Translators set to cast own magic on Harry Potter

By Angus MacSwan

SAO PAULO (Reuters Life!) - When Harry Potter fans sit down with the final installment in the boy wizard's adventures in July, the hard work will just be beginning for translators like Lia Wyler who have to use their own magic to bring him to life to readers globally.

She has the task of translating the eagerly-awaited "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" for the Brazilian edition of the series which has been translated into over 60 different languages and sold about 325 million copies worldwide.

Over the six previous books in the saga, she has used her own special gifts to turn such creations by British author J.K. Rowling as "muggles" -- non-magical people -- and the wizardly game "quidditch" into Portuguese.

"Most difficulties are overcome with a bit of linguistics and lots of humor," she told Reuters in an e-mail interview.

The seventh book in Rowling's best-selling series will hit bookstores worldwide in English on July 21. The Brazilian version will be issued at the end of the year with no firm date set, said a staffer for publisher Rocco.

The time needed to translate depends on the number of pages. Wyler said she would work from 10 to 12 hours a day to translate and revise 2,400 to 3,000 words per day.

Wyler has translated the books for Brazilian fans since the first, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".

"When Rocco bought the translation rights for the first two, I had just received an award for the translation of Sylvia Plath's "The-Doesn't-Matter-Suit," also a Rocco title," said Rio de Janeiro-based Wyler.

"This and my knowledge of British culture made me a natural choice,"

How do you translate things such as quidditch and muggles?

"Initially the series was meant for children so I tried to convey the idea behind each of Rowling's creations. Quidditch, a game played with four balls, became "quadribol" and "muggles" became "trouxa" (fool), a lucky guess among hundreds of possible meanings."

She said she consulted with Rowling before translating the first two books but now rarely speaks to her and then it is usually via her agent.

The first five Harry Potter volumes sold about 2 million copies in Brazil in Portuguese, Rocco said. Sales of the sixth have not been officially tallied but the first run was 350,000 copies.

The books and spin-off movies have made Rowling into the world's first billion-dollar author.

As for the translator: "Back in 1998 Harry Potter was not a worldwide success so payment terms were the usual for children's books. I've had a bonus for the last two though," said Wyler who has been translating for more than 30 years.