Kirsty Olivant
We publicise a member profile every Monday here on our website, on our Facebook page, on Twitter @NWTN_UK and on LinkedIn. If you want to join us in this opportunity to share a little about yourself with your fellow NWTN members, download the questionnaire from the Member Resources area and send it to our Comms Officer.
Where do you live/work?
I live and work from home in Carrbrook, a small village just outside of Stalybridge.
Are you mainly a translator or interpreter or both? What languages?
I translate from French, German, Spanish and Catalan into English.
What are your specialist fields?
I’d say I’m a bit of a Jack of all trades, but I mainly work on technical, marketing, legal, tourism and medical texts.
What’s the strangest/most interesting project you’ve ever worked on?
The strangest project was one that came in last year and was a translation from Spanish to English of a text about an e-rosary. The rosary was linked to an app and, as well as keeping track of your prayers, it also counts your steps!
Tell us about a particularly proud moment in your translation career:
Seeing my name on the cover of a novel I translated. Immortal Shadows by Jannes C. Kramer if anyone likes thrillers! The original title in German was Schattentäter if, like me, you prefer to read the original version where possible.
Tell us two reasons why you like being a translator/interpreter:
I’ve been fascinated by languages ever since I was given a French phrase book at the age of nine, so working with languages was a no-brainer for me. I also love the fact that each project is different from the last and I learn so much about so many different things.
What is the most interesting place where you have lived/visited?
It has to be the rainforest in the north of Peru, where I stayed for a week several years ago. It’s worlds apart from anything I’ve ever experienced here in Europe.
What are your plans for professional development or a new field you’d like to work in?
I would like to specialise more in the area of medical translation, probably in the field of clinical trials, which seems to send a fair bit of work my way and is also a field with the potential to help a lot of people.
Tell us something not many people know about you:
I spent my early childhood living above a pub that my parents ran. That probably explains my love of wine, beer, cider, gin…
