Frames of Reference: Translation Clemens Meyer, Katy Derbyshire, and Jacques Testard

Clemens Meyer was born in 1977 in Halle and lives in Leipzig. Bricks and Mortar, his first novel to be published in English by Fitzcarraldo Editions, was shortlisted for the German Book Prize, awarded the Bremer Literaturpreis 2014, longlisted for the 2017 Man Booker International Prize, and shortlisted for the 2019 Best Translated Book Awards. His collection of stories, Dark Satellites, appeared with Fitzcarraldo Editions in Katy Derbyshire’s translation in 2020. While We Were Dreaming (Als wir träumten), Meyer’s debut novel, was originally published in Germany in 2007.

Katy Derbyshire translates contemporary German writers, including Judith Hermann, Selim Özdoğan and Inka Parei. Her translations of Clemens Meyer have twice been longlisted for the International Booker Prize. 

Jacques Testard is a co-founder of The White Review and the founder and publisher of Fitzcarraldo Editions. He has published authors including Svetlana Alexievich, Polly Barton, Kate Briggs, Joshua Cohen, Brian Dillon, Mathias Enard, Annie Ernaux, Jon Fosse, Sheila Heti, Esther Kinsky, Fernanda Melchor, Ian Penman, Paul B. Preciado, Jacqueline Rose, Adania Shibli, Maria Stepanova and Olga Tokarczuk.