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has a nice interview with French translator Charlotte Mandell, who has translated a number of classic authors (Balzac, Proust, Flaubert) along with more contemporary works (Genet, BHL, Littell). She recently completed an excerpt of Mathias Enard’s Zone (which I have in my hands right now), which is becoming one of the most hyped French books since The Kindly Ones.

What attracts you to the craft of translation?

I love reading, and I think translating is the truest form
of reading. People are always asking me if I write my ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½˜ownÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™
work. I find it hard to convey to them that I feel no need
to writeÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½”I would much rather ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½˜beÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™ a lot of different authors by translating them. I never read ahead when translating,
so translating for me feels like more of a creative process:
I have no preconceived notions of how the book will end,
and can put myself in the authorÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s place by trying to
imagine what will come next.