Photo of Ruth Martin

Translator. Teacher. Co-creator.

I'm Ruth Martin, a German-to-English book translator.

Over the past fifteen years, I've translated authors including Shida Bazyar, Nino Haratischvili, Volker Weidermann, and Joseph Roth.

I am always on the lookout for new voices and compelling stories to share.

. . .

I spend most of my time translating everything from non-fiction titles to children's books.

I am also a keen advocate for the art and craft of translation. I’m a former co-chair of the Translators Association (part of the UK’s Society of Authors),
and I teach translation at universities, conferences, and workshops.

Published Works

Click the book covers below for more information about my latest translations, including Bazyar's Sisters in Arms, an explosive feminist and antiracist novel about the importance of friendship; and Brüggemeier’s The Age of Coal, a critical look at the past, present, and future of European energy production.

Previous clients

Teaching Experience

Delivered a workshop on Kafka’s Metamorphosis for students at the École Jeannine Manuel (London)

March 2024

Learn more about the École Jeannine Manuel

Led a translation workshop for students in years 11-13 at Marlborough College and various local state schools

January 2023

Secondary schools

Associate Lecturer in German, University of Kent

September 2014 - June 2017

Higher education

Tutor on the programme’s German strand

Every July since 2021

Learn more about the Bristol Translates series

Bristol Translates Summer School

Facilitated an online workshop with German author Ulrike Draesner

March 2022

Read more about the event here

Goethe-Institut Award for New Translation

Led a workshop on academic translation. Organisers included the Frankfurt Book Fair and the German Historical Institute in London

2-3 May 2019

Find out more about the GINT Translab here

GINT Translab

In the media →

← Recent & Upcoming Events

  • Translation of Angela Merkel autobiography due for publication

    This summer, I have been part of a team of translators working on Angela Merkel's forthcoming memoir, Freedom.

    Read more

  • Moth Books sign two-book translation deal with Iris Wolff

    I will be translating Blurred and Clearings by German author Iris Wolff.

    Read more

  • Interview with VQ

    Earlier this year, Katy Derbyshire interviewed me for VQ Magazine; read to find out my pick for the best German books of 2023.

    Read more

  • Haratischvili epic to be adapted into TV series

    Nino Haratischvili's epic family saga The Eighth Life is being made into a TV series by production companies Ink Factory and Amusement Park.

    Read more

  • European Conference on Literary Translation

    2 - 4 Oct 2024

    I will be attending CEATL's conference on literary translation in Strasbourg. Please drop me a line if you’ll be there too!

    Read more

  • Sisters in Arms: Book launch at the Goethe-Institut London

    8 Feb 2024

    The Goethe Institute in London hosted a book launch event for my translation of Shida Bazyar’s work.

    Read more

  • Ruth Martin in Conversation with Ursula Knoll

    7 Mar 2024

    Author Ursula Knoll and I took part in the Encounters discussion series hosted at Senate House, University of London.

    Read more

  • Bristol Translates summer school

    1-5 July 2024

    I’ve now delivered workshops on German translation for four years in a row at the Bristol Translates Literary Translation summer school.

    Read more

About Me

Photo of Ruth Martin

Photo: Michael Jershov.

Why I translate: Literary translators are passionate readers, first and foremost, and that has been my great love since I was a child. Translation is a kind of radical reading, a process of internalising someone else’s writing, someone else’s voice, and then recreating it in your own language. It’s a challenge that never gets old. I try to approach every text, whether fiction or nonfiction, with fresh eyes and a willingness to learn something new about the world and my own craft. And I love working with authors and editors to serve that text and make it the best it can be.

Qualifications

BA English and European Literature, University of Warwick, 2001 (1st class)

PhD German, Birkbeck, University of London 2006 - awarded for thesis on Franz Kafka and the Brentano School of philosophers

Distinctions

2020 Warwick Prize for Women in Translation for The Eighth Life, with author Nino Haratischvili and co-translator Charlotte Collins

Longlisted for 2020 International Booker Prize (The Eighth Life)

Get in touch…

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Member of

Click to visit the Society of Authors' page focussing on the Translators Association