I translate into English from Arabic, German and Russian, and co-translate from Ukrainian. My published and forthcoming translations are listed below by source language. See here for more about the languages I teach.
From Arabic
Books
- Ahlam Bsharat, Trees for the Absentees (translated with Sue Copeland, Neem Tree Press, 2019) ~ Shortlisted for the GLLI Translated YA Prize 2020 and for the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize 2020 (crossover YA/adult literary fiction)
- Gulnar Hajo, Nour’s Escape (Darf Publishers, 2019)
- Abir Ali and Gulnar Hajo, The Dot (Darf Publishers, 2019)
- Samar Yazbek, The Crossing: My Journey to the Shattered Heart of Syria (translated with Nashwa Gowanlock; Rider Books, 2015) ~ One of The Independent’s 7 Best Translated Books by Women ~ ‘Powerful and moving … one of the first political classics of the 21st century’ (Observer)
- Fadi Zaghmout, The Bride of Amman (Signal 8 Press, 2015)
Short stories and sample chapters
- Taghreed Najjar, Raghda’s Hat (sample, 2021)
- Eman Abdel Rahim, ‘Two Sisters’ in The Book of Cairo, ed. Raph Cormack (Comma Press, 2019)
- Basma Abdel Aziz, ‘Bottled-Up Messages’ in Sunspot Jungle: The Ever Expanding Universe of Fantasy and Science Fiction, ed. Bill Campbell (Rosarium Publishing, 2019)
- Rania Mamoun, ‘Bird of Paradise’ in Banthology: Stories from Unwanted Nations, ed. Sarah Cleave (Comma Press, 2018)
- Abbad Yahya, excerpt of Crime in Ramallah (Words Without Borders, Divided Countries issue, 2017)
- Basma Abdel Aziz, ‘Bottled Up’ in Index on Censorship: Does anonymity need to be defended? (2016)
- Anis Arafai, ‘Minouche’ in The Common, Issue 11 Tajdeed: Contemporary Arabic Fiction (2016)
- Habib Abdulrab Sarori, excerpt of The Daughter of Suslov (Banipal 52, 2015)
- Mustafa Khalife, two excerpts of The Shell (The Massachusetts Review: Mediterranean edition, 2014)
- Laila al-Othman, The Abaya of al-Kadhim (Banipal 47, 2013)
- Ezzedine Choukri Fishere, excerpt of Abu Omar the Egyptian (First Lines journal vol 2, 2013, available on request)
- Ibrahim Eissa, excerpt of Our Master (The Televangelist) in Banipal 46, 2013, and the International Prize for Arabic Fiction shortlisted authors brochure (2013)
- Mohammed Hasan Alwan, excerpt of The Beaver in Banipal (co-translation, 2012)
Essays
- Samar Yazbek, ‘Divisions or unity? Art and the reality behind the stereotype’ in Life is Elsewhere: Journeys Through World Literature (Pushkin Press, November 2015)
- Samar Yazbek, ‘The turmoil of today’s world: leading writers respond to the refugee crisis’ (The Guardian, 2015)
- Khalid al-Maaly, ‘Interview with poet and publisher Khalid al-Maaly’ in Art and Thought/Fikrun wa Fann magazine, vol. 103 ‘On Literature‘, page 62, print edition only (2015)
- Ziad Abdullah, ‘Edward Said: The late author was just in time’ in The New Arab, 2015
- Samar Yazbek, ‘The novelist vs. the revolutionary: my own Syrian debate‘ in The Washington Post, 2013
- Samar Yazbek, ‘I write with blind eyes and forty fingers‘ (Index on Censorship, 2013)
Plays and film scripts
- Lucien Bourjeily, For Your Eyes Only, Sir/Knife Edge (extract in Index on Censorship, spring 2015, vol. 44)
- Mudar al Haggi, When Farah Cries (joint translation from Arabic with Nashwa Gowanlock), in Another Europe: the Book, published by the European Cultural Foundation
- Lucien Bourjeily, Will it pass or not? (extracts, Index on Censorship, December 2013 vol. 42, 4 pp. 134-148)
- Casting, a screenplay by Palestinian directors Tarzan and Arab
- Jamila Jad, a documentary about Palestinian refugees in Lebanon by Global Lives Project (English subtitles)
From German
Books
- Carlo Masala, If Russia Wins: A Scenario (co-translation with Olena Ebel, Atlantic Books, 2025)
- Meret Wälti, Lia Wälti, Mireille Lachausse, Lia’s Football Journey: Chasing the Dream (Kaleio, 2025)
- Christina Wolff, The Ghosts of Pandora Pickwick (forthcoming from Arctis, 2024)
- Wassily Kandinsky, Concerning the Spiritual in Art (Penguin Classics, 2024)
- Hanna Harms, Milk Without Honey (Flint, an imprint of The History Press, 2024)
- Jackie Thomae, Brothers (DAS Editions, 2024)
- Alida Bremer, Split (Amazon Crossing, 2024)
