Fonca
I am the proud beneficiary of the highest recognition that the federal government of my country, Mexico, gives to artists. In December 2021, I became an official member of the Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte (SNCA) in the category of "Literary Translator", a lifetime title. It comes with a 3-year grant to work on a specific project.
One of the masterpieces I'm translating from German into Mexican Spanish is, for the first time in history, the Brothers Grimm's Fairy Tales.
This is a collection of stories that have been told from generation to generation since the 19th century. Many of them have been adapted into various media formats for almost 200 years.
Although these stories are commonly understood as children's literature, they were collected for political purposes. In fact, they became a representation of the political situation in Germany at the time. Later, a British translator reshaped them and that was the true origin of the fairy tale.
The reason why I am so eager to translate these stories is because the complete fairy tales have never been translated into Mexican Spanish, they have always been translated into European Spanish, which makes it difficult to capture the attention of a child, and most importantly, to make them understand what the story is really about.
Fiction
With good reason, publishers distinguish between Spanish and its Latin American variant. The industry even talks about "neutral Spanish," which tries to appeal to all readers without using regionalisms.
Nevertheless, I translate into either Mexican or neutral Spanish, depending on the needs of my clients.
I began translating short stories for magazines. But it became official when I immersed myself in the New York Times #1 bestselling novel about Vietnam, Matterhorn, by Karl Marlantes, one of the most gruesome works about war that I know. It was a real challenge to translate the military slang of the 70s and the slang of the black communities into contemporary Spanish. The challenge included consulting with a military school professor to help me clarify some terms, military operations and military idioms.
I translated some stories and a novel called Die Schraube (The Screw) by Robin Jahnke, which became one of my favorite projects because it was the first novel I translated from German into "standard" Spanish.
Non-Fiction
My Ph.D. background in ancient philosophy is an asset when it comes to translating academic texts. Over the years, I have translated a number of books and monographs from English and German into Spanish.
I have also translated academic books on topics related to Mexico for important institutions such as Colmex, FCE (Fondo de Cultura Económica), and UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles), among others.
I also translated the unique memoirs of an extraordinary musician and Holocaust survivor. Simon Laks conducted the prisoners' orchestra in Auschwitz-Birkenau, survived thanks to music, and wrote two books about his experience. The first in French, the second in Polish. I am proud to have translated his first book into Spanish for the Latin American market.
For Frida Kahlo's Casa Azul, her museum in Mexico City, I have also translated several art books, most notably the catalog of the artist's works and the unique biography of the architectural photographer Guillermo Kahlo. Father and daughter are two of the greatest artists of the 19th and 20th centuries.