Margaret Jull Costa
Encyclopedia
Margaret Jull Costa is a translator of Portuguese
and Spanish
fiction and poetry, including the works of Nobel Prize
winner José Saramago
, Eça de Queiroz, Fernando Pessoa
, Javier Marías
and José Régio
.
, and was runner-up in 1996 and 2002 for The Relic by Eça de Queiroz and The Migrant Painter of Birds by Lídia Jorge
.
With Spanish novelist Javier Marías
she won the 1997 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
for the Harvill edition of his novel A Heart So White
.
In recent years she has been noted for her work in translating the novels of José Saramago
. Her translation of All the Names
won the 2000 Oxford Weidenfeld Translation Prize, while her translation of Death at Intervals, about a country where death ceases to exist, was published in 2008 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/02/24/bosar124.xml.
As part of its 'Europe 1992-2004' programme, the UK publishers Dedalus
embarked on a series of new translations by Jull Costa of some of the major classics of Portuguese literature. These include seven works by Eça de Queiroz: Cousin Bazilio (1878, translation published 2003, funded by the Arts Council of England), The Tragedy of the Street of Flowers, The Mandarin (and Other Stories), The Relic, The Crime of Father Amaro
, The Maias
and The City and the Mountains (2008).
In 2006, she was short-listed for the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize
for her translation of the first part of Javier Marías
's trilogy, Your Face Tomorrow 1: Fever and Spear, and also won the Arts Council
, Spanish Embassy and Instituto Cervantes
translation prize for the same work. The second part, 2: Dance and Dream, was published in 2006 http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/fiction/article672956.ece, while the concluding part, 3: Poison, Shadow and Farewell, appeared in November 2009 (http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/fiction/article6912704.ece]. This last volume won her the 2010 Premio Valle-Inclan.
Her English translation of The Accordionist's Son by the Basque author Bernardo Atxaga
was published by Harvill Secker (2007) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/12/22/boatx122.xml http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/01/11/boatx106.xml and won a Times Literary Supplement Translation Prize in January 2010; while her previous translations of Atxaga's work include The Lone Man (1996) and The Lone Woman (1999).
Her translation of The Maias by Eça de Queiroz, published by Dedalus Books
in 2007 and described by José Saramago
as "the greatest book by Portugal's greatest novelist", won both the 2008 PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize
and the 2008 Oxford Weidenfeld Translation Prize http://www.st-annes.ox.ac.uk/about/translationprize.html, thus winning the only translation prizes open to books from all languages and periods on the two sides of the Atlantic.
In 2008, as first of a new Dedalus Euro Shorts series, Jull Costa made the first-ever English translation of Helena, or The Sea in Summer, Julián Ayesta's enduring, pointillist novel, first published in Spain in 1952 as Hélena o el mar del verano, and for which he is most remembered. Her biographical introduction to the book provides English-language readers with a brief but essential portrait of Ayesta (1919–1996), author, Spanish diplomat and outspoken critic of the Franco regime.
In 2011, she won the Oxford Weidenfeld Translation Prize for the third time with her translation of 'The Elephant's Journey' by Jose Saramago.
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
and Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
fiction and poetry, including the works of Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
winner José Saramago
José Saramago
José de Sousa Saramago, GColSE was a Nobel-laureate Portuguese novelist, poet, playwright and journalist. His works, some of which can be seen as allegories, commonly present subversive perspectives on historic events, emphasizing the human factor. Harold Bloom has described Saramago as "a...
, Eça de Queiroz, Fernando Pessoa
Fernando Pessoa
Fernando Pessoa, born Fernando António Nogueira de Seabra Pessoa , was a Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic and translator described as one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th century and one of the greatest poets in the Portuguese language.-Early years in Durban:On 13 July...
, Javier Marías
Javier Marías
Javier Marías is a Spanish novelist. He is also a translator and columnist.-Life:Javier Marías was born in Madrid. His father was the philosopher Julián Marías, who was briefly imprisoned and then banned from teaching for opposing Franco...
and José Régio
José Régio
José Maria dos Reis Pereira, better known by the pen name José Regio was a Portuguese writer which lived most of his life in Portalegre...
.
Works and awards
Margaret Jull Costa was joint-winner of the Portuguese Translation Prize in 1992 for The Book of Disquiet by Fernando PessoaFernando Pessoa
Fernando Pessoa, born Fernando António Nogueira de Seabra Pessoa , was a Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic and translator described as one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th century and one of the greatest poets in the Portuguese language.-Early years in Durban:On 13 July...
, and was runner-up in 1996 and 2002 for The Relic by Eça de Queiroz and The Migrant Painter of Birds by Lídia Jorge
Lídia Jorge
Lídia Jorge is a prominent Portuguese novelist and author whose work is representative of a recent style of Portuguese writing, the so-called ‘Post Revolution Generation’...
.
With Spanish novelist Javier Marías
Javier Marías
Javier Marías is a Spanish novelist. He is also a translator and columnist.-Life:Javier Marías was born in Madrid. His father was the philosopher Julián Marías, who was briefly imprisoned and then banned from teaching for opposing Franco...
she won the 1997 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is an international literary award for a work of fiction, jointly sponsored by the city of Dublin, Ireland and the company IMPAC. At €100,000 it is one of the richest literary prizes in the world...
for the Harvill edition of his novel A Heart So White
A Heart So White
A Heart So White by Javier Marías was first published in 1992 and received the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1997. Margaret Jull Costa's English translation was published by New Directions in 2000.-Summary:...
