Services

I provide specialist French-to-English translation and editorial services for visual arts professionals. I have over ten years’ experience and a client portfolio of art book publishers, museum curators, academics and art consultants. I am driven by the conviction that art can create beauty, meaning and hope. My aim is to contribute to contemporary art writing with translated and edited prose of genuine quality.

Recent Projects

Anaïs Lellouche, Collaborations with Visionary Artists, Collectors and Communities, London: copy-editing – Naila Collection catalogue, 2022

Éditions Le Manuscrit, Collection Transversales, Paris : translation – Stéphane Van Damme, ‘Orientalist Sociabilities ? Medal Collecting in Paris (1690–1730)’ in Les réseaux de sociabilité dans la culture des Lumières. Circulations, échanges et transferts, vol. 8, Vanessa Alayrac-Fielding and Sophie Mesplède (eds), 2022

Éditions Mare & Martin, Paris : translation – Renaud Faroux, Francis Van Der Riet, Stéphane Laurent and Karen von Veh, Diane Victor : Estampes Dessins Suie / Prints Drawings Smoke, 2023

Musée Barbier-Mueller, Geneva: translation – articles, Arts & Cultures (no. 23, Cosmos), 2022

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux: translation – wall texts, Rosa Bonheur 1822–1899, 2002

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes: translation – visitor guide, Marcelle Cahn: In Search of Space, 2023. Translation, revision, copy-editing and proofreading – exhibition catalogue, Hayter and the World in an Atelier, 1927–1964: Converging Stories of Surrealism and Abstraction, 2021 

Snoeck Publishers, Ghent: copy-editing and proofreading – exhibition catalogues, Letters of Light, Louvre Abu Dhabi / Bibliothéque nationale de France / France Muséums and Years of Pop and Shock, 1960–1975, Fondation Gandur / Mémorial de Caen, 2023

French into English Translation

A good translation depends on three key criteria: a culturally informed understanding of the source language; an ability to write with fluency and flair in the target language; and mastery of the subject. 

To these, I can add the value of focus and experience: I translate exclusively from French into English and have chosen to confine my work to one specialism – art. 

My belief is that a translation should mould itself as closely as possible to the original. It should not, however, be a struggle to read. To produce a faithful translation in natural English often creates a conflict for the translator. Finding elegant, concise solutions when the two languages diverge requires walking a lexical, grammatical, syntactical tightrope. Ultimately, I want the francophone author to feel their writing has been honoured and the anglophone reader to forget they are reading a translation, retaining only a pleasurable awareness that the text was written from another cultural perspective. 

French into English Translation Revision

Even the best translators can let typos slip in, drop words or even sentences, or cling myopically to a misunderstanding. This is where the reviser’s second pair of eyes comes in. 

When I am asked to revise a translation, I apply the same approach as I do to my own translations, but my job here is to compare the English (target) text, translated by a third party, with the French (source) text line by line. 

Beyond the standard checks (spelling, punctuation, figures, etc.), I will also look for source language interference, mistranslations, additions, omissions, contradictions and inconsistencies. Where I feel the translation is too literal, I will make it idiomatic; where it strays too far from the source, I’ll tweak it back. I am vigilant, in myself and in others, for over-subjective interpretations that distort the author’s intention. 

Depending on the project, translation revision and English language copy-editing can overlap to a large degree.

Copy-editing

I copy-edit texts written directly in English and translations.

A pivotal stage in the publishing process, copy-editing involves checking the author’s text (their ‘copy’, in its original or translated form) sentence by sentence and marking up any amendments.

It is important that the level of copy-editing intervention is agreed in advance as this will vary according to the text, and the time and budget available. A ‘light’ copy-edit can cover document styling, spelling, grammar, punctuation, syntax, obvious repetitions and inconsistences, and the application of a house style and/or the editorial conventions commonly used in the UK or the US*. An in-depth copy-edit goes further, looking at structure and the logical sequence of ideas, clarity and readability, rhythm and flow. It will also cover register appropriateness, discriminatory language, parochialisms, and plagiarism. References and stylistic consistency will be checked, along with anything else that could undermine the author’s credibility. 

*Primary references are New Hart’s Rules (Oxford), Butcher’s Copy-editing (Cambridge) or the Chicago Manual of Style

Proofreading

Proofreading, a quality check of the typeset proofs – usually using PDF markup tools – happens right at the end of the process before the text goes to print or online. 

My focus at this stage is on picking up literal errors and layout oversights (formatting, alignment and spacing, end-of-line word breaks, pagination, contents and headings will all be checked).

Professionalisation

I regularly attend continuing professional development courses and events. For 2023, I am a student at the École de Traduction Littéraire (ETL) (School of Literary Translation). I am also a member of the following organisations:

Association des Correcteurs de Langue Française (ACLF)

Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP)

Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI)

Société Française des Traducteurs (SFT)

I read widely around my subject in both languages and regularly visit museums, exhibitions, galleries and fairs in France and the UK. I also subscribe to art publications and newsletters, and follow institutions on social media to stay up to date with art world developments. This ensures I have the correct, contemporary terminology at my fingertips and am familiar with the styles and editorial conventions used by publishers, curators, critics, journalists and scholars.

Working in Tandem

I am lucky enough to work on a regular basis with three highly proficient language professionals: Sarah Kane, Florence Morel and Barbara Vial. Sarah is a British copy-editor and translator who also specialises in the visual arts (MA Courtauld Institute of Art). Please contact me for Sarah’s email address. Florence is a French copy-editor and proofreader, while Barbara – a current ETL student – is my translation counterpart, working from English into French. 

All three are experienced freelancers, share my interest and values and work to an exceptionally high standard.

Approach

We have a lot to read these days. How often do we read simply for pleasure? How often do we read deeply? How often are we simply swiping and skimming, trying to absorb information fast for a particular purpose, in a state of distracted overload? 

Sometimes the world seems awash with words, billions now machine-generated. Not one produced by me will be anything other than carefully, humanly crafted. This is my guiding principle. 

It has added pertinence when applied to art and what is written about it. The artist chooses to express what is important to them in a visual work. The author contextualises the work historically, socially and emotionally in writing. Both artist and author have put time and effort into communicating in their respective, intimately bound mediums. They deserve no less from those tasked with ensuring their message reaches a wider audience.