translating, I set up in as quiet of a place as I can find. And I line up all the dictionaries I might need. I also make sure I have a good chunk of time to devote to the translation.
Who typically gets the first read of your work?
My husband.
If you could work in another art form what would it be?
Music. Specifically, singing. I studied piano for 12 years when I was young, and it was a true slog for me. But singing is a breeze. I sang in choirs and choruses years ago and would like to return to it sometime soon.
What are you working on currently?
I’m not actively working on a translation right now. I did start some translation projects during the pandemic that I need to get back to: “J’ai Perdu Mon Corps” by Guillame Laurant and “La Route du Lilas” by Eric Dupont.
What are you reading right now?
I always have at least two books going at the same time: an audiobook and a print book. Right now, I’m reading “Love Wife” by Gish Jen. I’m working my way through all her books since my library is hosting her in September. And I just finished “Wall Street’s War on Workers: How Mass Layoffs and Greed are Destroying the Working Class and What to Do About It” by Les Leopold.
NATHALIE HARTY is a librarian and emerging translator from the Boston area. She works in French and English. She is an alumna of the Breadloaf Translators’ Conference.
