# Alison Entrekin
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{{Short description|Australian translator}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Alison Entrekin
| image =
| caption =
| occupation = [Literary translator](/source/Literary_translator)
| notable_works = ''City of God'', ''Budapest'', ''My Sweet Orange Tree'', ''Near to the Wild Heart'', ''Vastlands: The Crossing''
| known_for = Translations of Brazilian and Portuguese literature
| awards = New South Wales Premier’s Translation Prize (2019), PEN Medallion, AAWP Translators’ Prize (2022)
| years_active = 2000s–present
}}
'''Alison Entrekin''' is an Australian literary translator known for her translations of Brazilian and Portuguese literature into English. She has translated over forty books, including works by [Chico Buarque](/source/Chico_Buarque), [Paulo Lins](/source/Paulo_Lins), [José Mauro de Vasconcelos](/source/Jos%C3%A9_Mauro_de_Vasconcelos), [Cristóvão Tezza](/source/Crist%C3%B3v%C3%A3o_Tezza), and [Clarice Lispector](/source/Clarice_Lispector).[{{Cite web |title=Alison Entrekin, a australiana que traduz grandes obras da literatura brasileira para o inglês |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/language/portuguese/pt/podcast-episode/alison-entrekin-a-australiana-que-traduz-grandes-obras-da-literatura-brasileira-para-o-ingles/ypkfq69id |access-date=2025-09-11 |website=SBS Language |language=en}}]
== Early life and education ==
Entrekin studied creative writing in [Perth](/source/Perth) before pursuing literary translation in Brazil, where she lived for 24 years before returning to Australia.[{{Cite web |date=2020-11-16 |title=Playing Frankenstein: An Interview with Alison Entrekin |url=https://www.thecommononline.org/playing-frankenstein-an-interview-with-alison-entrekin/ |access-date=2025-09-11 |website=The Common |language=en-US}}]
== Career ==
Entrekin began her literary translation career in the early 2000s. Her first major work was the English translation of ''[City of God](/source/City_of_God_(Lins_novel))'' by Paulo Lins, published in 2004.[{{Cite news |date=2015-08-20 |title=Translation challenges: From gang slang to poetic rabbits |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-33862106 |access-date=2025-09-11 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}] She also translated ''[Budapest](/source/Budapeste)'' by Chico Buarque, which was shortlisted for the 2005 [Independent Foreign Fiction Prize](/source/Independent_Foreign_Fiction_Prize).[{{Cite news |last=Tomkin |first=Boyd |date=28 January 2005 |title=A Week in Books: 2005's ''Independent ''Foreign Fiction Prize longlist |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/a-week-in-books-2005-s-independent-foreign-fiction-prize-longlist-17038.html |work=The Independent}}]
Her translation of ''[My Sweet Orange Tree](/source/Meu_P%C3%A9_de_Laranja_Lima)'' by José Mauro de Vasconcelos was published in 2008. In 2012, she translated ''The Eternal Son'' by Cristóvão Tezza, which was shortlisted for the 2012 [IMPAC Dublin Literary Award](/source/IMPAC_Dublin_Literary_Award).[{{Cite web |title=Alison Entrekin |url=https://dublinliteraryaward.ie/the-library/translator/alison-entrekin/ |access-date=2025-09-11 |website=Dublin Literary Award |language=en-US}}] The same year, she published her translation of Clarice Lispector’s ''[Near to the Wild Heart](/source/Near_to_the_Wild_Heart)'', shortlisted for the 2013 [PEN America](/source/PEN_America) Translation Prize.[{{Cite web |last=kanopi_admin |date=2013-07-25 |title=2013 PEN Translation Prize |url=https://pen.org/2013-pen-translation-prize/ |access-date=2025-09-11 |website=PEN America |language=en-US}}][{{Cite web |title=Alison Entrekin {{!}} Author |url=https://scribepublications.com.au/authors/alison-entrekin |access-date=2025-09-11 |website=Scribe}}]
