Marjolijn de Jager

Born in Indonesia (1936), raised in The Netherlands, and residing in the USA since the age of 22, Marjolijn de Jager earned a PhD. in Romance Languages and Literatures from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1975.

She translates from both Dutch and French. Francophone African literature, the women’s voices in particular, have a special place in her heart. Retired from a 35-year long career in teaching French and Francophone language and literature (both secondary and college levels), she is now self-employed as a translator. 

The Bone Seekers is her third translation of a Djaout novel: previous translations of his work were The Last Summer of Reason (originally published by Ruminator Books: 2003; republished by Bison Books: 2007) and The Watchers (Ruminator Books: 2002).

Among her honors are an NEA grant, two NEH grants and, in 2011, the annually awarded ALA Distinguished Member Award received from the African Literature Association for scholarship, teaching, and translations of African Literature.

Her website: http://mdejager.com 

Highlights of published translations:

Title / Author

Publication Date

American Publisher

Congo Inc.
Bismarck’s Testament
by In Koli Jean Bofane

January 2018

Indiana University Press

Gaddafi’s Harem — The Story of a Young Woman and the Abuses of Power in Libya
by Annick Cojean

2013

Grove Press, New York

The Abandoned Baobab:
The Autobiography of a Senegalese Woman, [Paperback] by Ken Bugul.

January 2013

University of Virginia Press

The Past Ahead
by Gilbert Gatore.

October 2012

Indiana University Press:

Transmigrational Writings Between the Maghreb and Sub-Saharan Africa
by Hélène Tissières

2008

CARAF Books: Caribbean and African Literature  

The Amputated Memory
by Werewere Liking.

2007

The Feminist Press, New York

The Last Summer of Reason (Paperback)
by Tahar Djaout.

2007

Republished by Bison Books,
University of Nebraska Press

Children of the New World:
A Novel of the Algerian War
by Assia Djebar.

2005

The Feminist Press at CUNY
New York

The Beauvoir Sisters –
An Intimate Look at How Simone and Helene Influenced Each Other and the World
by Claudine Monteil

2004

Seal Press, Emeryville, CA

The Courtship of Sea Creatures,
by Jean-Pierre Otte

May 2001

George Braziller, New York, New York

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