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Under the Cover: Connecting over Climate and the translation of Doreen Vanderstoop’s Watershed
When author Doreen Vanderstoop received an email from a student an ocean apart looking to translate her 2020 novel Watershed (Freehand Books), that first message sparked a correspondence that speaks to the universality of literature: one we explore in today’s Under the Cover.
Last August, Calgary author Doreen Vanderstoop got an unexpected email from Martina Di Salvo, a master’s student in Italy. Martina had encountered Doreen’s climate fiction novel Watershed (Freehand Books, 2020) and was hoping to translate excerpts as part of her thesis in literary translation. Doreen said, “Someone could have knocked me over with a feather!”
Doreen wondered how someone in Italy had happened to come across and connect with her published-in-Canada novel, which is set on a goat farm in a near-future version of Alberta that’s experiencing catastrophic drought. Martina shared that, for her, the connection was personal: “[M]y town has been facing a true nightmare this year: since February, a state of emergency has been declared due to drought. Throughout the summer, we had to deal with the lack of running water and the rush to purchase water from tanker trucks at inflated prices. This topic is extremely important to me as your novel’s dystopian themes mirror the reality I experience.”
This sparked a flurry of conversation between Doreen and Martina. Martina shared that she had first discovered the book on a website listing books of climate fiction. Doreen expressed how honoured she was that Martina had connected with the novel and was taking its protagonists, Willa and Daniel, “on a whole new interesting journey.”
As Martina worked through the translation, she often had insightful questions about how to translate the text and reached out directly to Doreen. Here are some snippets from their conversations, which give a small sense of just how much goes into the translation process:
Martina: I encountered the phrase “They call the wind pariah” (p. 18). Is this a deliberate reference to the famous American song “They Call the Wind Maria,” or is my research leading me in the wrong direction?
Doreen: “They call the wind pariah” is indeed a play on words with reference to the American song They Call the Wind Maria (which is pronounced “ma-rye-ya” with the accent on the second syllable). This is where the difficulty of translation really comes alive, isn’t it?
Martina: I came across the word dust and I realized I had a small doubt. Specifically, I need to clarify whether dust in this context refers to:
- A fine powdery substance (e.g., particles commonly found on surfaces or in the air),
- A sandy or desert-like element (e.g., soil or sand typical of arid or desert landscapes).
This distinction is particularly important for my translation in Italian, as these concepts are conveyed through different terms.
Doreen: I can confirm that the word “dust” as I’ve used it in Watershed relates to definition #2 – a sandy or desert-like element. For context, you may be familiar with the term dustbowl, which was used to describe the drought-stricken prairies during the Great Depression.
Martina successfully defended her translation thesis in February 2025, receiving the highest mark along with honours (cum laude). Books truly can travel to some unexpected places! It’s a reminder that stories can cross oceans, spark conversation, and connect people in the most surprising and meaningful ways.
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Thank you to Doreen and Martina for allowing us to share their story and snippets of their email correspondence!