Her current major project is a new English translation of [João Guimarães Rosa](/source/Jo%C3%A3o_Guimar%C3%A3es_Rosa)’s ''[Grande Sertão: Veredas](/source/Grande_Sert%C3%A3o%3A_Veredas)''.[{{Cite web |date=2025-03-14 |title=Guimarães Rosa: a saga de uma década para traduzir para o inglês o 'intraduzível' 'Grande Sertão: Veredas' |url=https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/articles/c0jne696zwno |access-date=2025-09-11 |website=BBC News Brasil |language=pt-br}}] She was sought by the agency representing the author's heirs in 2014 with an offer to do a new translation of the book; the first one (titled ''The Devil to Pay in the Backlands'') was made in 1965 by Harriet de Onís.[{{Cite web |date=2020-01-31 |title=Tradutora da nova versão para o inglês de 'Grande Sertão: Veredas' detalha desafios do processo - Verso |url=https://diariodonordeste.verdesmares.com.br/verso/tradutora-da-nova-versao-para-o-ingles-de-grande-sertao-veredas-detalha-desafios-do-processo-1.2205307 |access-date=2025-09-11 |website=Diário do Nordeste |language=pt-br}}] The first translation was criticized for not conveying the inventiveness of Rosa's language, who worked with the regionalisms and syntax of the people from the [Sertão](/source/Sert%C3%A3o) and created new words.[{{Cite web |date=2015-07-02 |title=Flip 2015: Alison Entrekin busca apoio para nova tradução da obra-prima de Guimarães Rosa |url=https://oglobo.globo.com/cultura/livros/flip-2015-alison-entrekin-busca-apoio-para-nova-traducao-da-obra-prima-de-guimaraes-rosa-16636258 |access-date=2025-09-11 |website=O Globo |language=pt-BR}}] Entrekin got a funding grant from [Itaú Cultural](/source/Ita%C3%BA_Cultural) foundation to undertake the project and took ten years working on the new translation.[{{Cite news |last=Matsuda |first=Alicia |date=2024-10-23 |title=No Brasil, australiana fala sobre a década traduzindo Grande Sertão: Veredas |url=https://jornal.usp.br/cultura/no-brasil-australiana-fala-sobre-a-decada-traduzindo-grande-sertao-veredas/ |work=Jornal da USP |language=pt}}]
An excerpt of this translation won the 2022 AAWP Translators' Prize, and the full translation is scheduled to be published by [Simon & Schuster](/source/Simon_%26_Schuster) in 2027[{{Cite web |title=Aos 70, ‘Grande Sertão: Veredas’ causa fascínio (e desespero) em tradutores pelo mundo |url=https://veja.abril.com.br/cultura/aos-70-grande-sertao-veredas-causa-fascinio-e-desespero-em-tradutores-pelo-mundo/ |access-date=2026-04-05 |website=VEJA |language=pt-BR}}] under the title ''Vastlands: The Crossing.''[{{Cite web |title=Prizes {{!}} Australasian Association of Writing Programs |url=https://aawp.org.au/news/opportunities/ |access-date=2025-09-11 |language=en-AU}}][{{Cite web |last=PublishNews |title=Tradutora radicada no Brasil ganha prêmio internacional |url=https://www.publishnews.com.br/materias/2022/09/21/tradutora-radicada-no-brasil-ganha-premio-internacional |access-date=2025-09-11 |website=PublishNews |language=pt-br}}]
Entrekin’s shorter works and translations have appeared in journals and magazines including ''[Words Without Borders](/source/Words_Without_Borders)'',[{{Cite web |title=Search |url=https://wordswithoutborders.org/search/ |access-date=2025-09-11 |website=Words Without Borders |language=en}}] ''[Granta](/source/Granta),''[{{Cite web |last=Kingston |first=Tom |date=2012-11-30 |title=That Year in Rishikesh |url=https://granta.com/that-year-in-rishikesh/ |access-date=2025-09-11 |website=Granta |language=en-US}}] ''[Modern Poetry in Translation](/source/Modern_Poetry_in_Translation)'',[{{Cite web|url=https://modernpoetryintranslation.com/search/?s=&language=&poet=&translator=8466|title=Search Results for "" – Modern Poetry in Translation}}] ''[Wasafiri](/source/Wasafiri)''[{{Cite journal |last=Fuentes |first=Susana |date=2015-04-03 |title=Tiger and the Silk Cotton Tree: Translated by Alison Entrekin |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/02690055.2015.1011406 |journal=Wasafiri |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=64–65 |doi=10.1080/02690055.2015.1011406 |issn=0269-0055|url-access=subscription }}] and ''[The White Review](/source/The_White_Review).''[{{Cite web |title=The Urban Cyclist |url=https://www.thewhitereview.org/fiction/the-urban-cyclist/ |access-date=2025-09-11 |website=The White Review |language=en-US}}]
