FEATURES
How did you become a translator?
More or less by accident. When I came to the Netherlands
in the 1980s, I started working as a journalist. I was reading
books in Dutch and came across a few that I wished my friends
and family could read. I tried my hand at translating but it
wasn't until the 1990s that I started thinking seriously about it.
I don't have a background as a linguist but I did have a
certain amount of experience in writing and formulating, and
that proved to be a good background for translation.
Did you speak Dutch before moving to the Netherlands?
No. I spoke English and a little bit of Spanish, and did a
year of French at university. That's one of those deplorable
things about the education system in the United States: the
emphasis on languages is minimal.
When we got to Holland, I spent the first two years
struggling with Dutch. I've learnt Dutch and French by being
immersed in the surroundings – and by reading. During the
winter months we live in Amsterdam and in the summer we
run a bed and breakfast in the Pyrenees.
You have just finished translating two Dutch post-war
classics: Turkish Delight by Jan Wolkers and The
Evenings: A winter's tale by Gerard Reve. Tell us a
little about them.
In the Netherlands, Turkish Delight is a very famous, seminal
novel of the late 1960s – the sort of anthem of that period.
Everyone in Holland who reads has read The Evenings and
Dutch people are amazed it has never been translated into
English before. It's the story of 10 days in the life of a young
man, Frits van Egters. In some ways, it's equivalent to
Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye within the Dutch context.
Miranda Moore meets Sam Garrett.
The prize-winning Dutch-English
translator of more than 30 books
discusses untranslatable phrases,
why he sees translators as actors –
and the voices inside his head
Master of imitation
©
KEKE
KEUKELAAR
(A
MSTERDAM)
