Ann Goldstein

Ann Goldstein
sitting in an out-of-the-way spot in the Conde Nast cafeteria
(source: Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
no copyright infringement intended

a distinguished translator from Italian to English, best known for her rendering of Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Quartet (as the real identity of Ferrante is not known publicly, the author being secretive beyond any limit, and as Goldstein isn't a very public person either, some have presumed that the two were actually one and the same person; Goldstein has denied this hypothesis; Ferrante kept quiet); Goldstein is also known for the translation of Primo Levi (the effort to get the copyright took six years, then the translation meant another seventeen years); recently Goldstein translated the Italian book of Jhumpa Lahiri, In Altre Parole (I read it a couple of weeks ago and hopefully will soon find the time and serenity to write something about; for now, just let me say that I started by being a bit puzzled by this book, to enjoy it eventually); other details: Goldstein learned Italian kind of late in her life, starting it when she was twenty-seven; soon after, she began to read Dante in original; it took her three years until being able to do the first translation (an essay by Aldo Buzzi); but she had some familiarity with Latin and Ancient Greek, a bit of French and German, plus a smattering of a Jewish Piedmontese dialect with Hebrew roots (JTA - this last one came after learning Italian, while translating Levi).




(A Life in Books)

(Una Vita Tra I Libri)