Anthea Bell
Anthea Bell (born 10 May 1935, died 18 October 2018) worked as a translator of German and French into English for many years. Her translations from German include modern and classic fiction by authors including E.T.A. Hoffmann and Franz Kafka, several novellas by Stefan Zweig and his memoir The World of Yesterday. Her translation awards include the 2002 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the Helen and Kurt Wolff Prize (USA) for the translation of W.G. Sebald's Austerlitz. Anthea Bell has been awarded the Schlegel-Tieck prize several times: for example for Karen Duve's Rain in 2003, and for Stefan Zweig's Burning Secret in 2009. In 2003 she received the Austrian State Prize for Literary Translation and in 2010 she was awarded an Order of the British Empire. In January 2015, the German ambassador presented the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany to Anthea Bell. She took a particular interest in the translation of books for children and young adults.
Three questions to Anthea Bell
Why did you choose to become a translator?
I had no intention of becoming a translator. It happened by accident. Then I found myself in a profession I loved for its interest and variety.
Which German book do you like the best and why?
W.G. Sebald's Austerlitz. It was a pleasure and a privilege to work on this fine book with the author.
Is there a particular book you would like to translate?
I already have translated the German novel I'd always wanted to tackle: E.T.A. Hoffmann's Lebensansichten des Kater Murr, published as The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr in 2001. My idea was backed up by Jeremy Adler, who wrote the Preface.