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Contributor

Lawrence Schimel

Portrait of translator Lawrence Schimel
Contributor

Lawrence Schimel

Born in New York City in 1971, Lawrence Schimel has lived in Madrid since 1999. He writes in both Spanish and English, and has published over 100 titles as author or anthologist, in various genres and for all ages, including the poetry collection Desayuno en la cama; the graphic novel Vacaciones en Ibiza; and many children’s books, including ¡Vamos a ver a papá!, ¿Como se dice?, and Volando cometas. Una barba para dos (Spain, Dos Bigotes) is his first book of fiction for adults written in Spanish. His picture book No hay nada como el orginal (Destino) was selected by the International Youth Library in Munich for the White Ravens 2005 and his picture books ¿Lees un libro conmigo? (Panamericana) and Igual que ellos/Just Like Them (Ediciones del Viento) were selected by IBBY for Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities in 2007 and 2013 respectively. His other awards include the Lambda Literary Award, the Independent Publisher Book Award, and the Spectrum Award. His writing has been translated into over thirty languages, including Icelandic, Maltese, Estonian, and Turkish. In addition to his own writing, he works as a Spanish-English literary translator.

Articles by Lawrence Schimel

Bruises
By Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro
It's not very clear to me if he was asking for help or wanting me to leave them alone.
Translated from Spanish by Lawrence Schimel
Translators as Bridge Builders: A Dispatch from the Guadalajara International Book Fair
By Lawrence Schimel
At this year’s Guadalajara International Book Fair, I took part in a roundtable discussion about the role of translation in the internationalization of literary texts, along with David Unger, a…
“Bird Spirit” and “Handful of Earth”
By Fredy Chicangana
These songs to Mother Earth in a major key / are whispers that come from distant forests
Translated from Spanish by Lawrence Schimel
“Wayuu (II)” and “Roots”
By Vito Apushana
We are life, this way
Translated from Spanish by Lawrence Schimel
The Indecency Club
By Trifonia Melibea Obono
The Fang forest is a free space. Now you are free.
Translated from Spanish by Lawrence Schimel
An Interview with Maria Cabrera
By Lawrence Schimel
Catalan writer Maria Cabrera’s poems appear in the April 2017 issue: You Will Not Be Born Again: Catalan Literature Now. Join Words Without Borders for an evening of Catalan poetry with Maria, translator Mary…
Three Microfictions
By Lawrence Schimel
It wasn’t a question of my boss finding out I’m gay . . .
Translated from Spanish by Sandra Kingery
Living with the Beast
By Santiago Roncagliolo
To tame this beast, two reins are needed.
Translated from Spanish by Lawrence Schimel
Multilingual
Gabo: A Magical Life
By Oscar Pantoja, Tatiana Córdoba & Felipe Camargo
Gabo saw a shattered landscape, aged, forgotten by its people.
Translated by Lawrence Schimel
The Book of Denial
By Ricardo Chávez Castañeda
This story is the worst story in the world—it's just terrible.
Translated from Spanish by Lawrence Schimel
Exilium Ergo Sum
By Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo
It is impossible to find one's own path in literature without a certain verbal violence.
Translated from Spanish by Lawrence Schimel
Multilingual
For Nina
By Javier Malpica
I opened it and wrote the first date, and what would be the first chapter of that extraordinary life that was my own.
Translated from Spanish by Lawrence Schimel
Harpooned Woman
By Anna Lidia Vega Serova
We bit one another mercilessly.
Translated from Spanish by Lawrence Schimel
Multilingual