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I have always liked books ever since I learned to read at age 5, and I have never stopped reading since then. But, how is it that I translate (and scribble/write) children’s books? Well, it is a long story but the shortest version is as follows.

Since I liked books so much, after receiving my university degree, when looking for a job, my first thought was to look for something that would let me read all the time. As luck would have it, I entered into the publishing world, where I worked many years as an editor cleaning up the translations made by other people. This was the main reason I began to translate: I was really sick of re-writing bad translations. I asked myself: “Why don’t I try to do it myself?” So, I did…and was further encouraged when in 1995, a little more than a year (I began in 1993) after I started translating, one of my translations, Monster by Christopher Pike, won for me the Andersen-Baia delle Favole Prize as “Best Children’s Books Translator of the year”. In 2004 the International Board on Books for Young People awarded and inscribed me on the IBBY honor list as the Best Translator of Children's Books into Italian.

After translating over 200 books in 10 or so years, I started to write, in addition to continuing to translate. In 2006 my book I Cavalieri del Vento won the Premio Cento 2006, one the major prizes for children's literature in Italy. What I found so satisfying about this award was that the final vote was by the young people themselves, from all over Italy and Italian-speaking schools outside of Italy, rather than a committee of adults. My next book is a mystery, set in Florence, and will be in the bookstores in May 2008, and is also published by Piemme.

If you want to read some articles written by me, about me, or about my books, or see some videos, click on the articles page.

© 2008 Angela Ragusa     home books articles translations biography italian