top of page


Publishing a book-length translation: Lessons learned
Happy New Year! In 2024, I saw a decade-long dream come true: the publication of a book-length translation of mine. My translation of The...

ilzeduarte
Jan 146 min read
28 views
0 comments


A Conversation with Literary Translator and Publisher Marina Sofia
Marina Sofia grew up in Romania and lives in England. Marina translates literary fiction and crime novels from Romanian and German into...

ilzeduarte
Sep 30, 202411 min read
74 views
1 comment


Tips for Emerging Literary Translators
I am thrilled to announce that, as part of the Literary Translation Award I have received from Sundial House, my translation of Brazilian...

ilzeduarte
Jul 21, 20246 min read
445 views
0 comments


"How do you know it was your translation?"
In the summer of 2023, writer and translator Yilin Wang took to then-Twitter to demand that the British Museum credit her and pay her for...

ilzeduarte
Jan 17, 20243 min read
89 views
0 comments


Brazilian Literature in English Translation: 2023 Highlights
This has been an eventful year for Brazilian literature in English translation. A classic of Brazilian literature received a new English...

ilzeduarte
Dec 11, 20235 min read
20 views
0 comments


Literatura de Cordel: Literature on a String
Ilze Duarte writes about Literatura de Cordel, or Literature on a String, a traditional folk art typical of the northeast of Brazil.

ilzeduarte
Oct 13, 20233 min read
25 views
0 comments


August is Women In Translation Month
In the literary world, August is Women In Translation Month. To celebrate it, I offer my recommendations of works by Brazilian women in...

ilzeduarte
Aug 8, 20233 min read
53 views
0 comments


The Myth of the Short Sentence in English-Language Literary Fiction
As an English Language and Literature major at Universidade de São Paulo, I took courses in Portuguese- and English-language literature....

ilzeduarte
Jan 26, 20237 min read
48 views
0 comments


Translation Metaphors
Literary translators have often described their work and roles as professionals through metaphors. These are highly individualized...

ilzeduarte
Jan 9, 20236 min read
11 views
0 comments


Brazilians reading works by Brazilian authors
In a previous post (11/04/22), I bemoaned the difficulties Brazilian authors experience in having their books published and promoted in...

ilzeduarte
Dec 9, 20223 min read
16 views
0 comments


Beware of False Friends between Portuguese and English
This is an updated version of my original post, in which I had used the term "false cognates." I had to reconsider my use of the term...

ilzeduarte
Nov 26, 20224 min read
56 views
0 comments


Saudade and Untranslatability
I have met many Brazilians who claim with pride that the Portuguese word saudade doesn't exist in any other language. They imply saudade...

ilzeduarte
Nov 11, 20225 min read
73 views
0 comments


Why I translate literature from Portuguese to English only
I was born and raised in Brazil. My great-grandparents were Portuguese and Italian immigrants, and I grew up speaking Portuguese and...

ilzeduarte
Nov 4, 20224 min read
31 views
0 comments


What We Mean by a Faithful Translation
If you are a translator, you are probably familiar with the Italian play on words "traduttore/traditore," or translator/traitor. Clichés...

ilzeduarte
Oct 21, 20227 min read
19 views
0 comments


Works by Brazilian authors in recent and upcoming English translations
In the past few years, important works of Brazilian literature have appeared in English translation for the first time or in a new...

ilzeduarte
Oct 14, 20223 min read
17 views
0 comments


More Giants of Brazilian Literature: Mário de Andrade and CecÃlia Meireles
In my previous post, I wrote about a few works by Brazilian writers I started reading in my youth. In this post I write about Mário de...

ilzeduarte
Sep 30, 20223 min read
4 views
0 comments


Beginnings: An Education in Brazilian Literature
I went to public schools in São Paulo, Brazil from first grade to university. I didn't get a good education in science or history, but I...

ilzeduarte
Sep 23, 20223 min read
4 views
0 comments


My translator journey
I was born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil in a monolingual household. I fell in love with English sometime in middle school, where...

ilzeduarte
Sep 17, 20223 min read
7 views
0 comments


Welcome to Ilze's blog on all things translation
Well, maybe not all things translation. I am a Portuguese-to-English literary translator, and that is the type of translation I will be...

ilzeduarte
Sep 13, 20221 min read
7 views
0 comments
bottom of page