Canongate has nabbed Daniel Hahn’s book on language and "the unlikely art of translating Shakespeare".
Publisher at large Francis Bickmore acquired world rights to If This Be Magic: Shakespeare, Language and the Unlikely Art of Translation directly from the author. The rights have since been pre-empted by Alfred Knopf in North America and by Companhia das Letras in Brazil.
The book, which Canongate will publish in April 2026, explores what it means to translate Shakespeare. The publisher synopsis said: "When we change all the poetry, all the wordplay, all the syntax – all the words! – is it still Shakespeare? And is it still any good? This book by seasoned translator and Shakespeare fanatic, Daniel Hahn, will change the way you think about language itself."
The book will range widely across Shakespeare’s work and different languages to explore what translators have done, and "what is even possible".
Hahn’s latest work is Catching Fire: A Translation Diary (Charco Press), and his translation of A General Theory of Oblivion by José Eduardo Agualusa (Vintage) won the 2017 International Dublin Literary Award. He has been a judge for prizes including the International Booker Prize, the IMPAC Dublin Award and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, and was previously chair of the Society of Authors and on the board of trustees of English PEN.
He said: "I first wrote about Shakespeare in translation as an undergraduate, about a thousand years ago, so it feels about time I got around to writing this book. And I can’t believe my luck – I’m just delighted it has landed at Canongate."
Bickmore added: ‘"Who better to write a book about language than a polyglot Shakespeare fanatic with a gift for telling a story? That man is Daniel Hahn and we are so happy that he has chosen to join Canongate’s list."
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