Sheila Fischman is considered one of Canada’s finest translators of Quebecois literature, and has brought over 150 contemporary Quebecois novels from French into English.
Born to a Jewish family in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan, Fischman was raised in Ontario. She received a BA in Chemistry and Anthropology, and an MA in Anthropology, from the University of Toronto. After marrying Canadian poet D.G. Jones in 1969, the couple settled in North Hatley, in Quebec’s eastern townships, where she was able to learn living French. At the time, North Hatley had two distinct groups of artists: English and French. Fischman saw that with two languages, she could bring these two groups together, and began hosting mixed gatherings of writers and poets in her home.
Fischman continued this work of bridging language communities after moving to Montreal. She was an editor for The Montreal Star’s book section, as well as a columnist for The Globe & Mail and The Montreal Gazette. She was also a founding member of the Literary Translators’ Association of Canada, and a founding co-editor of Ellipse: Œuvres en traduction/Writers in Translation. Her work as a translator and editor have made Quebecois literature accessible to Anglophone Canada, allowing for the appreciation and celebration of Quebecois culture abroad, including top novelists like Michel Tremblay, Anne Hébert, Kim Thúy and François Gravel.
Fischman’s translations have been honoured with a Governor General’s Award for Translation, and received an astounding 14 nominations. She has won the Molson Prize for the Arts and been a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. She holds honorary doctorates from the University of Ottawa and the University of Waterloo. She was invested into the Order of Canada (2001) and the National Order of Quebec (2008).
