Daniel Hahn on 'If this be Magic - The Unlikely Art of Shakespeare in Translation'

About this episode

Daniel Hahn discusses the intricacies of translating Shakespeare's works across different languages and cultures.

What does it take to carry Shakespeare across languages — not just his plots and his characters, but the very heartbeat of his verse? Today I'm speaking with Daniel Hahn, one of the most celebrated literary translators working today. With several works to his credit, he has translated fiction, nonfiction, children's books, and plays from across Europe, Africa, and the Americas. He is the recipient of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, the International Dublin Literary Award, the Blue Peter Book Award, and the 2023 Ottaway Award for the Promotion of International Literature. In 2020, he was appointed an OBE for his services to literature. Daniel's new book, If This Be Magic: The Unlikely Art of Shakespeare in Translation , is part love letter, part close reading, and part globe-trotting investigation — one that took him from Budapest theatre seats to Zoom calls with translators working in everything from Swahili to Bangla. It's a book that asks: when you change everything, can you still keep everything? published in April 2026 - If This Be Magic: The Unlikely Art of Shakespeare in Translation by Daniel Hahn is a non-fiction book exploring how Shakespeare's plays are…

People in this episode

Host: Harshaneeyam

Guest: Daniel Hahn

Topics covered

• Shakespeare
• translation
• literary art
• cultural adaptation
• global literature

Keywords

• Shakespeare
• translation
• literary translation
• Daniel Hahn
• global literature
• cultural adaptation
• non-fiction

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, International Dublin Literary Award, Blue Peter Book Award, Ottaway Award for the Promotion of International Literature

Books & works: If This Be Magic: The Unlikely Art of Shakespeare in Translation

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