- Irena Brežná, The Thankless Foreigner (Seagull Books, 2022)
- Ijoma Mangold, The German Crocodile (DAS Editions, 2021)
- David Nelles and Christian Serrer, Small Gases, Big Effect: This Is Climate Change (Particular Books, 2021)
- Katja Frixe, The Magical Bookshop (Oneworld, 2021)
- Ute Daenschel and Kerstin Lücker, A History of the World with the Women Put Back In (co-translation with Jessica West, The History Press, 2019) ~ crossover YA/adult literary fiction
- Heike Faller and Valerio Vidali, Hundred: What You Learn in a Lifetime (co-translation with Günther Krumminga, Particular Books, 2019)
- Peter Wohlleben, Walks in the Wild (Rider Books, 2019)
- Kathrin Rohmann, Apple Cake and Baklava (Darf, 2018)
- Thomas Bärnthaler, Now Make This (co-translation with Jessica West, Phaidon, 2018)
- Peter Wohlleben, The Weather Detective: Rediscovering Nature’s Secret Signs (translated with Jessica West, Rider Books and Dutton Books, 2018)
- Ulrich Raulff, Farewell to the Horse: The Final Century of Our Relationship (Allen Lane, Penguin Random House, 2017) ~ THE SUNDAY TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017 ~ BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week, May 2017 ~ Shortlisted for 2019 Helen & Kurt Wolff Translator’s Prize
- Hanna Winter, Sacrifice (Manilla Books, 2016)
Extracts, essays and sample chapters
- Jackie Thomae, Glück (sample, 2024)
- Nina Kay, All the Fucks We Give and As I Leave (samples, 2024)
- Alida Bremer, Tesla oder die Vollendung der Kreise (sample, 2024)
- Emilia Roig, Why We Matter (sample, 2022)
- ‘Watching the Fall of the Berlin Wall’: short texts by Thomas Brussig, Kathrin Schmidt and David Wagner (The Guardian Review, 2019)
- Nino Haratischwilli, excerpt of My Gentle Twin in New Books in German (co-translation, 2013)
- Irena Brežná, excerpt of The Thankless Stranger in New Books in German (2012)
- Ursula Timea Rossel, excerpt of Take Silver and Garlic, Add Soil and Salt in New Books in German, 2012)
- Sascha Feuchert and Charlotte Knobloch, ‘Should Hitler’s Mein Kampf be republished?’ Index on Censorship 3/2014, and Eurozine 2014
- Thomas Rothschild, ‘The new divide‘ in Index on Censorship, 2014
- Judith Nahrwold, A letter from Istanbul (1), (2) and (3) (Everyday Rebellion, 2013)
From Russian
Books
- Yulia Yakovleva, Death of the Red Rider (Pushkin Vertigo, 2023)
- Anna Anisimova and Yulia Sidneva, The Invisible Elephant (Restless Books, 2023)
- Yulia Yakovleva, Punishment of a Hunter (Pushkin Vertigo, 2021)
- Roman Belyaev, How Do Bridges Work? (B Small, 2020)
- Yulia Yakovleva, The Raven’s Children (Puffin Books, 2018) ~ The Times’ Children’s book of the week, July 2018 ~ BookTrust In Other Words honour title, 2017
- Olzhas Suleimenov, The Prehistory of the Turkic Speaking Peoples (translated with Ian Appleby; TEAS Press, 2016)
- Dimitry Morozov, Kitezh: a Community Approach to Raising Children in Russia (co-translation with Laura Casiraghi and Emily Justice; Eland, 2008)
Extracts, essays and sample chapters
- Polina Graf, Equilibrium (sample, co-translated with Lindsay Munford, 2023)
- Yulia Yakovleva, Abusive Motherland (sample, co-translated with Lindsay Munford, 2023)
Plays and film scripts
- Ilya Chlaki, In the Park, co-translation from Russian with Francisca Everduim; performed by [Foreign Affairs] theatre company, London, August 2014
- A Farewell to Arms: From Belfast to the Balkans, documentary by Armenian director Levon Kalantar
From Ukrainian
Sample chapters
- Katerina Babkina, The Snow Warm (sample co-translated with Olena Ebel, 2023)
- Kateryna Mikhalitsina and Stanislav Dvornytskyi, Reactors Don’t Explode (sample co-translated with Anna Walden, 2022)
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I am also a life-long language learner and I have studied several other Romance, Germanic, Semitic and Slavic languages, keeping them up mainly through reading and listening to podcasts, and travel when possible. I have a good level of reading ability in French, Italian, Maltese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish and Ukrainian. I’m slowly learning Hebrew and Welsh on Duolingo.
Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp 