Interview with Olga Savary

Abstract

Overview As a pioneer of the erotic poetry in Brazil, the poetry artist (as she prefers to be referred to), writer, journalist, and translator Olga Savary has been working in translations of major literature masterpieces, in addition to many prizes awarding and recognition for her own work. She is the most celebrated translator for Pablo Neruda’s in Brasil, although she has also translated other relevant Hispano-American literature authors, e.g., Octavio Paz, Carlos Fuentes, Julio Cortázar, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Laura Esquivel. In 1980, she was awarded the Odorico Mendes Translation Prize, from the Academia Brasileira de Letras, for her version of “Conversa na Catedral” (Conversation in the Cathedral by Mário Vargas Llosa). In 1994, she was awarded the Jabuti Translation Prize for her version of “Como água para chocolate” (Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies by Laura Esquivel). She also performed indirect translations of great haiku masters: Bashô, Buson, and Issa.In an exclusive interview at her apartment in Rio the Janeiro, in spite of her 84 years, the author tells us about her journey as a translator, filling up the narrative with spirited and ironic stories