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isabeltranslates.bsky.social
isabeltranslates
@isabeltranslates.bsky.social
Translator of Czech, Slovak, German & French into English. Literary translator of genre & other fiction, & occasional non-fiction. European, wordsmith, word nerd, foodie, reader, yogi & chocoholic. Childless not by choice. New Glaswegian. She/her. 🦔
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A year in reading, 2026!

The Signature of All Things, by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Alma Whittaker thirsts for knowledge. She has the money & social position to pursue it, & this desire takes her from Pennsylvania to Tahiti, then Amsterdam. An incredible book that may be my book of the year already!

💙📚
#xl8 #translatedlit 💙📚🪐
Hopping on the back of this to highlight that the inclusion of Best Translated Novel in the recommended reading list this year means there is now also a Best Translated Novel category in the awards - so go forth and vote! Because if not enough people use the category, it might not be there forever.
It's that time of year again! The Locus Awards are looming in the distance, but you need to choose your champions! Voting is now open for all, give your favorite authors and works the voice they deserve!

Vote now at poll.voting.locusmag... or via the link in our bio.
February 13, 2026 at 3:20 PM
Reading, writing and learning languages help to protect against dementia.

So, obviously, does being rich. Hey ho.

#langsky #xl8

www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
Reading and writing can lower dementia risk by almost 40%, study finds
Cognitive health in later life is ‘strongly influenced’ by lifelong exposure to intellectually stimulating environments, say researchers
www.theguardian.com
February 12, 2026 at 3:40 PM
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On LinkedIn, some of my #translator pals have started sharing photos of themselves with a book, to counteract the awful AI-caricature thing that's also going round now. So, here I am, with the book that won the English PEN award, as I'm going to eat, sleep & breath it for the next few months!
#xl8💙📚
February 12, 2026 at 9:08 AM
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February 12, 2026 at 12:48 AM
On LinkedIn, some of my #translator pals have started sharing photos of themselves with a book, to counteract the awful AI-caricature thing that's also going round now. So, here I am, with the book that won the English PEN award, as I'm going to eat, sleep & breath it for the next few months!
#xl8💙📚
February 12, 2026 at 9:08 AM
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1) What's in a Prague 4 Street Name, day 307: Na dubině, built in 1925.
February 11, 2026 at 7:52 PM
Leicester Cathedral held a wedding ceremony in sign language. In 1576.

I'm not crying, you're crying.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Leicester Cathedral reveals sign language wedding held in 1576
Cathedral bosses believe the signed service could have been one of the first in England.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 11, 2026 at 11:15 AM
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Alexandra Roesch for a translation from German of Boy With a Black Rooster by Stefanie vor Schulte (The Indigo Press)
February 11, 2026 at 9:30 AM
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Antonella Lettieri and editor Richard Village for a translation from Italian of Your Little Matter by Maria Grazia Calandrone (Foundry Editions)
February 11, 2026 at 10:00 AM
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Congratulations to the winner of the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for published translations from Arabic of full-length works of literary merit and general interest:

Marilyn Booth for a translation of Honey Hunger: A Novel by Zahran Alqasmi (Hoopoe, American University in Cairo Press)
February 11, 2026 at 10:30 AM
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February 10, 2026 at 11:55 PM
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1) What's in a Prague 4 Street Name, day 306: U Zátiší, built in 2007.
February 10, 2026 at 8:34 PM
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Buy your hard copies online from publishers or @bookshop-org-uk.bsky.social
Audio books from your library app or @libro.fm
Ebooks from your library app or Kobo or direct from publishers
2nd hand from Biblio, Oxfam or World of Books
February 10, 2026 at 11:48 AM
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Everybody knows that Pupper just won Downhill Gold
February 10, 2026 at 1:27 PM
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February 10, 2026 at 2:54 PM
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Something compelled me to make this
February 10, 2026 at 10:57 AM
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Don't buy books on Amazon
Don't publish through Amazon
Amazon is reportedly preparing to launch a marketplace for publishers to sell their content to firms offering AI products www.reuters.com/business/ret...
February 10, 2026 at 11:30 AM
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February 10, 2026 at 12:43 PM
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London Book Fair starts in a month's time, and I'm getting ready for it. I already have a few appointments, and I'm waiting for a number of #publishers to come back to me and say, yes, they'd love to meet me and to publish every book I want to #translate.

+
February 9, 2026 at 4:34 PM
Post a banger not in English:

(If you want to get your Czech friends onto the dancefloor, this will do it!)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaMq...
February 10, 2026 at 10:25 AM
I might have just lost a client forever by telling them that EUR 0.06 per word was "way too low".

I provide a professional service and I expect to be paid professional rates. This is not unreasonable.

Some clients aren't worth keeping!

#xl8 🌐
February 10, 2026 at 9:20 AM
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1) What's in a Prague 4 Street Name, day 305: V Zátiší, built in 1925.

It was looking a bit slippery when I was round here, so here you can see the street at the end, rather than a street sign.
February 9, 2026 at 4:39 PM
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Budapest was created out of the cities of Buda and Pest (and the oft-forgotten Óbuda). The place-name Pest likely comes from a Slavic word meaning 'oven, furnace' – compare Slovak pec.

I find it strange that one of the cities had the alternative German name Ofen (literally 'oven'), but it was Buda!
February 9, 2026 at 6:57 PM
London Book Fair starts in a month's time, and I'm getting ready for it. I already have a few appointments, and I'm waiting for a number of #publishers to come back to me and say, yes, they'd love to meet me and to publish every book I want to #translate.

+
February 9, 2026 at 4:34 PM
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imagine being alive in this world and only wanting to know one language, what the fuck, boring
February 9, 2026 at 3:59 AM