Daniel Levin Becker expressed his honor at being longlisted for the 2023 International Booker Prize, which equally recognizes the achievements of translators and authors. He shared that winning the prize would provide valuable funding for new translation projects through his small press, Fern Books.
Read More
The translation of The Birthday Party took him six intense months. Becker described his process as dynamic, reading the book once before translating it in sequential passes, allowing for multiple revisions.
Working with the author, Laurent Mauvignier, was a pleasant experience for Becker. Due to Mauvignier's limited English, their collaboration was not deeply interactive. Becker sought Mauvignier's input mainly when he encountered challenges with certain unconventional phrases.
While he acknowledged comparisons to authors like Javier Marías and Virginia Woolf, Becker noted that he had never encountered a book quite like The Birthday Party. He humorously mentioned that he avoided watching Michael Haneke’s film Funny Games as part of his inspiration.