Hello, I'm Heather D. Davis

I was born and raised in the USA, an avid reader and language enthusiast. My first literary translations were published during undergraduate studies at Brown University, where I majored in Literary Arts and International Relations. Upon graduation in 2019, I moved to Japan to attend the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies (IUC) on the Blakemore-Freeman Fellowship. After passing the JLPT N1 in 2020, I began my career as a Japanese to English freelance literary and media translator.

I have participated in several literary translator development programs, including the British Center for Literary Translation (BCLT) Summer School in 2022. Since April 2023, I have attended classes as a research student in the Modern Literature department at Tokyo University. My short story translations have appeared in prestigious literary magazines such as Brooklyn Rail, Chicago Review, Conjunctions, and The Paris Review. Most recently, Guernica published my translation of a short story titled "Quiet Night" by Kaori Fujino. In June 2023, I passed the Kanji Kentei pre2 exam.

I am interested in a wide variety of creative translation, and have a particular passion for speculative fiction. Please look through the services offered on my Services menu above if you would like to commission a translation or hire me as a consultant. I'm also open to other literary translation work requests.