I’m a South African translator and editor who accidentally ended up in this profession. Perhaps serendipitously, rather, because nothing beats the thrill of finding the perfect word.

Originally from a farm in the Free State, I have a Sesotho name, Puleng, which means rain. Reluctant townie turned city girl and international resident.

Lapsed musician with an honours degree in psychology is another label – probably the most unlikely combo to land a job compiling a cookbook. But in 2007, that was precisely what happened. By the time Gogo’s Kitchen became a winner at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards of 2008, the career change had already taken place; I just had to get on and hold for dear life or be left behind.

I’ve been translating and editing in many different fields ever since, but my biggest fascination is people. I’m intrigued by how we become what we become and how that interacts with the language we use - enchanted by our stories and how we tell them.

TRANSLATION

Being able to translate information or a story from one language to another is as much a responsibility as it is a privilege because it is not only about the language. It is about culture and the place of one group of people in the world relative to another.
But you won’t have a culture if, on a smaller scale, you do not have the intimate spaces where we live. Yes, even the kitchens, because recipes are stories too – the stories of our mothers, our grandmothers, and great-grandmothers, going back for generations.
And somewhere in that mix, each of our individual stories has their place, too. We belong there. Like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

EDITING

Editing is like getting rid of the smog in the early morning of someone’s work – be it a novel, a report, an academic thesis, or whatever the content comprises. It brings that work into bright daylight, and to see it take shape is simply delightful.