Shanna Tan

Shanna Tan will translate Singapore Literature Prize-winning author Wong Koi Tet’s Dakota 《达哥打》 from Chinese.

Shanna Tan is a Singaporean translator working from Korean, Chinese, and Japanese into English (and occasionally into Chinese). She has several years of experience as a commercial translator working with a variety of text types in different fields, with a recent focus on international trade and economic diplomacy.

Her passion for literary translation is anchored by her love for languages and language acquisition. She grew up bilingual in English and Chinese, and a random decision to learn Korean when she was 18 ignited an unexpected passion for languages. It led her to major in Linguistics & Multilingual Studies at Nanyang Technological University, and during her undergraduate years, she also picked up Japanese. She self-studied both languages to fluency, reading a lot of literature (and watching many dramas/movies) along the way. She is currently learning Thai. In her free time, she runs a blog on language learning and has another space reviewing mainly translated fiction and Singapore literature.

Shanna was selected as the Korean prose mentee for the National Centre for Writing’s 2022 Emerging Translator Mentorship and under the guidance of mentor Anton Hur, she worked on translating the Korean bestseller The Inconvenience Store by Kim Ho-yeon.

Her interest in foreign language and literature has also led her to discover a love for Singapore literature and a desire to introduce SingLit to a wider audience, both in Singapore and globally. In particular, she hopes to engage with more local Chinese works, where a literary treasure trove awaits discovery by English readers. For the ALTA project, she is thrilled to work on Wong Koi Tet’s Dakota 《达哥打》, a collection of literary nonfiction prose pieces centered on the themes of space and time. With dry wit, Wong recounts episodes and memories of growing up in the 1970s in Dakota Crescent, one of the oldest public housing estates in Singapore, which is slated for redevelopment. Part of Wong’s charm is that he knows how to use his writing to compel the reader to engage with the prose and reflect, and Dakota is a strong reminder that preserving history and culture is just as important in anchoring our identity.

Shanna is grateful to ALTA and National Arts Council Singapore for the opportunity, and she is very excited to work with mentor Julia Sanches.  

Image description:

Shanna Tan, a woman of Chinese ethnicity. She has shoulder-length black hair and wears thick, black-rimmed oversized round glasses. She wears a sleeveless black top and is sitting in front of a beige wall and smiling directly at the camera.