Skip to main content
Outdated Browser

For the best experience using our website, we recommend upgrading your browser to a newer version or switching to a supported browser.

More Information

Contributor

Lisa M. Dillman

Contributor

Lisa M. Dillman

Lisa Dillman was raised in California and studied Spanish at the University of California, San Diego, before completing an MA in Spanish literature at Emory and a second MA in literary translation from Middlesex University in London. She is co-editor (with Peter Bush) of the book Spain: A Literary Traveler’s Companion and has translated many novels and scholarly works, including Zigzag (by José Carlos Somoza), The Scroll of Seduction (by Gioconda Belli), Pot Pourri: Whistlings of a Vagabond (by Eugenio Cambaceres), Op Oloop (by Juan Filloy), The Mule, by Juan Eslava Galán (the original novel was turned into a motion picture), Critical Dictionary of Mexican Literature (by Christopher Domínguez Michael), The Frost on His Shoulders (by Lorenzo Mediano), and Me, Who Dove into the Heart of the World (by Sabina Berman). She also co-translated The Polish Boxer, by Eduardo Halfon, with a team of four (Ollie Brock, Daniel Hahn, Thomas Bunstead, and Anne McLean) and Halfon’s novel Monastery with Daniel Hahn. Most recently, she has translated several works by Andrés Barba (After the RainAugustOctoberDeath of a Horse; and Such Small Hands) as well as Yuri Herrera’s Signs Preceding the End of the WorldThe Transmigration of Bodies, and Kingdom Cons. In 2016 she won the Best Translated Book Award for Signs Preceding the End of the World.

Articles by Lisa M. Dillman

Like Two Drops of Water
By Sergi Pàmies
Tempo, for instance: one drop every so often, always the exact same so often, like a time trial in a bicycle race.
Translated from Catalan by Lisa M. Dillman
First Read: From “Breathing Through the Wound”
By Víctor del Árbol
In Víctor del Árbol's novel Breathing Through the Wound, translated by Lisa Dillman and out this week with Other Press, an artist accepts an unusual commission…
Translated by Lisa M. Dillman
House Taken Over
By Yuri Herrera
The house knew how to determine what was important.
Translated from Spanish by Lisa M. Dillman
Multilingual
A Sign
By Julio Durán
On the first attempt, the trigger jammed.
Translated from Spanish by Lisa M. Dillman
Multilingual
Raspberries
By Denise Phé-Funchal
Papá’s words have a dry smell, as dry as the skin on his lips.
Translated from Spanish by Lisa M. Dillman
Multilingual
Holding Pattern
By Juan Villoro
“Villoro always cuts through genres with the precision of a scalpel.”—Javier Marías
Translated from Spanish by Lisa M. Dillman
Multilingual
The Game
By Sergi Pàmies
It’s the son’s idea: he’ll hide in an armoire and, when his father walks by, he’ll jump out and scare him.
Translated from Catalan by Lisa M. Dillman
from “Such Small Hands”
By Andrés Barba
It all started at the zoo: the smell of the zoo, the nervous excitability as we stepped off the minibus.
Translated from Spanish by Lisa M. Dillman
Mr. Beneset
By Quim Monzó
Mr. Beneset’s son arrives at the geriatric home and greets the girl at reception
Translated from Catalan by Lisa M. Dillman
Thirty Lines
By Quim Monzó
The writer begins typing cautiously. He has to write a short story.
Translated from Catalan by Lisa M. Dillman
The Fork
By Quim Monzó
And then, while they’re still standing, taking off their jackets, one of the women accidentally knocks a fork—her own—with her sleeve, causing it to fall to the ground in silence
Translated from Catalan by Lisa M. Dillman
Brine
By Sergi Pàmies
I wake up with an overwhelming urge to cry, but, since today’s going to be a busy day, I decide to cry later.
Translated from Catalan by Lisa M. Dillman
End of the Line
By Sergi Pàmies
Much in the same way that for thirty years he's been incapable of breaking the rules, today he just doesn't see himself having the heart to comply with them.
Translated from Catalan by Lisa M. Dillman
Nocturne
By Andrés Barba
The ad in the “male seeking male” section said: I'm so alone. Roberto. (91) 3077670. and was in among others listing predictable obscenities and a series of oral necessities. Page 43.…
Translated from Spanish by Lisa M. Dillman
Black and White
By Pilar Simó
March twenty-second. Friday night. Everything is in place. The soft metallic chimes of the living room clock strike ten with mathematical precision as you begin the second course; the exact same scene…
Translated from Catalan by Lisa M. Dillman
The Guilty
By Juan Villoro
The scissors lay on the table. They were unusually large. My father used to use them to cut up chickens. Ever since he died, Jorge takes them with him everywhere. Maybe it’s normal for a psychopath…
Translated from Spanish by Lisa M. Dillman