Italian-English consecutive interpreting at a book event: Radice Labirinto bookshop with Linda Newbery
When the interpreter is the bridge to an enchanted world
Alessia and Dario own a charming independent bookshop in Carpi, near Modena. It is called Radice Labirinto.
When you walk into their shop you can smell the old-fashioned wooden toys and feel the fairytale atmosphere children love to get lost in… and the adults who bring them often find themselves getting in touch with their inner child, too!
They got in touch with me because they were hosting British writer Linda Newbery to talk about her book Lob.
Alessia and Dario wanted to interview her for a public event, with the audience being able to interact. To do this they needed someone to translate between English and Italian.
take me to Lob
Working together
Request and meeting
I’d already worked with Alessia and Dario in the past so we already knew one another. When they found out that writer Linda Newbery wanted to launch her book Lob, they immediately asked me if I could help them with the event.
We met to discuss how the event would go. For them it was the first time they had interacted with an interpreting service so I explained what would be needed to let the event run smoothly and for me to be able to interpret without any issues.
Preparing for the job
Before the event I read the book both in the original English and the Italian version which had been translated by Luisa Agnese dalla Fontana. That way I was familiar with the text that would be discussed at the event.
I then asked Alessia, who would be doing the interview, to let me know what questions she had for the author so I could study them and get an idea of how the event would unfold.
Services Alessia and Dario chose
The day of the meeting with the author, Alessia and Dario had set up some chairs in their bookshop for the people attending the event. It somehow felt even more inviting than usual! Since we were in a small space and there were only a few people at the event we were able to run the event without any audio equipment like microphones and speakers, since we knew the acoustics were great.
When I arrived I introduced myself to Linda Newbery straight away and explained how things were going to run. Alessia was going to ask questions, I’d translate them into English, the author would respond, and I’d translate what she said into Italian. Then I sat next to Linda Newbery with Alessia opposite us, with the audience to our left, and our conversation began.
For this event we decided to go for consecutive interpreting, which means one person speaks for a few minutes while the interpreter notes the main ideas and once the speaker has finished speaking the interpreter translates out loud with the help of the notes.
This kind of interpreting is often used in situations like book launches where there isn’t a time restriction, since the interpreter repeating and rewording speakers’ messages means events take longer.
…and here we go!
Difficulties
When translating an interview there’s always the uncertainty of how the interviewee will respond. For this job my main worry was references she might make to the text. I’d read the book but was still worried I might not remember what had happened in the parts of the book she mentioned. For Alessia and Dario this was also the first time they’d worked with an interpreter and I was worried they’d find it difficult. Luckily the event went smoothly and the things I thought might be problems while I was preparing and imagining how the event might go didn’t occur.
Results
Interview went smoothly, flowed, and was stress-free.
Dialogue with British author keeping up the rhythm of the conversation and making it understandable to the Italian audience.
Conversation between British author and Italian audience with a question and answer session.
What the client has to say
Francesca is not only a great professional, she also has two precious gifts: she is kind and discreet.
I think that being able to listen to others is a crucial quality for those who act as a bridge between two people and cultures. Her presence at our bookshop when Linda Newbery visited us was of much help.
Thank you!
Get in touch to book English-Italian interpreting services
When hosting one or more people from abroad who don’t speak Italian, the best way to interact with them without facing obstacles is having someone you can trust to translate between both parties. And I’m the right person to do that.
Fill out the contact form and I’ll be back in touch within 48 hours with a quote, outlining the next steps we can take together.
Other occasions you might need a consecutive interpreter
- Training events and seminars: consecutive interpreting can be used for company or private training events.
- Meetings and roundtables: consecutive interpreting can be perfect for productive multilingual meetings, if there aren’t too many people taking part.
