Sheila Leah Fischman (born 1 December 1937) is a Canadian

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

who specializes in the translation of works of contemporary

Quebec literature This is an article about literature in Quebec. 16th and 17th centuries During this period, the society of New France was being built with great difficulty. The French merchants contracted to transport colonists did not respect their end of t ...

from French to English. Born in

Moose Jaw Moose Jaw is the fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javian ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, she was brought up in Ontario. She holds an M.A. from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

. Fischman is a former editor of the ''

Montreal Star ''The Montreal Star'' was an English-language Canadian newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It closed in 1979 in the wake of an eight-month pressmen's strike. It was Canada's largest newspaper until the 1950s and remained the domina ...

''s book section, as well as a columnist for ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' and the ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of t ...

'' and a broadcaster for

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined belo ...

. She is a founding member of the Literary Translators' Association of Canada and founding co-editor of ''Ellipse: Œuvres en traduction/Writers in Translation''. She lives in Montreal.

Works

Fischman has translated nearly 150

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

s into English, including works by such noted Quebec authors as

Michel Tremblay Michel Tremblay (born 25 June 1942) is a French-Canadian novelist and playwright. Tremblay was born in Montreal, Quebec, where he grew up in the French-speaking neighbourhood of Plateau Mont-Royal; at the time of his birth, a neighbourhood wi ...

Hubert Aquin Hubert Aquin (24 October 1929 – 15 March 1977) was a Quebec novelist, Activism, political activist, essayist, filmmaker and editor. Aquin was born in Montreal and graduated from the Université de Montréal in 1951. From 1951 to 1954, he stu ...

Jacques Poulin Jacques Poulin (born 23 September 1937 in Saint-Gédéon, Quebec) is a Canadian novelist with a quiet and intimate style of writing. Poulin studied psychology and arts at the Université Laval in Quebec City; he started his career as commercial t ...

Suzanne Jacob Suzanne Jacob (born 1943) is a French Canadian novelist, poet, playwright, singer-songwriter, and critic. Life and career Born in the town of Amos, in the Abitibi region of Québec, she studied classics at the Collège Notre-Dame de l'Assompti ...

Anne Hébert Anne Hébert (pronounced in French) (August 1, 1916 – January 22, 2000), was a Canadian author and poet. She won Canada's top literary honor, the Governor General's Award, three times, twice for fiction and once for poetry. Early life Hébe ...

Marie-Claire Blais Marie-Claire Blais (5 October 1939 – 30 November 2021) was a Canadian writer, novelist, poet, and playwright from the province of Québec. In a career spanning seventy years, she wrote novels, plays, collections of poetry and fiction, news ...

Roch Carrier Roch Carrier (born 13 May 1937) is a French Canadian novelist and author of "contes" (a very brief form of the short story). He is among the best known Quebec writers in English Canada. Life He was born in Sainte-Justine, Quebec, and studied at ...

, Yves Beauchemin,

Kim Thúy Kim Thúy Ly Thanh, CQ (born 1968 in Saigon, South Vietnam)

Dominique Fortier Dominique Fortier (born 1972) is a Canadian novelist and translator from Quebec, who won the Governor General's Award for French-language fiction at the 2016 Governor General's Awards for her novel ''Au péril de la mer''.

and

François Gravel François Gravel (born October 4, 1951) is a Canadian writer from Quebec.

Honours and citations

Since 1987, Fischman has received 14 nominations for the

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by th ...

for Translation, receiving the prize in 1998 for ''Bambi and Me'', her translation of

's ''Les vues animés''. She has twice won the

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the fede ...

Prize for Translation (in 1974 and 1984) and the Félix-Antoine Savard Award offered by the Translation Center,

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, for ''Heartbreaks Along the Road'' by Roch Carrier (1989) and ''The First Garden'' by Anne Hébert (1990). Her translation of

Pascale Quiviger Pascale Quiviger (born 1969) is a Canadian writer and artist. Raised and educated in Quebec, she is currently based in the United Kingdom, where she writes, paints, teaches visual arts and practices hypnotherapy. Quiviger is married to former Briti ...

's ''The Perfect Circle'' was a finalist for the 2006

Scotiabank Giller Prize The Giller Prize (sponsored as the Scotiabank Giller Prize), is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried competition be ...

and her translation of ''Am I Disturbing You'' by

was a finalist for the same prize in 2000. Four of Fischman's translations have been selected for

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Frenc ...

: '' Next Episode'' by

in 2003; ''

Volkswagen Blues ''Volkswagen Blues'' is a French-language novel by French-Canadian writer Jacques Poulin, his sixth, which was originally published by Québec-Amérique in 1984 and was re-issued by Babel in 1998. ''Volkswagen Blues'' was translated into English ...

'' by

in 2005; ''

The Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant ''The Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant'' (originally published in French as ''La grosse femme d'à côté est enceinte'', and translated into English by Sheila Fischman in 1981) is a 1978 novel by Canadian author Michel Tremblay. The story takes p ...

'' by

in 2009; and '' Ru'' by

Kim Thúy Kim Thúy Ly Thanh, CQ (born 1968 in Saigon, South Vietnam)

in 2015. Her translations won the competition in 2003 and 2015. In recognition of her work, Fischman has received honorary doctorates from the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottaw ...

and the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to "Uptown" Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also operates ...

. In 2000, she was invested into the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

and, in 2008, made a Knight of the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Govern ...

. She won the 2008

Molson Prize The Thomas Henry Pentland Molson Prize for the Arts is awarded by the Canada Council, Canada Council for the Arts. Two prizes are awarded annually to distinguished individuals. One prize is awarded in the arts, one in the social sciences and human ...

for the Arts.

References

External links

* Archives of Sheila Fischma
(Sheila Fischman fonds, R11732)
are held at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is t ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fischman, Sheila 1937 births Living people French–English translators Members of the Order of Canada Knights of the National Order of Quebec People from Moose Jaw University of Toronto alumni Governor General's Award-winning translators Literary translators 20th-century Canadian translators 21st-century Canadian translators