Tiffany Tsao

Last updated
Tiffany Tsao
Born1983
San Diego, California
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater University of California, Berkeley
Occupation(s)literary translator, writer
Years active2015–present
Notable workThe Majesties, Sergius seeks Bacchus (as translator), People from Bloomington (as translator)
AwardsPEN Translation Prize, NSW Premier's Translation Prize
Website https://tiffanytsao.com/

Tiffany Tsao is an American-born literary translator and writer based in Sydney, Australia. She has translated a number of Indonesian writers into English, including Norman Erikson Pasaribu, Budi Darma, and Dewi Lestari.

Contents

Biography

Tiffany Tsao was born in San Diego, California, United States in 1983. [1] Her family are of Indonesian Chinese background and she lived in Singapore and Jakarta, Indonesia for extended periods during her youth. [1] [2] She did an undergraduate English degree at Wellesley College, a liberal arts college in Massachusetts, graduating in 2004; during that time she began to write her first novel The Oddfits. [2] [1] She did a PhD in English literature at the University of California, Berkeley, finishing in 2009, and formally studied the Indonesian language there as well. [2] [1] [3] After finishing at UC-Berkeley, she worked as an academic teaching English literature at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Sydney, and the University of Newcastle, Australia. [2] In 2015, she left academia to focus full-time on writing and translation, although she remained based in Sydney. [2]

Her first novel, The Oddfits, was published in 2016. [1] [4] The sequel was called The More Known World and came out the following year. [2] Her novel about a Chinese Indonesian family, Under Your Wings, was published in Australia in 2018 and released in the US and UK as The Majesties in 2020 to largely positive reviews. [5] [6]

Tsao became more involved in literary translation after leaving academia. [7] She got the opportunity to start translating Indonesian literary works to English when Indonesia was featured at the Frankfurt Book Fair. [3] She translated a number of works in the late 2010s, including Paper Boats by Dee Lestari (2017) and The Birdwoman's Palate by Laksmi Pamuntjak (2018). The writer she has translated the most is Norman Erikson Pasaribu, her translation of their Sergius seek Bacchus (2018) won the PEN Translates Award. [8] The two developed a close working relationship and friendship. [9] [10] [11] [12] Tsao's English translation of Pasaribu's novel Happy Stories, Mostly won the 2022 Republic of Consciousness Prize and was longlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize [13] [8] At Pasaribu's encouragement, she obtained the rights to translate Budi Darma's Orang-Orang Bloomington, which she had been wanting to translate since first reading the collection in 2016. [14] [15] The English translation was published as People from Bloomington by Penguin Classics in 2022. She corresponded closely with Budi Darma during the translation process, which took place over the COVID-19 pandemic. Tragically, Budi Darma passed away before the English edition's release. [16] The translation was well received, and won a PEN Translation Award as well as a NSW Premier's Translation Prize. [17] [18] [10] [19]

Selected works

As author

As translator

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sergius and Bacchus</span> Early Christian martyrs and saints

Sergiusand Bacchus were fourth-century Syrian Christian soldiers revered as martyrs and military saints by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches. Their feast day is 7 October.

Carrie Tiffany is an English-born Australian novelist and former park ranger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dian Sastrowardoyo</span> Indonesian model and actress (born 1982)

Dian Paramita Sastrowardoyo is an Indonesian actress and model of Javanese descent. She made her recognition lead role as Cinta in Indonesian 2001 film Ada Apa Dengan Cinta?, which won her five Best Actress awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laksmi Pamuntjak</span>

Laksmi Pamuntjak is an Indonesian novelist, poet, journalist and food critic based in Jakarta. In 2016, she won the LiBeraturpreis for the German translation of her debut novel, Amba/The Question of Red. In 2018, the movie adaptation of her second novel, Aruna dan Lidahnya, won two prizes at the Festival Film Indonesia. In 2020, her third novel, Fall Baby, won the Singapore Book Award for Best Literary Work. She also writes widely on culture and politics including for the Jakarta Post and the Indonesian newsmagazine Tempo, as well as international publications such as South China Morning Post and the Guardian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bunga Citra Lestari</span> Indonesian singer and actress

Bunga Citra Lestari, often referred to by her initial BCL, is an Indonesian singer, actress, talent show judge, and television personality of Minangkabau descent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Budi Darma</span> Indonesian writer (1937–2021)

Budi Darma was an Indonesian writer, essayist, and academic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenny Erpenbeck</span> German writer and opera director

Jenny Erpenbeck is a German writer and opera director, recipient of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susane Colasanti</span> American writer

Susane Colasanti is an American author of young-adult fiction and a former high-school science teacher. She has published 11 young-adult titles since 2006. She lives in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Lemaitre</span>

Pierre Lemaitre is a Prix Goncourt-winning French author and a screenwriter, internationally renowned for the crime novels featuring the fictional character Commandant Camille Verhœven.

