Heidi Kerschl
We will publicise a member profile every Monday here on our website, on our Facebook page, on Twitter @NWTN_UK and on LinkedIn. We are starting off with the committee members, but we hope you will all join us in this opportunity to share a little about yourself with your fellow NWTN members.
Where do you live/work?
I work from our home outside Stockport, where on a clear day if I stand on tiptoe is I can see the hills of the Peak District.
Are you mainly a translator or interpreter or both? What languages?
I used to do both, but these days I mainly work as a translator into German, copywriter and editor.
What are your specialist fields?
I used to do quite a lot of medical translations, but these days my clients work mainly in IT and marketing, management and sales training. But I also love translating tourism websites which give me the opportunity to exercise my adjectives.
What’s the strangest/most interesting project you’ve ever worked on?
Perhaps the most groundbreaking work was products and information directed at transvestites and transsexuals in the 1990s when the LGBT community was just beginning to gain recognition. However, when I was asked whether I could translate French porn, I had to admit that I lacked the relevant vocabulary.
Tell us about a particularly proud moment in your translation career:
There have been many proud moments over the years, basically every time when a client came back with positive feedback, or when I see how my input helps other translators to become more creative and confident. And I guess whenever my eye catches my ATC Freelancer of the Year 2018 trophy which sits on my windowsill, it boosts my own confidence.
Tell us two reasons why you like being a translator/interpreter:
I learn something new every day, and I know a little about a lot.
What is the most interesting place where you have lived/visited?
Travelling through the US on one of the iconic Greyhound buses to the soundtrack of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA”, and living with my relatives in the US for a brief spell in my 20s was fascinating, especially experiencing the contrast between the deep South and the frozen North.
What are your plans for professional development or a new field you’d like to work in?
I would like to do more of my own writing. Therefore I am really looking forward to the upcoming NWTN creative writing workshop with Ros Mendy and Alison Layland on 25th April 2020.
Tell us something not many people know about you:
Most of you probably know me quite well by now, and it will probably not surprise you to hear that when I was 16, my favourite mode of transport was a pair of rollerskates that I had stolen from my younger brother.
