Reviews and samples

“The collaborative translation between Ahmedzai Kemp and Copeland is admirable: in particular, the dialogue reads very well – there were times when I could visualise the characters’ interchange so clearly, it read almost like a playscript.”

Helen Vassallo, Translating Women blog, on Trees for the Absentees

“Raulff’s prose – or Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp’s translation – is lyrical and lucid”

Joe Culley, The Irish Times, of Farewell to the Horse

“While the plot has enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing, it is the novel’s dark and menacing atmosphere, built up through telling detail, that is the strongest source of suspense. Punishment of a Hunter is as bone-chilling as a freezing winter fog over Leningrad.”

Fiona Graham, European Literature Network, of Punishment of a Hunter

“Beautifully translated by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp and billed as the first in a ‘Leningrad Confidential’ series of detective novels, Punishment of a Hunter establishes Yulia Yakovleva as a talent to watch.”

Martin Doyle, The Irish Times, of Punishment of a Hunter

“Yakovleva and this translation by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp has produced a startlingly clear portrait of the era laced with bite and a grim, satirical humour.”

Marina Sofia, Finding Time to Write, of Punishment of a Hunter

“Extraordinarily powerful, poignant and affecting. I was greatly moved”

Michael Palin, of The Crossing: My Journey to the Shattered Heart of Syria

Online samples of my work

Translations from Arabic

Translations from German