Trained as a Classicist (Greek & Latin), Sylvie Kandé is well-versed in the art of translation.

Following a trip to Australia, she co-translated of a collection of short-stories written by the Waanyi Australian novelist Alexis Wright (who received the Miles Franklin Award for Carpentaria in 2007), published as Le Pacte du serpent arc-en-ciel (Actes Sud, 2002).

cf. “Translating the Short Stories of Alexis Wright: Sylvie Kandé Talks to Demelza Hall about Le Pacte du Serpent Arc-en-Ciel” (with Postscript by Alexis Wright) The Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature 16.2 (2016)

The same year, she translated Heart of Spain. Robert Capa’s Photographs of the Spanish Civil War for Aperture.

She has translated historical essays and summaries for the bilingual journal, Clio. Femmes, Genre et Histoire.

She translates poetry & prose from French into English and from English into French for journals such as Consequence, Beltway Poetry Quaterly; for Frank Medioni’s Mystère Monk (Seghers, 2022); and for Le Jeu de Paume Institute in Paris.

Some of the works she was honored to translate include pieces by Amiri Baraka, Malik Ameer Crumpler, Ishion Hutchinson, Esther Nirina, Mxolisi Nyezwa, Mervyn Taylor, Nimrod, Françoise Thiry; James L. Cahill, Karen Houle, et al

She also transcribed and translated documentaries produced by photographer Martine Barrat, Getting Lite, among others.