Catching Fire: A Translation Diary

An energizing real-time journey through the translation of Never Did the Fire and the process of literary translation.

In Catching Fire, the translation of Diamela Eltit’s Never Did the Fire unfolds in real time as a conversation between works of art, illuminating both in the process. The problems and pleasures of conveying literature into another language–what happens when you meet a pun? a double entendre?–are met by translator Daniel Hahn’s humor, deftness, and deep appreciation for what sets Eltit’s work apart, and his evolving understanding of what this particular novel is trying to do.