Events from the year 1995 in Sweden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ananda Devi</span> Mauritian writer

Ananda Devi Nirsimloo-Anenden, also known as Ananda Devi, is a Mauritian author, principally, in the french language. She is the 2024 recipient of the Neustadt Prize, known as the "American Nobel."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Town Literary Festival</span>

The George Town Literary Festival (GTLF) is an annual literary festival which takes place in the city of George Town, Penang, Malaysia. It is currently the largest world literature festival organised in Malaysia and the first literary event in Southeast Asia to receive the Literary Festival Award at the London Book Fair International Excellence Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grozdana Olujić</span> Serbian writer, translator, and literary critic (1934–2019)

Grozdana Olujić was a Serbian writer, translator, editor and critic. Her novels and fairy tales collections have been translated in more than 35 languages. Her awards include the Andrić Award, Zmaj Children Games Award, and Bora Stanković Award.

The Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses is an annual British literary prize founded by the author Neil Griffiths. It rewards fiction published by UK and Irish small presses, defined as those with fewer than five full-time employees. The prize money – initially raised by crowdfunding and latterly augmented by sponsorship – is divided between the publishing house and the author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intan Paramaditha</span> Indonesian writer and feminist academic

Intan Paramaditha is an Indonesian author and noted feminist academic. Her work has been described as focusing on "the intersection between gender and sexuality, culture and politics".

Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash is a 2021 Indonesian black comedy action drama film directed by Edwin who also co-wrote the screenplay with Eka Kurniawan based on Kurniawan's best-selling book of the same name. The film had its world premiere in August 2021 at the 74th Locarno Film Festival, where it won the top prize of Golden Leopard for Best Film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sri Owen</span> Indonesian cooking teacher and food writer

Sri Owen is an Indonesian cooking teacher and food writer, based in London for most of her life. She is the author of the first English-language recipe book dedicated to the food of Indonesia, and is recognised as a leading authority on Indonesian cuisine.

Norman Erikson Pasaribu is an Indonesian-language poet, translator, editor, and writer of short stories.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Tiffany Tsao". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hans, Teddy (26 January 2020). "Tiffany Tsao: Giving outsiders a voice". The Jakarta Post.
  3. 1 2 "Discover the longlist: Tiffany Tsao, 'Indonesian writing can defy foreign expectations'". The Booker Prizes. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  4. ↑ Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh., Nur (10 April 2016). "Fantasy tale set in Singapore: The protagonist in Tiffany Tsao's debut novel can travel to invisible lands". The Straits Times. Singapore.
  5. ↑ Quamme, Margaret (15 November 2019). "The Majesties". The Booklist. No. Vol. 116, Iss. 6. Chicago. p. 26.
  6. ↑ Krishna, Swapna (20 January 2020). "'The Majesties' Is Disturbing, Yet Shockingly Enjoyable". NPR. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  7. ↑ "Interview #154 — Tiffany Tsao". LIMINAL. 2020-11-16. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  8. 1 2 "The Asia Center Welcomes Norman Erikson Pasaribu, 2023-24 Artist in Residence". Harvard University Asia Center. 7 August 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  9. ↑ Heriyanto, Devina (22 January 2019). "'The sound to my voice': Norman Erikson Pasaribu on translator Tiffany Tsao". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  10. 1 2 Westmoreland, Emily. "A chat with Tiffany Tsao". Desperate Literature. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  11. ↑ Palattella, Nina. "Queer Joy Is Complicated in This Story Collection". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  12. ↑ Mazumdar, Arunima (10 February 2023). "Interview: Tiffany Tsao - "Indonesian literature is less well known"". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  13. ↑ "Norman Erikson Pasaribu". thebookerprizes.com. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  14. ↑ Tsao, Tiffany (2021-08-09). "Meet the People from Bloomington! They'll be arriving in English in April!". tiffany tsao. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  15. ↑ sudewo, adam (2023-09-04). "A Conversation with Tiffany Tsao". Medium. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  16. ↑ Tsao, Tiffany (7 February 2023). "When We Became the People from Bloomington". Sydney Review of Books.
  17. ↑ Rockwell, Daisy (9 January 2023). "Lost in translations: A look at some of the best translated works in 2022". India Today. New Delhi.
  18. ↑ "One book just won a record four out of 14 prizes at $350,000 NSW literary awards". ABC News. 22 May 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  19. ↑ "Tsao wins US PEN Translation Prize". Books+Publishing. 7 March 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  20. ↑ "The oddfits". WorldCat. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  21. ↑ "The more known world". WorldCat. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  22. ↑ "The majesties : a novel". WorldCat. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  23. ↑ "Paper Boats". WorldCat. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  24. ↑ "The Birdwoman's palate". WorldCat. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  25. ↑ "Sergius seeks Bacchus". WorldCat. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  26. ↑ "Kitchen curse : stories". WorldCat. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  27. ↑ "Happy stories, mostly". WorldCat. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  28. ↑ "People from Bloomington". WorldCat. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.