On this episode of The London Magazine Podcast, we speak to translator and editor Ann Goldstein, renowned for bringing Elena Ferrante’s work to English readers. A former editor at the New Yorker, Goldstein has also translated works by Primo Levi, Jhumpa Lahiri and, most recently, Donatella Di Pietrantonio’s The Brittle Age.

In the episode, we discuss the oxymoron of the ‘celebrated translator’, her early encounters with Italian through Dante and the story of how she became Ferrante’s translator. Goldstein reflects on Ferrante’s unique syntax and style, as well as the broader challenges of Italian–English translation.

Timestamps

• 0.45 - The oxymoron of the ‘celebrated translator’
• 2.44 - Dante, Italian language lessons and the New Yorker
• 6.31 - Elena Ferrante: how it started
• 8.05 - Ferrante’s style, syntax and appeal
• 11.10 - Ann’s translation process: method vs instinct
• 14.58 - Translating difficult subject matter
• 16.09 - Technical problems in Italian–English translation
• 23.09 - The ‘gold standard’ of translation?
• 25.00 - Dealing with Ferrante fanatics

Follow The London Magazine Podcast here to never miss an episode. To discover more content exclusive to our print and digital editions, subscribe here to receive a copy of The London Magazine to your door every two months, while also enjoying full access to our extensive digital archive of essays, literary journalism, fiction and poetry.

On this episode of The London Magazine Podcast, we speak to short story writer and novelist Gurnaik Johal. Gurnaik’s 2022 collection We Move won the Somerset Maugham Award and the Tata Literature Live! Prize, and his debut novel, Saraswati, is out now with Serpent’s Tail.

In the episode, we discuss maximalism in the novel, the Indian diaspora and the difficulty of writing about current events – ‘this is where I say to any budding writers out there: write historical fiction!’

Timestamps

• 1.35 - The escapism of writing a maximalist novel during COVID
• 3.04 - Gurnaik reads an extract from Saraswati
• 7.43 - Moving from short fiction to the novel
• 9.36 - Research, knowledge acquisition and the editorial process
• 12.53 - How to write about current events that are changing day by day
• 14.24 - Maximalism and ambition in a debut novel
• 19.39 - Seeing India through the eyes of the diaspora
• 23.25 - Comedy and levity in the novel
• 26.54 - Origin stories and myth
• 29.08 - Writing ‘climate fiction’
• 31.22 - The strange timewarp of publishing

Follow The London Magazine Podcast here to never miss an episode. To discover more content exclusive to our print and digital editions, subscribe here to receive a copy of The London Magazine to your door every two months, while also enjoying full access to our extensive digital archive of essays, literary journalism, fiction and poetry.

On this episode of The London Magazine Podcast, we speak to award-winning cultural critic and novelist Leo Robson. Leo’s writing has appeared in the New Yorker, the London Review of Books, Granta and the New Left Review. He works for Literary Review and Granta, and The Boys is his first novel.

In the episode, we talk about evoking London on the page, the strange nostalgia of the 2012 Olympics, the role of humour in serious writing and the virtues of obstinacy.

Timestamps

• 0.32 - The joys of book promotion
• 2.43 - Leo reads an extract from The Boys
• 8.25 - Writing a ‘London’ novel
• 9.51 - The 2012 London Olympics and the legacy of New Labour
• 14.12 - Chronologies, rites of passage and parody
• 16.01 - The writing process and the evocation of place
• 20.49 - Stefan Zweig, Wes Anderson, Alt-J and Mark Fisher’s temporal paradoxes
• 28.22 - Iris Murdoch’s Under the Net and other inspirations
• 30.06 - Light and dark: balancing humour and serious subjects in a novel
• 33.45 - The process: writing cultural criticism vs writing fiction

Follow The London Magazine Podcast here to never miss an episode. To discover more content exclusive to our print and digital editions, subscribe here to receive a copy of The London Magazine to your door every two months, while also enjoying full access to our extensive digital archive of essays, literary journalism, fiction and poetry.