== Awards and recognition ==
Entrekin won the 2019 New South Wales Premier’s Translation Prize and PEN Medallion, after being shortlisted for the prize in 2009, 2011, and 2013. She received the 2022 AAWP Translators’ Prize for an excerpt of ''Great Sertão: Meanderings.''[{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2020-03-03 |title=Alison Entrekin -Winner of the 2019 Translation Prize. |url=https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/awards/translation-prize/2019-winner-alison-entrekin |access-date=2025-09-11 |website=State Library NSW}}]
She has also been shortlisted for the 2005 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, the 2012 IMPAC Dublin Literary Award,[{{Cite web |title=ALTA |url=https://literarytranslators.org/ |access-date=2025-09-12 |website=ALTA |language=en-US}}] and placed third in the 2023 Stephen Spender Poetry Prize for a co-translation from Portuguese.[{{Cite web |title=Stephen Spender Prizewinners 2023 |url=https://www.stephen-spender.org/stephen-spender-prizewinners-2023/ |access-date=2025-09-12 |website=Stephen Spender Trust |language=en-US}}]
In April 2026, she was awarded the [Order of Rio Branco](/source/Order_of_Rio_Branco) from the Brazilian government.[{{Cite web |title=Tradutora australiana de 'Grande Sertão: Veredas' recebe Ordem do Rio Branco |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/language/portuguese/pt/podcast-episode/tradutora-australiana-de-grande-sertao-veredas-recebe-ordem-do-rio-branco/r1dq2emun |access-date=2026-05-13 |website=SBS Language |language=en}}][{{Cite web |title=Diário Oficial da União {{!}} Edição: 79 {{!}} Seção: 1 {{!}} Página: 1 |url=https://www.in.gov.br/web/dou/-/decretos-de-28-de-abril-de-2026-702085348 |access-date=2026-05-13 |website=Imprensa Nacional}}]
== Translation style and approach ==
In conversations, Entrekin has talked about how hard it is to translate literary works, especially when it comes to modernist and experimental works. In an interview with [Asymptote Journal](/source/Asymptote_(magazine)), she talked about how her immersion in Brazilian society helped her to communicate complex language. [{{Cite web |title=In Conversation: Portuguese translator Alison Entrekin - Asymptote Blog |url=https://www.asymptotejournal.com/blog/2015/02/18/interviewing-portuguese-translator-alison-entrekin/ |access-date=2025-09-11 |language=en}}] In [The Common](/source/The_Common_(magazine)), she wrote about how hard it was to translate Rosa's ''Grande Sertão: Veredas'' into English while still being true to the original and also making it easy for new readers to understand.[{{Cite web |date=2021-07-05 |title=The Many Souls of Clarice Lispector's Translators |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-many-souls-of-clarice-lispectors-translators |access-date=2025-09-11 |website=Los Angeles Review of Books}}]
== Selected works ==
* ''City of God'' by Paulo Lins (2004)[{{Cite book |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/chico-buarque/budapest/ |title=BUDAPEST {{!}} Kirkus Reviews |language=en}}] Publishers Weekly highlighted her translation of City of God for its “raw, visceral energy”
== References ==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[https://alisonentrekin.com/ Alison Entrekin's official page]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Entrekin, Alison}}
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Living people
Category:21st-century Australian translators
Category:Translators from Portuguese
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Alison Entrekin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alison_Entrekin) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alison_Entrekin?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.