08/09/2025
With all the love THE JELLYFISH has been getting, now is a great time to revisit this interview author Boum did with François Vigneault over at Broken Frontier! They discussed many elements of the creation of the book, including the translation process between Boum and her Sophie Castille Award-nominated translators Robin Lang and Helge Dascher:
FV: Were there any challenges in translating the book from French into English?
Boum: It’s actually the first time I worked with translators. I speak English, and I had self-published books, and I would do the translation myself. I mean, it works, but working with translators means that The Jellyfish will have the best translation I’ve ever had. It was an interesting process to see how translators Robin Lang and Helge Dascher made my book their own in some way. Translating is not like doing a literal word-for-word translation of every speech balloon in the book. I was able to work with them, which I guess wouldn’t be the case with a language I don’t speak at all. So it was really, really cool to see the both of them at work, and then having a conversation with them. They would ask me questions: “Do you think she’d rather say this or that?” That was really interesting. I don’t know if it was a challenge, it’s like looking at my own work with a new set of eyes, like I didn’t write it. It feels so different. It’s great—probably better at some points! I feel like some scenes are tighter, and have more punch to them. I know other authors who’ve felt the same way; it doesn’t feel like it’s entirely yours anymore, but it’s a good thing.
FV: There’s an element of collaboration that comes into it with that, and it can kind of open up new windows, or new doors.
Read the full interview online!
François Vigneault speaks to cartoonist Boum about new book 'The Jellyfish', out next week from Pow Pow Press.
