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By Édouard Brasey (2015)Where did I get this strange idea to go back to school – sorry – University in order to get yet another diploma? Does it make any sense? Is it a reasonable project or totally absurd? All of these questions turned round and round in my poor old head for days on end – I am exaggerating a bit, of course – before getting an answer, which eventually was: ‘Don’t worry. Just do it!’But maybe I should introduce myself first in order for this post to make more sense. My name is Edouard Brasey, and I am a writer. It is my job. I am 60. So far, I have published around 70 books and novels, many essays, encyclopedia articles and illustrated books on very serious subjects such as faeries, hobgoblins, mermaids, unicorns and other elves and Little Folk. I have had the good fortune to win a number of prizes and awards for Fantasy writing, and if you are interested in dragons, wizards and vampires, you might have already read one of my books (even if you do not remember my name). I have also been translated into different languages including English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian . . . and Japanese (I cannot be certain of the authenticity of this last translation; maybe my books inspired some Manga cartoonists, who knows?).Translation! Ah! Indeed, my decision to enroll in this second year Masters degree at Aix-Marseille University (Anglophone studies, specializing in translation) is because of translation. I wanted to know a bit more about it and I have not been not disappointed. Allow me to explain.When you are fortunate enough to have your books translated, you as the author have no say in the matter whatsoever. Other, foreign words replace your own words, and travel around the world, out of your control. You never (or rarely) have the opportunity to speak with your translators, who are chosen by your editors. And you do not know if the result is as good as you would have liked. Authors and translators live in separate worlds (even if, sometimes, they live in the same country or even in the same city). I know that most translators complain about this situation, and so do authors. Personally, I consider translators as co-authors, and the least authors could do is collaborate with them, answer their questions, and read their translation before publication. But how can this goal be achieved, without the help of the almighty publishers?This is one of the reasons why I joined this second year Masters last year: in order to comprehend what is beyond the mirror of translation; to understand truly what the work of translating from one tongue to another entails. I was particularly interested in the translations of novels, which of course are more personal than essays or illustrated books. I have received more answers (and even more questions) than I was expecting. In this Masters degree, thanks to excellent teachers, I have realized that the act of translation is far more than word for word substitution. It is a commitment. It is a very acute sharing process of linguistics, stylistics and aesthetics. It is a passion, too. An act of love.I now collaborate with two translators of my choice, to transpose (and not only translate) two of my recent novels (dystopian thrillers, The Last Pope and St Peter’s Prophecy and Anonymous) in order to be published in English. And all the theories I have been studying in this Masters up to now help me to have a better understanding of how difficult, and how thrilling, it can be to embrace one author’s book and to make it (partly) your own. I am not able to do such a job yet, but I do believe that a good translation (that is, done with intelligence and heart) can be a piece of art. Some of the greatest authors, such as Paul Auster, were translators before becoming authors.If the University could relay this passion to a new generation of translators, it would be truly welcome. That is, if anything, my wish.For further information:Official website: www.edouardbrasey.comWikipedia page in English: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Édouard_Brasey&#160;