Once upon a time, Antonella Lettieri was a student¹ of English and Russian in Bologna. Then, on a dark and stormy night, she moved to London and started working as a translator.² Little did she know that commercial and academic translations were only just the beginning...³
¹ Education
2024 - APNEA: Reading and editing course at I libri degli altri with Francesca de Lena
2023 – Start Writing Fiction: Creative writing course at the National Centre for Writing with Melissa Fu
2022 – Bristol Translates: Literary translation summer school at the University of Bristol with Howard Curtis
2010 – MA in Comparative Literatures and Post-Colonial Cultures awarded by the University of Bologna, Italy (with distinction)
My dissertation Translating Immigrant Fiction. Russian Writers in the United States: Ellen Litman and Margarita Meklina focused on a theoretical analysis of the challenges faced by the translator within immigrant fiction. It also included the English-to-Italian translation of Ellen Litman’s short story Russian Club and the Russian-to-Italian translation of Margarita Meklina’s short story The House.
2008 – BCLT Summer School in literary translation at the University of East Anglia with Susanna Basso and Giles Foden
2007 – BA in Foreign Languages awarded by the University of Bologna, Italy (with distinction)
My dissertation A Translation Proposal of Janice Galloway’s Prose included the English-to-Italian translation of Janice Galloway’s short stories Two Fragments, Fair Ellen and the Wanderer Returned, Frostbite, and Blood.
² Experience
Present – Translator and proofreader
My areas of specialisation include academic and editorial writing, e-commerce, engineering, fashion, gaming, legal documents, marketing and social media, medical and pharmaceutical documents, press releases, subtitles, user interfaces, user manuals, and websites.
As a freelancer, I provide high-quality and accurate translation, transcreation, and proofreading services to small and large businesses directly or through translation agencies. I am flexible, I always keep my deadlines, and I perform well under pressure. I am very experienced in the use of CAT tools and the creation and management of translation memories and glossaries.
Present – Reader and consultant for Lucy Abrahams Literary Scouting
I cover the Italian publishing market, liaising with literary agents and publishers and advising on the suitability for publication in foreign markets on a European scale. My responsibilities include reading the most promising new titles, writing reader’s reports in English, and preparing hotlists for the Frankfurt and the London Book Fairs and the main Italian book prizes.
2022 – Academic translator for the Luxembourg School of Religion & Society
For the Luxembourg School of Religion & Society, I translated into English the essay Divine Clothing and the book Dio tre volte sarto: moda, Chiesa e teologia, both by Alberto Fabio Ambrosio. The bibliographical research of the sources quoted in the texts and their translation was an integral part of my task.
2017/2021 – Academic translator for the German publisher De Gruyter
For De Gruyter, I translated into English the book History of Classical Philology: From Bentley to the 20th Century edited by Diego Lanza and Gherardo Ugolini, the essay Homo Faber. Franco Montanari: the Scholar (and the Man) by Fausto Montana, 21 essays for the book in three volumes Martin Luther. A Christian between Reforms and Modernity (1517-2017) edited by Alberto Melloni, and some entries for the Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception. The bibliographical research of the sources quoted in the texts and their translation was an integral part of my task.
2020 – Editorial translator for the Italian magazine cheFare
For cheFare, I translated into Italian the essay Reversing the New Global Monasticism by the philosopher Emanuele Coccia.
2019/2020 – Editorial translator for the Italian publisher Luca Sossella Editore
For Luca Sossella Editore, I translated into Italian the book Changemaker? Il futuro industrioso dell’economia digitale by Adam Arvidsson. The bibliographical research of the sources quoted in the text and their translation was an integral part of my task.
³ Literary Translation
Present - Literary translator for the UK publisher Foundry Editions
For Foundry Editions, I translated into English Maria Grazia Calandrone’s Your Little Matter, a memoir shortlisted for the Strega Prize, Italy’s most prestigious literary award. Your Little Matter will be published in the UK in June 2024.
2024 - PEN/Heim Grant for the English Translation of Italian Literature
I was awarded the 2024 PEN/Heim Grant for the English Translation of Italian Literature for my translation of Maria Grazia Calandrone’s Your Little Matter.
From the judges’ citation: “Maria Grazia Calandrone, known for her poetic work in the Italian literary landscape, writes a lyric of investigation and intimate dissection of her life—and that of her biological parents, which ended tragically. Dove non mi hai portata (Where You Did Not Take Me) is a haunting, visceral examination of the failures of Italian society toward young mothers, young families, welfare, and mental health, one which Antonella Lettieri brings into English with the same depths of understanding and compassion that the author shows to her own mother; a translation which is precise, careful, and steeped in the warmth of empathy.”
2024 - Literary translator for the Italian publisher Laterza
For Laterza, I translated into English a 3,000-word sample from Carolina Bandinelli’s Le postromantiche.
2024 - ViceVersa translation workshop organised by Laboratorio italiano
I was selected for ViceVersa, a weeklong residential translation workshop held in Villa Garbald (Switzerland) and organised by Laboratorio italiano with Translation House Looren. The workshop focused on literary translation between Italian and English.
2023 - First Prize in the John Dryden Translation Competition
I won first prize in the John Dryden Translation Competition with my translation of an excerpt from Enrico Remmert’s The War of the Murazzi.
2023 – NCW Emerging Translator Mentee for Italian
The translation mentoring programme organised by the National Centre for Writing aims to develop new cohorts of literary translators into English. The scheme matches up experienced translators with emerging literary translators. My mentor was Howard Curtis, a celebrated translator of Italian literature into English.
2023 - Literary translator for the Italian publisher Einaudi
For Einaudi, I translated into English a 7,000-word sample from Maria Grazia Calandrone’s Dove non mi hai portata.