Jessica Powell

Jessica Powell received her B.A. in International Studies from Vassar College, her M.A. in Latin-American Studies from Stanford University, and completed her Ph.D. in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, at the University of California, Santa Barbara, specializing in literary translation and 20th-century Latin American literature. Since completing her doctorate in 2006, she has published dozens of translations of literary works by a wide variety of Latin American writers. She was the recipient of a 2011 National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellowship in support of her translation of Antonio Benítez Rojo’s novel Woman in Battle Dress (City Lights, 2015), which was a finalist for the PEN Center USA Literary Award for Translation. Her translation of Wicked Weeds by Pedro Cabiya (Mandel Vilar Press, 2016), was named a finalist for the 2017 Best Translated Book Award and made the longlist for the 2017 National Translation Award. The first-ever English translation of Pablo Neruda’s book-length poem, venture of the infinite man, was published by City Lights Books in October of 2017. Jessica has been an adjunct professor of Spanish at Santa Barbara City College. She lives in Santa Barbara with her husband, Abe Powell, and their two children, Olivia and Leo.