I translate contemporary Portuguese-language literary fiction and creative non-fiction into English.
I’ve translated work by several award-winning Brazilian and Portuguese authors, including: Emilio Fraia, Veronica Stigger, Carol Bensimon, Ana Paula Maia, Juliana Leite, Vanessa Barbara, Natalia Timerman, Tércia Montenegro, Rodrigo de Souza Leão, Clara Drummond, Aline Bei, Luis. S. Krausz, Alexandra Lucas Coelho, Julián Fuks, Carlos Henrique Schroeder, João Anzanello Carrascoza, Lourenço Mutarelli, and Sérgio Rodrigues.
My translations have appeared in the The Paris Review, the New Yorker, n+1, the New York Times, Astra, Granta, The White Review, Southwest Review, Latin American Literature Today, Litro, One Grand Journal, Words Without Borders, The Washington Square Review, and Springhouse Journal.
My translation of “My Good Friend” by Juliana Leite, published in The Paris Review, was awarded a 2024 National Magazine Award for Fiction, and was selected by Amor Towles for an O. Henry Prize for Short Fiction. My translation of a short story by Emilio Fraia was the first ever work of fiction by a Brazilian author to appear in the New Yorker. Read more about my published book-length translations and extracts/short fiction.
My tastes lean toward the offbeat and unusual, and I’m drawn to work that tests and stretches the boundaries of genre. I seek to champion strong women’s voices and writing that explores the concepts of identity and belonging. I have a soft spot for dark humor, the absurd, and noir. Some other things I love: stories by and about rural people; old lady narrators; concision; books about death; explorations of grief; unconventional memoir; flash fiction; unreliable narrators; gritty São Paulo stories; lists.
Check out some of what I’m currently pitching here and here.
My translation of Of Cattle and Men by Ana Paula Maia was awarded the 2024 Republic of Consciousness Prize, was shortlisted for the 2024 Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize, and was the inaugural winner of the Cercador Prize. It was also the recipient of an English PEN Translates grant. My translation of Sevastopol by Emilio Fraia was a finalist for the Jabuti prize for Best Brazilian Book Published Abroad.
In 2015 I was awarded a PEN/Heim grant for my translation of Opisanie swiata by Veronica Stigger and I was translator-in-residence at the FLIP international literary festival in Paraty, Brazil. My translation of "Families", by Alvaro Mendes, was an official finalist at the 2016 Beverly Hills Screenplay Contest.
I have been the recipient of fully-funded translation residencies at Art Omi (together with Juliana Leite), Cove Park, and the Banff International Translation Centre.
Between literary projects, I also regularly translate both Portuguese and French texts for a variety of art galleries, contemporary art magazines, cultural organizations, museums, international credential evaluators, refugee resettlement agencies, ad agencies, and law firms. In 2017 I joined forces with four other London-based literary translators to found The Starling Bureau, a new, collaborative model in promoting the best books from around the globe.
Born and raised in southeastern Kentucky to a Canadian mother and an Appalachian father, I lived and worked in Brazil for several years, first in Maceió, then in São Paulo, and I continue to maintain strong ties with the country and its literary and publishing community. Over the past 15 years I’ve also spent extended periods living, studying, and working in Lisbon, Portugal. After eight years in grey London, I’m now based in sunny Miami.