New Voices in Self-Translation: Heddi Goodrich (Italian-English)

Heddi Goodrich (*1971, Washington) translated her debut novel Perduti nei Quartieri Spagnoli (Giunti, 2019) into English. Lost in the Spanish Quarter was published by HarperCollins in 2019. 
Born in the United States, Heddi Godrich spent her high school and university years in Naples and moved to New Zealand in the 1990s. The autofictional novel is inspired by her own experiences in Italy. The creation process was in fact more complex than one might assume. Goodrich explained that she initially started writing the novel in English: 

"My first few drafts were actually in English. I'm an English teacher after all, and a copyeditor too: that is, I'm a very competent writer in my native language. But, as it turns out, I'm not a very inspired writer." (Goodrich, 2019)

Not being able to find a publisher for her novel, she first tried to get the novel translated into Italian, but soon realized that she has to give the novel a fresh start by writing it directly in Italian:

"Everything started to flow. And I thought this was the language that I needed to be writing it in all along, my whole life. This is actually my voice." (Herkt 2019)

Since she is not only a teacher and editor, but also a translator, there was no question in her mind that she would translate the novel herself. She describes translating her novel into English as a "fun intellectual challenge" (Goodrich, 2019). Encouraged by her editor she started self-translating within a week after the editing of the Italian version was completed (cf. Carlacchiani 2021). In an interview with Debora Carlacchiani (2021) she describes the difficulties of finding her voice in the English translation, feeling clumsy and awkward at times, not finding the right metaphors or melody of a senctence: "La traduzione mi riusciva bene ma non fluiva spontaneamente. [I could translate well but it did not flow spontaneously.]" Goodrich explains that in her constant search of her authentic voice she kept editing her translation, questioning every word: "l’italiano era la lingua del cuore, l’inglese quella della testa – e la testa poteva ingannare" [Italian was the language of the heart, English the language of the head - and the head could be deceiving].: 

"Nemmeno una volta durante l’auto-traduzione mi è arrivata una frase bella e fatta: niente parole sussurrate, illuminazioni o intuizioni di alcun tipo." (Carlacchiani 2021) 

[Not once during the self-translation did a beautiful sentence come to me: no whispered words, illuminations or insights of any kind.]

Nevertheless, she enjoyed the intellectual challenge of the translation process and the privilege of being both author and translator:

"Sono stati tre mesi divertenti; ogni mattina mi svegliavo felice di vedere quali nuovi ostacoli linguistici avrei affrontato quel giorno e quali soluzioni creative avrei escogitato per superarli. Inoltre, avevo l’enorme vantaggio di conoscere ogni intenzione dell’autrice e quindi di non dover mai chiedere spiegazioni." (Carlacchiani 2021)

[It was a fun three months; every morning I woke up happy to see what new linguistic obstacles I would face that day and what creative solutions I would come up with to overcome them. Moreover, I had the enormous advantage of knowing the author's every intention and thus never having to ask for explanations]

She wanted to stay as close as possible to the original version but introduced "some small additions, relating to the dialect or other cultural or historical factors" (Goodrich, 2019). 

At first she considered the original Italian version superior to her English self-translation and was not really satisfied with the result, but over time she began to recognize the value of the English version:

"Questa sensazione di “perdita” ha caratterizzato il mio atteggiamento verso il testo inglese. Fino a poco tempo fa l’ho considerato un’ombra dell’originale, e soltanto negli ultimi mesi ho cominciato a vederlo come un romanzo a sé e, un poco alla volta, ad affezionarmici." (Carlacchiani 2021) 

[This feeling of "loss" has characterized my attitude toward the English text. Until recently I regarded it as a shadow of the original, and only in recent months have I begun to see it as a novel in its own right and, little by little, become attached to it.]

Her debut novel was translated into several languages, among them:

• Dutch: Verloren in Napels (Wereldbibliotheek). Translator: Manon Smits. 2019.
• French: Perdus dans les quartiers espagnols (Marabooks). Translator: Françoise Bouillot. 2021.
• German: Eine Liebe in Nepal (btb). Translator: Judith Schwaab. 2020.
  
• Norwegian: Forelsket i Napoli (Cappelen Damm). Translator: Siv Erle Wold. 2021
  
• Polish: Zagubieni w Neapolu (Zysk i S-ka). Translator: Iwona Banach. 2020.
• Portuguese: Perdidos no Quarteirão Espanhol (Planeta). Translator: Ana Maria Pinto da Silva. 2019.
• Romanian: Pierduți în cartierul spaniol (RAO). Translator: Elena Banica. 2019
• Spanish: El futuro es simplemente un nuevo día (Planeta). Translator: Maribel Campmany Tarrés. 2019

The novel was also translated into Arabic and Greek. Interestingly, the Dutch translator Manon Smits started working on the translation while Goodrich was still wrapping up the Italian original:

"Ho avuto il privilegio di collaborare un poco con la traduttrice olandese di Perduti nei Quartieri Spagnoli, che aveva cominciato a tradurre il testo quando non era ancora definitivo. Spesso, nelle sue mail in cui cercava chiarimenti, mi faceva notare alcuni piccoli problemi nel testo che credo soltanto uno che ci lavora da molto molto vicino possa vedere. Le sue osservazioni sono state preziosissime per il testo italiano finale. Allora lei non è soltanto traduttrice e scrittrice ma anche correttrice di bozze e editor!" (Carlacchiani 2021) 

[I had the privilege of collaborating a little with the Dutch translator of Lost in the Spanish Quarter, who had begun translating the text when it was not yet final. Often, in her emails seeking clarification, she would point out to me some small problems in the text that I think only someone working on it from very very close up could see. Her observations were invaluable to the final Italian text. So she is not only a translator and writer but also a proofreader and editor!]

Goodrich recently published her second novel in Italian: L'Americana (2021). The novel has not been published in English yet, so we have to wait to see if she opts for self-translation once again.

Interviews:
Carlacchiani, Debora (2021): "Intervista a Heddi Goodrich", published on La bottega dei traduttori on March 28, 2021: https://labottegadeitraduttori.wordpress.com/2021/03/28/intervista-a-heddi-goodrich-a-cura-di-debora-carlacchiani/

Goodrich, Heddi (2019): "Heddi Goodrich on Lost in the Spanish Quarter", published on Shelf-Awareness on August 8, 2019: https://www.shelf-awareness.com/dedicatedshelf/2019-08-08/heddi_goodrich_on_lost_in_the_spanish_quarter.html

Herkt, David (2019): "The New Zealand author who wrote her first novel in Italian", published on Stuff on November 03. 2019: https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/116850415/the-new-zealand-author-who-wrote-her-first-novel-in-italian

Podcast:
"Heddi Goodrich and Lost in the Spanish Quarter". 
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/standing-room-only/audio/2018716447/heddi-goodrich-and-lost-in-the-spanish-quarter