Miriam Chiesa (translator)

(3)

Freelancer
Sawdust, spangles and...books! My magical world!

I was born in South Africa, a country very far from my father's native Italy and my mother's motherland, Mexico, but then again my family was not what you would call an “ordinary” one. My parents and their parents before them, for three generations back, had all been circus performers and were totally used to travelling around the world, going from show to show.

So that is where I arrived to this world, during a tour with the National South African Circus.

I think of my childhood as a very happy one, always accompanied by my little brother, I remember we would immediately befriend with the local children and communicate with them in any possible way. As years went by the time came when we had to remain in Italy, thus separating from our parents for many months at a time, in order to attend school.  That was a hard period; being away from mom and dad and also from that wonderful ambiance I knew so well and missed so much.

At 20 years old I finished my studies as a Commercial Translator in English and French and I decided I had to make my dreams of becoming a performer come true. I was lucky enough to succeed.  I came to Mexico where my mother's brothers owned the most important circus in the country and I dedicated the following twenty years of my life to performing both in circus and musical theatre. When I got married and had my daughter, I began thinking that I could not continue with my spectacular life for long, firstly because I was not getting any younger and secondly because my daughter would have to attend school a few years later. So I decided to take advantage of my knowledge of languages.

 I started working for Berlitz Mexico as an Italian teacher and soon I was teaching English, Spanish and French too.  I also began to translate anything I could and I even got the opportunity to work as an interpreter a couple of times and this is what I have been doing for the last twenty years.

I consider myself an extremely lucky person for I could live my dream in show business, thereby continuing with my family’s tradition and when circumstances changed, I found a way to give my life a total change of direction being useful in a completely different line of work. I am grateful for having, so far, lived an adventurous life filled with so many enriching experiences. I have recently discovered Bablecube and I am now introducing myself hoping to get the chance to translate literature, which I would absolutely love. 

Native language: Italian
Translates from: English, Spanish, French, Italian
Translates into: Spanish, Italian


User links: LinkedIn



Return