Anam Zafar

Award-winning literary translator (Arabic & French into English)
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Translator
Available for:
Collaboration, Editing, Festivals and other events, Judging, Residencies, School visits, Translation, Workshops
Translates from:
Arabic, French
Translates to:
English
Available for (translation):
Children's books, Feel-good, Graphic novels, Literary fiction, Narrative non-fiction, Non-fiction, Voice-driven fiction, YA books
s.a.zafar@outlook.com

I translate fiction and non-fiction for adults and children, with a particular interest in children’s literature, from picture books to YA, and graphic novels for all ages.

 

I also design and deliver creative translation workshops.

 

Get in touch to discuss your translation project!

 

Publications

For shorter works and translations seeking a publisher, see my website.

Yoghurt and Jam: Or How My Mother Became Lebanese by Lena Merhej (Balestier Press, 2023)

​Graphic memoir co-translated with Nadiyah Abdullatif. Winner of a 2023 PEN Translates Award.

”The Joke” (ArabLit Quarterly, Summer 2022)

I was the issue’s guest editor.

Memoirs by Josephine Baker with Marcel Sauvage (Vintage Classics, forthcoming)

Co-translated with Sophie Lewis.

Workshops

I have been trained by the Stephen Spender Trust to use a model that allows participants with little or no knowledge of the chosen language to engage fully in creative translation activities. I can deliver creative translation workshops in primary schools, secondary schools and festivals, lasting from one hour to one day.

Past workshops include:

  • ​”Translating Arabic poetry and creating multilingual poems”, secondary school groups, Stephen Spender Trust
  • ”Guess the languages and create your own multilingual book titles”, primary school groups, Word Play Festival 2022 and 2023, Birmingham
  • ”The Wor(l)d on the Street: Collage workshop”, mixed groups of adults and children, Exchange Festival, 2023, Birmingham

Translation awards

  • PEN Translates Award (2022)
  • Stinging Fly New Translator’s Bursary (2021)
  • Gulf Coast Prize in Translation (2021)

Extra involvements

  • National and regional judge (French submissions), Anthea Bell Prize for Young Translators, 2021​​-2023
  • Visible Communities translator in residence, National Centre for Writing, 2021 and 2023
  • ​Virtual Travel Fellow, ALTA Conference 2021
  • Member, Access Working Group, Translators Association, Society of Authors
  • Editorial Board, The Linguist magazine, Chartered Institute of Linguists
  • Volunteer, World Kid Lit

Education

  • MA Applied Translation Studies (Pass with Distinction) – University of Leeds, 2020. Full scholarship awarded by the Aziz Foundation
  • BA French and Arabic (1st class Honours with Distinction in spoken French) – University of Exeter, 2018
  • Advanced Arabic (including spoken Jordanian) – Qasid Arabic Institute, Jordan, 2015