I was born
in Angers, France, the year Médecins Sans Frontières was founded and the year
Cameroon became independent. After my diploma in translation obtained from the
Université Catholique de l’Ouest, I lived for 4 years in Dublin, Ireland,
working with the European Foundation, the French embassy and, most importantly,
for the Export Department of Irish Distillers Ltd where I organised blind whiskey
tastings for foreign clients. When my husband was headhunted to join a team of
Environmentalists in Cambridge, we moved to the UK where I worked for the
Export Department of Ilford Photo before taking the British Institute of
Translation and Interpreting exam in 1992 and turning to a freelance translator’s
career, which is what I’ve been doing for 30 + years. Over the years, I specialised
in international development, then Sustainable Development, then Climate
Change, working for the United Nations, research institutes and NGOs. We moved
to France in the year of the London bombings and the Live 8 Concert.

I’ve been
the French translator for the International Grains Council, a UN commodity
body, which administers the Grains Trade Convention and the Food Aid Convention
since 1992.

Amongst recent translation assignments, I am
most proud of having translated the 3^rd edition of the Livestock
Emergency Guidelines and Standards, a 440 pp report which has just been
published and which can be downloaded here:  https://www.livestock-emergency.net/telecharger-le-manuel-legs/

Since moving back to France, I’ve become
closely involved with my local community, helping adults to improve their
English – and foreigners to improve their French so they can settle in more
easily.

I am also an active member of the Ligue pour la
protection des oiseaux, the French equivalent of the Royal Society for the
Protection of Birds. After torturing my brain on a challenging translation,
there is nothing I like more than to do a spot of birdwatching in the
surrounding wetlands.