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Contributor

Clifford E. Landers

Contributor

Clifford E. Landers

Clifford E. Landers has translated from Brazilian Portuguese novels by Rubem Fonseca, Jorge Amado, João Ubaldo Ribeiro, Patrícia Melo, Jô Soares, Chico Buarque, Marcos Rey, Paulo Coelho, and José de Alencar and shorter fiction by Lima Barreto, Rachel de Queiroz, Osman Lins, and Moacyr Scliar. His translation of Pedro Rosa Mendes’s Bay of Tigers: An African Odyssey was published by Harcourt. He received the Mario Ferreira Award in 1999 and a Prose Translation grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for 2004. His Literary Translation: A Practical Guide was published by Multilingual Matters Ltd. in 2001. A professor emeritus at New Jersey City University, he now lives in Naples, Florida.

Articles by Clifford E. Landers

An Appreciation: Rubem Fonseca

By Clifford E. Landers

Rubem Fonseca, one of Brazil's most beloved contemporary writers, died in Rio de Janeiro on April 15, 2020. His translator and friend, Clifford Landers, remembers him in this short tribute. I…

His Very Last Case

By Luiz Carlos Lisboa

His dead friend had asked him to talk to Janice but hadn’t explained why.

Translated from Portuguese by Clifford E. Landers

Multimedia

Belle

By Rubem Fonseca

I don’t enjoy popping anybody, but it's my job.

Translated from Portuguese by Clifford E. Landers

Multilingual

The Hunchback and Botticelli’s Venus

By Rubem Fonseca

A hunchback either becomes impotent or burns in a fire of lasciviousness that never cools for a single instant, like the heat of hell.

Translated from Portuguese by Clifford E. Landers

Multilingual

The Visitor Edward Hopper Received Two Years Before His Death

By Mario Sabino

It is like knowing you are dead every minute of your life.

Translated from Portuguese by Clifford E. Landers

The Platform

By Pena Cabreira

As day dawned in the small town, old Ruschel was already at work assembling the platform, with the care of someone preparing a gallows.

Translated from Portuguese by Clifford E. Landers

A Visit from Alcibiades

By Machado de Assis

Your Excellency must excuse the tremulous handwriting and the rambling style, both of which will soon be better understood.

Translated from Portuguese by Clifford E. Landers

Brazilian Arabesques

By Milton Hatoum

Eight years later, he returned to Beirut with pictures and stories about the Amazon region, which he passed along to his children and relatives.

Translated from Portuguese by Clifford E. Landers

Justice Unbalanced

By Machado de Assis

Such were my scruples that I voted to acquit all but two of the defendants.

Translated from Portuguese by Clifford E. Landers

Settling Accounts

By Paula Parisot

My father abandoned my mother a few months after I was born.

Translated from Portuguese by Clifford E. Landers

Love Begets Love

By Millôr Fernandes

The day, along with Ismael, was dying.

Translated from Portuguese by Clifford E. Landers

The Book of Wheeling

Today, for some unknown reason, I've decided to share with you certain indiscretions that even my wife is unaware of.

Translated from Portuguese by Clifford E. Landers

Mandrake

By Rubem Fonseca

I was White and had fianchettoed my bishop. Berta was mounting a strong center pawn position.

Translated from Portuguese by Clifford E. Landers

The Best Seller

By Germano Almeida

Ceremonious, humble, weighing each word, he extended almost fearfully a timid hand.

Translated from Portuguese by Clifford E. Landers

A Dialogue on Translating Germano Almeida

By Daniel Hahn & Clifford E. Landers

Editors’ Note: This month we present the first in a series of dialogues: two translators produce versions of the same text, then discuss their choices and approaches. Here Daniel Hahn and Clifford…

The Flesh and the Bones

By Rubem Fonseca

We ate worms, the most expensive dish at the restaurant.

Translated from Portuguese by Clifford E. Landers

German Dolls

By Pedro Rosa Mendes

He tried to kiss her. Maman resisted. He became furious. He called her German doll. I didn't see the rest.

Translated from Portuguese by Clifford E. Landers