Megan McDowell

Megan McDowell (Kentucky, 1978) is an American literary translator.^[1] She principally translates Spanish-language works into English.

She is known for her translations of contemporary writers such as Mariana Enriquez, Samantha Schweblin and Alejandro Zambra. Her translations have won the National Book Award for Translated Literature, the English PEN award, the Premio Valle-Inclán, and two O. Henry Prizes, and have been nominated for the International Booker Prize (four times) and the Kirkus Prize. Her short story translations have been featured in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, The New York Times Magazine, Tin House, McSweeney's and Granta, among others.^[2]

Originally from Kentucky, she studied English at DePaul University in Chicago. Upon graduation, she worked at the Dalkey Archive Press. She then moved to Chile with the intention of learning Spanish and editing translated literature.^[3] Three years later McDowell returned to the US to study a master's degree in Liberal Arts focusing on translation at UT Dallas.^[4] She then lived briefly in Salt Lake City and Durham. After that, she spent eight months in Portugal and Switzerland. Now, McDowell lives and works in Santiago de Chile.

Her career started with the translation of Alejandro Zambra's The Private Lives of Trees, which she asked the author to translate personally. Since then, she has collaborated with Zambra on the translation of eight more books, including the challenging Multiple Choice (2016).^[5] McDowell has expressed her interest in working directly with the writers she translates to provide the most faithful translation possible.^[4]

Although McDowell has translated a couple of books from peninsular Spanish — Among the Hedges (2021) by Sara Mesa and Divorce Is in the Air (2016) by Gonzalo Torné — she feels more comfortable translating hispanoamerican authors since she is more familiar, not only with these dialects, but also with cultural references. For this reason, she has repeatedly translated the same handful of authors.

• The Mysterious Disappearance of the Marquise of Loria by José Donoso, New Directions, 2025
• Childish Literature by Alejandro Zambra, Penguin/Granta, 2024
• Un lugar acogedor para gente de dudosa reputación, de Mariana Enriquez , Hogarth/Granta, 2024
• El obsceno pájaro de la noche de José Donoso, New Directions, 2024
• Mis documentos, de Alejandro Zambra , Penguin Press, 2024
• Austral, de Carlos Fonseca, FSG/MacLehose, 2023
• Nuestra parte de la noche por Mariana Enriquez
• Siete casas vacías, de Samanta Schweblin , Riverhead/One World, 2023
• Poeta chileno de Alejandro Zambra , Viking/Granta, 2022
• Ayer, de Juan Emar , Pereine Press, 2021
• Sistema nervioso, de Lina Meruane , Graywolf Press, 2021
• Entre los setos, por Sara Mesa, Carta abierta, 2021
• Los peligros de fumar en la cama, de Mariana Enriquez , Granta/Penguin, 2021
• Historia Natural por Carlos Fonseca Suárez, FSG, 2020
• Mi novia favorita era una bulldog francés, por Legna Rodriguez Iglesias, 2020
• Ojitos de Samanta Schweblin , Riverhead, 2020
• Bocado de pájaros de Samanta Schweblin , One World, 2019
• Humillación, de Paulina Flores , Catapult/One World, 2019
• El cuaderno tachado, de Nico Giacobone , Scribner, 2019
• Hermano mayor, de Daniel Mella , Charco Press, 2018
• No leer, de Alejandro Zambra , Ediciones Fitzcarraldo, 2018
• El hijo del Jueves Negro, de Alejandro Jodorowsky , Restless Books, 2018
• Camanchaca de Diego Zúñiga , Coffee House Press, 2017
• Sueño febril, de Samanta Schweblin , Riverhead Books/One World, 2017
• Amar a Pablo, odiar a Escobar, de Virginia Vallejo , Canongate Books, 2017
• Cosas que perdimos en el incendio, de Mariana Enriquez , Hogarth/Granta, 2017
• El divorcio está en el aire, de Gonzalo Torné , Knopf, 2016
• Coronel Lágrimas de Carlos Fonseca Suarez , Libros Inquietos, 2016
• Fantasía de Alejandro Zambra , Ediciones Metales Pesados, 2016
• Opción múltiple de Alejandro Zambra , Penguin, 2016
• Viendo rojo, de Lina Meruane , Deep Vellum, 2016
• Estrellas muertas, de Álvaro Bisama , Ox and Pigeon Press, 2014
• Formas de volver a casa, de Alejandro Zambra , FSG, 2013
• Bajo este sol terrible, de Carlos Busqued , Frisch and Co., 2013
• Historia Natural por Carlos Fonseca Suárez
• La Vida Doble de Arturo Fontaine , Yale Margellos World Republic of Letters, 2013
• La vida privada de los árboles, de Alejandro Zambra, Carta abierta, 2010

• Ganadora del Premio Nacional del Libro 2022 de Literatura Traducida por Siete casas vacías de Samanta Schweblin.
• Ganadora de dos premios O. Henry en 2022 por relato corto.
• Preseleccionado para el Premio Kirkus 2021 por Los peligros de fumar en la cama de Mariana Enriquez ^{[ 6 ]}
• Preseleccionada para el Premio Internacional Man Booker 2021 por Los peligros de fumar en la cama de Mariana Enriquez ^{[ 7 ]}
• Premio de Literatura 2020 de la Academia Estadounidense de Artes y Letras ^{[ 8 ]}
• Preseleccionada para el Premio Internacional Man Booker 2020 por Little Eyes de Samanta Schweblin ^{[ 9 ]}
• Preseleccionada para el Premio Internacional Man Booker 2019 por Mouthful of Birds de Samanta Schweblin ^{[ 10 ]}
• Ganadora del Premio Valle-Inclan 2018 por Seeing Red de Lina Meruane ^{[ 11 ]}
• Preseleccionada para el Premio Internacional Man Booker 2017 por Fever Dream de Samanta Schweblin ^{[ 12 ]}
• Ganador del premio English PEN Translates Award 2013 por Ways of Going Home de Alejandro Zambra ^{[ 13 ]}