Talking Translation: An Interview with Lawrence Hill

Abstract

This interview with Canadian writer Lawrence Hill addresses some of the difficulties faced by translators of his work, particularly when attempting to render period dialogue and Black idiom as authentically as possible. Much of the discussion focuses on his novel A Book of Negroes (also published under the title Someone Knows my Name, and, in French, as Aminata). The author is asked to reflect on what is lost−and gained−in translation.