About me
Born in Scotland, I discovered a love for both travel and languages at an early age. After graduating with First-Class Honours in Philosophy from York University, followed by a Masters at Warwick, in 2005 I moved to Mexico City, where I completed a PhD at the UNAM. Since 2016 I have lived in Berlin.
For over 15 years I have translated, edited, written and curated, working with some of the leading publishers of art and architecture books in Latin America and Europe, and on exhibitions for museums and galleries in Mexico and elsewhere.
My debut translated work of fiction, Luis Sagasti’s Fireflies, was shortlisted for the 2018 TA First Translation Prize. My second, Renato Cisneros’ The Distance Between Us, received a Pen Translates Award. In 2021, my translation of Sagasti’s A Musical Offering was shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize, and went on to win the Society of Authors’ Premio Valle Inclán for best translation from Spanish published in the UK that year.
In 2021 I became Senior Editor at Charco Press.
What I offer
Idiomatic, carefully researched translations from Spanish, French and Italian.
Editing of original and translated texts at all stages from drafts through to final proofing.
Translation evaluation, samples & reader reports for literary agencies and publishers.
Testimonials
“We are grateful for the spry talent of our editor Fionn Petch” (translators’ note to Gabriela Cabezón Cámara’s The Adventures of China Iron, shortlisted for the 2020 International Booker Prize)
“…an outstanding gift and remarkable dedication…” (CM Idiomas, Mexico)
“In Fionn Petch’s finely phrased translation, both the ground bass of Sagasti’s core motifs and the flamboyant passagework that adorns them consistently ring true” (Boyd Tonkin)