.
In recent years she has been noted for her work in translating the novels of José Saramago
José Saramago
José de Sousa Saramago, GColSE was a Nobel-laureate Portuguese novelist, poet, playwright and journalist. His works, some of which can be seen as allegories, commonly present subversive perspectives on historic events, emphasizing the human factor. Harold Bloom has described Saramago as "a...
. Her translation of All the Names
All the Names
All the Names is a novel by Portuguese author José Saramago. It was written in 1997 and translated to English in 1999 by Margaret Jull Costa winning the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize.-Plot summary:...
won the 2000 Oxford Weidenfeld Translation Prize, while her translation of Death at Intervals, about a country where death ceases to exist, was published in 2008 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/02/24/bosar124.xml.
As part of its 'Europe 1992-2004' programme, the UK publishers Dedalus
Dedalus Books
Dedalus Books is a British publishing company specialising in European literature. As stated on their website, Dedalus specialises in "its own distinctive genre, which we term distorted reality, where the bizarre, the unusual and the grotesque and the surreal meld in a kind of intellectual fiction...
embarked on a series of new translations by Jull Costa of some of the major classics of Portuguese literature. These include seven works by Eça de Queiroz: Cousin Bazilio (1878, translation published 2003, funded by the Arts Council of England), The Tragedy of the Street of Flowers, The Mandarin (and Other Stories), The Relic, The Crime of Father Amaro
O Crime do Padre Amaro
O Crime do Padre Amaro is a novel by the 19th-century Portuguese writer José Maria de Eça de Queiroz. It was first published in 1875 to great controversy.-Plot summary:...
, The Maias
Os Maias
Os Maias: episódios da vida romântica is a naturalist novel by Portuguese author José Maria de Eça de Queiroz, also known under the modernized spelling Eça de Queirós.As early as 1878, while serving in the Portuguese...
and The City and the Mountains (2008).
In 2006, she was short-listed for the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize
Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize
Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize is an annual literary prize for any book-length translation into English from any other living European language...
for her translation of the first part of Javier Marías
Javier Marías
Javier Marías is a Spanish novelist. He is also a translator and columnist.-Life:Javier Marías was born in Madrid. His father was the philosopher Julián Marías, who was briefly imprisoned and then banned from teaching for opposing Franco...
's trilogy, Your Face Tomorrow 1: Fever and Spear, and also won the Arts Council
Arts council
An arts council is a government or private, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing events at home and abroad...
, Spanish Embassy and Instituto Cervantes
Instituto Cervantes
The Cervantes Institute is a worldwide non-profit organization created by the Spanish government in 1991. It is named after Miguel de Cervantes , the author of Don Quixote and perhaps the most important figure in the history of Spanish literature...
translation prize for the same work. The second part, 2: Dance and Dream, was published in 2006 http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/fiction/article672956.ece, while the concluding part, 3: Poison, Shadow and Farewell, appeared in November 2009 (http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/fiction/article6912704.ece]. This last volume won her the 2010 Premio Valle-Inclan.
Her English translation of The Accordionist's Son by the Basque author Bernardo Atxaga
Bernardo Atxaga
Bernardo Atxaga is a Basque writer and self-translator.-Biography:Atxaga was born in Asteasu, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country), in 1951. He received a diploma in economics from the University of Bilbao, and studied philosophy at the University of Barcelona...
was published by Harvill Secker (2007) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/12/22/boatx122.xml http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/01/11/boatx106.xml and won a Times Literary Supplement Translation Prize in January 2010; while her previous translations of Atxaga's work include The Lone Man (1996) and The Lone Woman (1999).
Her translation of The Maias by Eça de Queiroz, published by Dedalus Books
Dedalus Books
Dedalus Books is a British publishing company specialising in European literature. As stated on their website, Dedalus specialises in "its own distinctive genre, which we term distorted reality, where the bizarre, the unusual and the grotesque and the surreal meld in a kind of intellectual fiction...
in 2007 and described by José Saramago
José Saramago
José de Sousa Saramago, GColSE was a Nobel-laureate Portuguese novelist, poet, playwright and journalist. His works, some of which can be seen as allegories, commonly present subversive perspectives on historic events, emphasizing the human factor. Harold Bloom has described Saramago as "a...
as "the greatest book by Portugal's greatest novelist", won both the 2008 PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize
PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize
The PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize is an annual award given to outstanding translations into the English language. It has been presented annually by PEN American Center and the Book of the Month Club since 1963....
and the 2008 Oxford Weidenfeld Translation Prize http://www.st-annes.ox.ac.uk/about/translationprize.html, thus winning the only translation prizes open to books from all languages and periods on the two sides of the Atlantic.
In 2008, as first of a new Dedalus Euro Shorts series, Jull Costa made the first-ever English translation of Helena, or The Sea in Summer, Julián Ayesta's enduring, pointillist novel, first published in Spain in 1952 as Hélena o el mar del verano, and for which he is most remembered. Her biographical introduction to the book provides English-language readers with a brief but essential portrait of Ayesta (1919–1996), author, Spanish diplomat and outspoken critic of the Franco regime.
In 2011, she won the Oxford Weidenfeld Translation Prize for the third time with her translation of 'The Elephant's Journey' by Jose Saramago.
External links
- Dedalus Books, Sawtry, Cambridgeshire, UK Publishers [7]
- An Interview with Margaret Jull Costa November 2, 2009