Reading the World Podcast #10: Edith Grossman

After a hiatus, the Reading the World Podcast is thrilled to be back with the support of the University of California Irvine’s International Center for Writing and Translation. In this new episode, translator Edith Grossman talks about her recent book Why Translation Matters, her translations of Luis de Gongora’s Soledades (The Solitudes) and her forthcoming translation, The Depths of Time by Antonio Muñoz Molina.

Last April during (but unrelated to) PEN World Voices, I (Erica Mena) had the great pleasure of meeting with Edith Grossman. Edith Grossman, in case anyone doesn’t know, is one of the most important translators of Spanish literature. If you google her, you’ll discover that she’s translated some of the best book of the twentieth century, over 60 at this point. She had spoken the week before at Boston University, and I had hoped she might be available then to talk about her new book Why Translation Matters_ but the timing didn’t quite work out. But I was to be in New York at least for the Best Translated Book Award, and she was available.

We met in her apartment in the city. If ever there were an environment which perfectly matched my impression of a person, this was it. We sat in at a table by the window in her living room, surrounded by books and art, the artifacts of a creative life. Some of the background noise you’ll hear is the city traffic, movers, people walking by, all part of what made this conversation so interesting.

Thanks, as always, to Matt Landry for providing technical expertise and to Open Letter for hosting and supporting us. Next month, we’ll be back with a conversation with translator Marian Schwartz and new co-host Anna Rosen Guercio.

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