Victoria Selwyn
French-English translation and subtitling
Copywriting, editing and rewriting in British English

After graduating in Modern and Medieval Languages from Cambridge University, I trained as a teacher (P.G.C.E. in English, French and Drama and Prep. Cert. in TEFL) and spent ten years teaching French, English and Drama in English state secondary schools and English as a foreign language in a wide range of contexts in Greece, the UK and France. I then decided I wanted a change and took an MA in French and English Translation at the British Institute in Paris (University of London).

I have now been a freelance translator for over 20 years, and I still love the challenge of transferring ideas from one language to another and the chance to explore subject areas that are new to me. I have kept up with developments in translation and expanded my skill set by teaching university courses in translation studies, through membership of professional bodies, and by attending training courses and conferences.

I hold a diploma in Effective Copywriting by Distance Learning from the Publishing Training Centre (London) and offer subtitling, copywriting, editing and rewriting. I can adapt material (e.g. by shortening or repurposing it) at the same time as translating it from French into English.

I started off translating primarily for television and government departments. I still do some work for television, but nowadays most of my assignments are for museums, galleries and arts organizations or in the field of magazine publishing and PR. In addition to the arts, I am comfortable with material relating to politics, rural affairs, nature, the environment and the humanities. I enjoy projects that stretch my brain and involve a creative and/or academic element.

I am a member of several (mainly environmental) NGOs and was a pro bono contributor (in French) to the rural affairs magazine Transrural initiatives from 2010 to 2014.

I am based in rural Normandy but (pandemics excepted) regularly travel to the UK – mostly to Norfolk, where I was brought up. As well as freelancing, I run a seaside cottage holiday letting business. My interests include wildlife-friendly gardening, nature and creative writing. I am currently engaged in writing the history of a circus that belonged to a branch of my family – a project that has taken me to London, Sheffield, Paris, Marseille and Vienna to conduct archival research, interview specialists and photograph locations, and to Dresden for an intensive course to improve my German.

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