Paris, France
100 West Writing Studio
On a small notebook in the writer’s studio, Céline makes vocabulary lists: fly fishing, the names of hunting rifles, and different kinds of lures. Leroy is amid her fifth translation of American author Peter Heller. His novels combine an exquisite sensitivity to the natural world with suspenseful, thriller plot lines. While in residence, Céline is also translating novelist Barbara Kingsolver’s first collection of poetry which deals with themes of family, grief, and witness.
People never think about the physicality of translation. Translation is a performance that spans weeks or months. It’s an effort that requires physical and intellectual artistry. Leroy’s approach to translation balances technical challenge and intuitive impulses to render English texts into provocative reads for French audiences. Suffusing each French translation with the layers of cultural, etymological, historical meaning present in the English is an act of creative interpretation that necessitates leaving adequate distance between the original text and the translation. Céline uses this dialectic to create faithful translations that pulse with their own vitality.
Céline has translated 60 literary works from English into French, including poetry from Maggie Nelson, Ross Gay, and Terrance Hayes, and fiction by Deborah Levy and Peter Heller. While an entire novel may take three months to translate, a single poem takes weeks to resolve into French. Céline describes the palimpsestic complexities of balancing word choice, sonic elements, and the visual interplay between text and white space as both puzzling and exhilarating.
Stimulated by innovative approaches to story development, fresh lyric sensibilities, and flexibility of form, Céline’s broader interests in global literature allow her to introduce diverse literary voices to French audiences while also turning a critical eye on American fiction.
CÉLINE LEROY