By Mark Squibb/January 6, 2022
Readers in Egypt will soon have the opportunity to read a Mount Pearl author’s tale of mystery and suspense in their own tongue.
Emily Hepditch, author of The Woman in the Attic and Alone on The Trail, received an e-mail from her publisher, Flanker Press, a month and a bit ago letting her know that Arabic translation rights for her 2020 novel The Woman in the Attic had been acquired by The Mahrousa Center for Publishing, based in Cairo, Egypt.
Hepditch gave the credit to Flanker Press, whom she said is always on the lookout for agencies and publishing companies in other countries looking to translate English books.
“They came across a publisher in Cairo, Egypt, that was looking for some English titles for translation, and they worked their magic and made the deal happen,” said Hepditch. “I almost had nothing to do with it at all. I just got a very wonderful e-mail one day.”
Flanker made the official announcement shortly before Christmas.
“From the moment this book was published, everything has exceeded my expectations,” said Hepditch. “I would have never imagined that translation is something that would ever happen, so seeing that e-mail, my first reaction was ‘What?’ I couldn’t believe that that would be the case. It’s one thing to see my books popping up in other provinces, but to know that other countries now are interested in publishing my work in their native language is above and beyond anything I ever expected. I walked around in a trance the whole day because I couldn’t believe it. And I try not to tell people things until they’re finalized, so it was a day of sitting on my hands, just trying to believe what was going on.”
The book takes place in outport Newfoundland, and Hepditch is looking forward to readers halfway around the world experiencing the province through the written word.
“I’m so excited to share a little bit of Newfoundland geography with other places in the world,” said Hepditch. “I grew up in Newfoundland and up until recently I hadn’t left very often, and I hadn’t been very far, so I’m just really excited to share my little piece of the world with whoever’s willing to pick it up and read the book.”
The Arabic translation will be released in 2022, though the book has already reached an international audience. Flanker Press sells books internationally, and an electronic copy (ebook) can be purchased worldwide. Hepditch has heard from folks the world over who have enjoyed the book.
“So, I’ve had a question from GoodReads about where to get the book in Australia, I’ve had a friend from high school who lives in France who has purchased the book, and I’ve heard from people in the US and across Canada, so it’s in a lot of unexpected places,” she said.
Hepditch’s next book will hit store shelves in a couple months’ time.
A little different in tone then her first two novels, her third book will be a children’s book written and illustrated by Hepditch titled Sweater.
“It’s about a little boy who receives a homemade sweater from his nanny, and it’s very, very itchy and scratchy and sweaty, and his mother tells him he has to wear it for picture day, so he has to survive the day in this big sweater,” said Hepditch. “It’s going to be dedicated to all the grandkids that get big itchy sweaters and all the nans who knit them.”
The Woman in The Attic was the winner of the Rakuten Kobo 2021 Emerging Writer Prize in the Mystery category, the Gold Medal winner for the Independent Publisher Book Awards in Canada East-Regional Fiction, Winner of the NL Reads 2021 competition, and a finalist for the Crime Writers Canada Award in the First Crime Novel category, amongst other accolades.
“I take a moment every day to think about how both of my little books have snowballed into something international,” said Hepditch. “I feel overwhelmed by gratitude.”
