With On a Woman’s Madness longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025, we spoke to the author and translator about songs, Psalms, mentors and memoirs
The inspirations behind On a Woman’s Madness, and how I wrote it
My novel was a search among some of my personal questions: is it possible to be or to become a ‘happy woman’ in post-slavery/colonial Paramaribo/Suriname?
In my mid-twenties I was mad about cosmology and other related science – living in Holland, buying books, trying to dive into difficult physics. In a way, I’d been slowly scanning my tiny universe, too. It was like daydreaming my pain away. I never thought of publishing any of those intimate writings. It happened and I’m still blushing.
The book that made me fall in love with reading
It is a children’s song from Annie M.G. Schmidt (1911-1995), a much-loved Dutch poet and writer. I’d heard ‘Dikkertje Dap’ – about a boy of my own age chatting along with a giraffe - every morning on the radio in Paramaribo, and since then I understood that language is like clay: I could do anything with it. I still favour that childhood song.
The book that made me want to become a writer
I always have wondered what people were saying and talking about and how they find words. Reading dictionaries and ‘decomposing’ words became a hobby. I never knew writers existed, but I fell in love with written words and books even before my teens.
Astrid Roemer
© Raúl NeijhorstThe book that changed the way I think about the world
Every morning my mother recited Psalm 23 for us to listen to before leaving her. I did not understand the meaning, but I knew it by heart and kept on saying it in the morning, every day, just to feel beloved. But all the books I’ve read have somehow made my life easier, smoother. I adore G. Marquez but could only read him much too late, because of the language differences.
A book originally written in Dutch that I’d recommend to English-language readers
Frank Martinus Arion was a great poet and novelist from the Dutch Caribbean, who wrote in Dutch and in his native language, Papiamentu. He lived with his wife in Paramaribo as a teacher for a while, when I started to publish. His book Dubbelspel (Double Play) was published in 1973, and translated into English. My favourite is his 1995 novel De laatste vrijheid (The Last Freedom).
De laatste vrijheid by Frank Martinus Arion
I never thought of publishing any of those intimate writings. It happened and I’m still blushing
The inspiration and process behind the translation of On a Woman’s Madness
Kelsi Vanada and Rachel Daum at the American Literary Translators Association recommended me to CJ Evans at Two Lines Press as a translator for Astrid Roemer’s On a Woman’s Madness. I’m immensely grateful that Two Lines Press took a chance on an emerging translator and commissioned me to translate the work, and that I had my mentor David McKay to offer guidance.
On a Woman’s Madness was my debut novel translation, so I didn’t have a work process of my own at the time. I followed the process that Daniel Hahn described in his translation diary of Diamela Eltit’s Never Did the Fire. I completed a rough draft while reading the book for the first time and iteratively improved my translation through subsequent drafts over several months.
The book that made me fall in love with reading
My favourite book as a child was Little Women. I read an illustrated and abridged version of the book as a child and then an unabridged edition as a teenager.
The book that made me want to become a translator
Margaret Jull Costa’s translation of José Saramago’s All the Names inspired me to become a translator.
The translator whose work I always look out for
I am always happy to read anything translated by Margaret Jull Costa or David McKay.
The book I’m reading at the moment
Right now, I’m reading Oblivion: A Memoir, written by Héctor Abad and translated into English by Anne McLean and Rosalind Harvey. I read the book in its original Spanish under the title El olvido que seremos many years ago at the recommendation of a friend, and it quickly became one of my favourite books. I recently discovered the English translation, so I’m reading the translation and comparing it with the original Spanish to see if it provides me with any inspiration in improving my translation of Piedad Bonnett’s Lo que no tiene nombre (What Has No Name) before I try pitching it to publishers.
A work of fiction originally written in Dutch that I’d recommend to English-language readers
I’d recommend War and Turpentine, written by Stefan Hertmans and translated by David McKay. I am a big fan of memoirs and biographies, and this particular biographical novel is similar to the two Spanish-language memoirs mentioned above in that it memorialises the life of a beloved family member who has passed on.
The International Booker-nominated book everyone should read
I’d recommend The Perfect Nine by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o. The author Vamba Sherif, who was kind enough to allow me to translate and publish one of his short stories and short essays when I was an emerging Dutch-to-English translator, is a great fan of Ngũgĩ and grew up reading his novels. My conversations with Sherif made me realize that I’m completely ignorant when it comes to African literature. I wanted to address that gap in my knowledge and decided to start by exploring Ngũgĩ’s work. I bought a copy of The Perfect Nine simply because it was the latest novel from Ngũgĩ. I didn’t know anything about the book, but when I started reading it, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was an epic poem, as I adored reading Beowulf, The Song of Roland, The Odyssey, and other epic poems when I was a teenager. I enjoyed The Perfect Nine immensely because it’s such a beautifully written quest story, and I also appreciated that it was a quick and easy read.
Why is translated fiction so appealing to a new generation of English-language readers?
I believe fiction appeals more to younger readers in general, and as there is more translated fiction available these days, it follows that younger readers would be the largest consumers of it. It’s hard for adults to find time to read given work and family responsibilities. Also, I believe that as we grow older and no longer need the filter of fiction to understand and navigate the world, we turn to non-fiction. As a child, I mostly read fiction, but my reading choices as an adult are largely works of non-fiction, such as memoirs and biographies or books focusing on sociology or history.
All The Names by José Saramago
On a Woman’s Madness was my debut novel translation, so I didn’t have a work process of my own at the time
