Literary Translation
I translate contemporary fiction, non-fiction and poetry from German and Dutch into English. My translations have been published by Melville House, Strangers Press, Literary Hub and more, and have been read at the Crossing Border Festival and the Writers Unlimited Winternachten Festival in The Hague, the Berlin Poetry Festival and the International Book Festival in Budapest. I have a special interest in essays and life writing, poetry, LGBT voices and stories about migration, exile and displacement.
In addition to book translations, I regularly translate samples and excerpts. I also write reader’s reports on works published in German and Dutch for English-language publishers, evaluating these titles for their suitability for translation and their viability for commercial publication.
Books

The Dandy
Nina Polak
Strangers Press, 2020

Ghosts of Berlin
Rudolph Herzog
Melville House, 2019
“A shrewd and provocative collection of fiction, Ghosts of Berlin is translated into English by the equally sharp Emma Rault.” — Shelf Awareness
“Celebrated filmmaker and author, Rudolph Herzog—yes, the son of Werner Herzog—has written a collection of ghost stories set in Berlin, as told by the Millennials who now live there. Linking all the stories is the globalized character of Berlin and the lingering effects of the war on both the city and its people (…) Herzog’s stories are utterly atmospheric, engrossing, refreshing, and devoid of pretense.” — Literary Hub
“Sharp satire, and a worthy addition to the growing canon of Berlin ghost-lit.” — Booklist
Short Prose

Staying Isolde
Nina Polak
Asymptote, October 2020
‘The lobster is the martyr of our ethical primitivism,’ he tells me as he carefully scrubs mushrooms for his famous Quiche Borraine, ‘both our inability to empathise with other life forms and our stubborn tendency towards infidelity.’ I’m not sure if he knows that he’s really talking about my stubborn tendency towards infidelity (which, technically speaking, isn’t infidelity: we have clear agreements on the subject).

No Petting
Nina Polak
Hinterland Magazine, 24 August 2020
‘Never fall in love with a taken man,’ that German teacher slurred into my ear at a school dance (her lips black from the red wine, her eyes tired). I took her inappropriate advice to heart: I fell in love with a taken woman. A tigress, who prides herself on the fact that she is both wild and chained. Insufferable. Irresistible. A force of nature.
Ball Lightning
Rudolph Herzog
Literary Hub, October 2019
“Why are you drinking so much?” the daughter wants to know.
“Because the ghosts are back.”
“There are no ghosts.”
“Then call it the past.”
Blog posts
from Simone Atangana Bekono’s residency at the Crossing Border Festival in The Hague
The Chronicles, October 2019
In the restaurant where we went on to have dinner, I counted the opportunities for escape: via the patio out back and then over the low wall, or I could excuse myself to go to the restroom and slip out through the entrance. Nothing gives you peace of mind like having an escape plan.
Apostle of Jack, Arthur, John and Paul
Auke Hulst
Asymptote, January 2018
Many people meditate to attain a certain contemplative, emotional, or even transcendental state, but I’m too restless for that. I can think more clearly (feel more clearly?) if I’m doing something. I think with my hands—writing—and I think with my legs: traveling.
Visiting the Snow Queen
Sophie Strohmeier
Queen Mob's Tea House (part of their Queer Translation feature), October 2016
The heavy conference table with the leather chairs, the desk with the curved claw feet, the green desk lamp, the curtain, the bronze sculpture of a dancing woman. All this was hers. Every day she looked at all of these things, even if only in passing; she touched them often. All these lifeless things spoke to her each day and were brought to life by her presence, and now they spoke to me of her.
Poetry
FORTHCOMING: 2 poems by Asha Karami
Versopolis, January 2020
FORTHCOMING: 2 poems by Tom Van de Voorde
ANMLY, spring 2021
FORTHCOMING: 6 poems by Hilde Domin
no man's land, winter 2020
2 poems by Tom Van de Voorde
Verseville, December 2020
2 poems by Tom Van de Voorde
Action Books blog, May 2020
3 poems by Vicky Francken
Poetry International, May 2020
4 poems by Hilde Domin
New Books in German, April 2018
Samples

Around Four Weeks
Laura van der Haar
Podium, 2020

The Noble Autist
Romana Vrede
De Arbeiderspers, 2020

The Raccoon
Aleksandr Skorobogatov
De Geus, 2020

The Beast with the Strength of Ten Horses
Lida Dijkstra
Luitingh-Sijthoff, 2019

Flin, or the Lost Love of a Unicorn
Henry Lloyd
Querido, 2019

The Shape of Sound
Gregor Verwijmeren, Van Oorschot, 2019
Commissioned for the European First Novel Festival in Budapest, 23-26 April 2020

A Thousand Fathers
Nhung Dam, De Bezige Bij, 2017
Commissioned for the Deltaworkers residency in New Orleans, spring 2020

The Days of Bluegrass Love
Edward van de Vendel
Querido, 2015

Viktor
Judith Fanto
Ambo|Anthos, 2020

The Ting
Artur Dziuk
dtv, 2019

Salt
Marc Reugebrink
Querido, 2019

The Pineapple
Lex Boon
Meulenhoff, 2019

Being Inconspicuous
Dirk Brauns
Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 2019

Our Father
Angela Lehner
Hanser, 2019

The Confession
Marianne Philips
Cossee, 2019

The Fall
Matthias M.R. Declercq, Manteau
2017
Workshops and Residencies
New Dutch Writing
Poetry translation workshop led by David Colmer
July 2020

Translation Factory
Translation workshop at the Translators’ House Amsterdam with David Colmer and Laura Watkinson
November 2020

The Chronicles
Translation residency at the 2020 Crossing Border Festival in The Hague, the Netherlands
October 2019
Translate at City
Literary translation summer school for German–English translation with Shaun Whiteside
June 2017
