Stephanie Smee
Translator
Stephanie is a translator into English of all things literary and French.
Her other languages, include German, Italian and Swedish.
Having worked as a lawyer in Sydney and London, Stephanie happily traded in a legal career for a return to her linguistic calling. After several years as a legal translator, she left the world of pleadings and contractual documents behind.
Recent translations include Pascal Janovjak's The Rome Zoo, winner of the Swiss Literature Award, amongst other prizes, Hélène Gaudy's astonishing A World with No Shore, and Marie Vingtras' prizewinning Blizzard.
She felt particularly privileged also to translate Joseph Ponthus's deeply affecting and much lauded On the Line: Notes from a Factory, published in 2021.
Recently published also is Hannelore Cayre's fast-paced The Inheritors, published in France as Richesse Oblige. Fans of the fabulously spiky The Godmother (La Daronne) will recognise Cayre's sardonic humour and devilish creativity. The Godmother was included on the NY Times list of 100 Notable Books for 2019 and shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger in Translation award 2020.
Both of Cayre's works posed different challenges to the translation of Françoise Frenkel's, WWII memoir, No Place to Lay One's Head (from the French, Rien où poser sa tête), an extraordinary story of one woman's attempt to survive the horrors of Vichy France. Published in English for the first time by Vintage (PRH, Aust)in 2017, by Pushkin Press (UK) in 2018, and by Simon & Schuster's Atria imprint in the US in December 2019.
Drop by the "Books and Translations" page on this website for a full list of translations and publications.
Stephanie lives in Sydney with her husband, Paul. Her two adult children make appearances when they are not studying and working in other cities.
Stephanie’s passions
When Stephanie doesn’t have her nose in a good book, she is probably thinking about food … what she is going to eat next, what she is planning to cook for family and friends, what she has just devoured!
She is also passionate about art and design and loves nothing more than a good weekend gallery mooch.
Stephanie's Credentials
Stephanie completed her undergraduate studies at Adelaide University, South Australia, and gained a Bachelor of Laws (with Honours) and a Bachelor of Arts (majoring in French Studies).
She then completed an Honours year in French at the University of Sydney writing a thesis in French on various aspects of French criminal law considered from a feminist perspective and for which she was awarded the University Medal and first class honours.
After graduating, Stephanie worked variously as an Associate to his Honour Justice Michael Kirby (former President of the NSW Court of Appeal and Justice of the High Court of Australia), and as a solicitor at Mallesons Stephen Jaques (in Sydney) and Clifford Chance (in London).
In 2003, however, Stephanie decided to return to her initial love of languages and gained her NAATI qualifications for Professional Translation from French>English (Accreditation #46400).
Photography by Stuart Flynn
