Why We Read and or Write About Jane Austen by Cristy Huelsz

Jane Austen's body of work delivers a nuanced understanding of life—especially as a woman, family dynamics, insights into the historical context of the period, and the social norms between men and women. For the last two decades, I have been fascinated by Austen’s diverse and massive fan following, scholars, and writers, and I love discovering why her words and characters still resonate with so many these two hundred years later. Once a month in 2024, I feature one Austen fan to offer their insights.

By Cristina Huelsz

As children, how many times were we asked what we wanted to be when we became adults? As a child, I knew I wanted to do something book related when I grew up. By the time I was in elementary school in Mexico, I had spent more time in the library than in the classroom (I always came back late after recess), enjoying history and culture books. It was there that I began to have an interest in languages as I wrote my own stories in my first language Spanish—but with the Greek alphabet or Tolkien's tengwar (translates as letters Quenya.)

In the nineties, I saw the adaptations of Sense and Sensibility, Emma, and Persuasion on VHS, but I was unaware that they were based on Austen's novels. A few years later, it was thanks to the 2005 movie that I discovered Pride and Prejudice. I was enchanted by MacFadyen and Knightley, Marianelli's music, and the photography of those grand houses in the English countryside. It didn't take me long to read the novel and appreciate that it contained much more than what the movie showed (which is true in virtually all cases of adaptations). But back then, I didn't read more about Austen because I was fascinated by Emilio Salgari, an Italian author of adventure and pirate novels.

By the time it became necessary to figure out what I was going to study, it really took me a while to choose, so I settled on being a preschool teacher. I have always adored children and thought it was going to be easy (spoiler: it really isn't.) I switched careers to be an English teacher, and that is what I worked as for a few years, but as is often the case in life, I hit a wall.

I wanted to do something different with my life, and that's where Austen came in. I had read Pamela Aidan's trilogy and too many historical romance novels, but it was Sally Smith O'Rourke's and Emilio Salgari's novels that inspired me to want to become a translator.

Multi-author Christmas anthology by @Cristranslates

The Man Who Loved Jane Austen (2006) was the first time I read how an author played with the idea how Fitzwilliam Darcy might have inspired Austen when she met an English gentleman who had traveled back to her in the Regency. I discovered the novel because it had been translated into Spanish. Then I read it in English and realized that there were several small details that did not quite fit between the two editions.

Rumores e Imprudencias: Una Variación de Orgullo y Prejuicio (Spanish Edition)

As I was beginning to study translation, it was by fate that Nicole Clarkston gave me my first opportunity to translate her novel Rumors and Recklessness. I discovered that it was very different to work as a freelancer, because, in publishing houses, translators don't really have contact with their authors. I developed a working style that allowed me to be close to my authors, promoting our work and being part of an Austenesque community that has welcomed me with open arms.

Now, I have over fifteen published novels, five Christmas anthologies, and five incredible years of building up my dream: to have my own publishing house, which seeks to bring the Classics and contemporary literature to Spanish-speaking readers, with translations made by a team proud of their work.

After seeing the impact of reading Austen in Spanish in book clubs during the pandemic, I think many of us Spanish readers were able to find a friend in Jane. It was not always easy to understand what she was trying to tell us, but with each reading, we discovered something new. That's why a good translation of a Classic novel is so important. 

Cristina Huelsz, translator

ABOUT Cristina Huelsz

Cristy was born and raised in Mexico and has been living in cloudy Washington state for five years with her own Captain Wentworth. She is the founder and director of Cris Translates, whose mission is to bring great classical and contemporary works to the audience of readers in Spanish. She hopes one day to be the one who translates Deirdre Le Faye's books.

Some of her proudest Spanish translations that have kept her awake at night and are her pride and joy: Nefasto by Nicole Clarkston, Cuando el sol se duerme by Alix James, Pemberley, el dragón del señor Darcy by Maria Grace, El descanso del marinero by Don Jacobson and her collection of Christmas Anthologies, next one coming this December! You can find her in Las Vegas at JAFF Writer-Reader Get Together, where she will be presenting Translating Dragons: The Experience of Translating Jane Austen Dragons.

You can read some of her Christmas Anthologies for free here, here, and here. You can connect wit Cristy via social media:

Facebook:  @Cristranslates

Instagram: @Cristranslates89

Email: contact@cristranslates

Blog: cristranslates.com/blog