François de Coninck (auteur et critique d’art, membre de l’Association Internationale des Critiques d’Art)
‘I first collaborated with Paula Cook in 2019, on the occasion of Wim Delvoye’s exhibition at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. She translated the essay I had written for the catalogue with remarkable fluency and in beautiful English. The text was riddled with French wordplay, which I assumed would be difficult or even impossible to translate into English – I know from experience that translators are frequently tearing their hair out with my prose, since I play with the polysemy of the French language to such a degree. She took up the challenge with joy, talent, enthusiasm, audacity and wit. During the numerous and thorough discussions that we had around this dense text, I was able to appreciate her high standards for the language, her search for the precise word, her desire to restore the spirit of the original text as exactly as possible. I valued the generosity, the freedom and the tenacity she instilled into this delicate task. Since this exceptional collaboration, I now entrust her with all my texts that need to be translated into English. And with each new project we undertake, I reaffirm my complete and utter confidence in her talent as a translator.’
Lisa de Boeck (artist)
‘Paula is perfectly capable of embodying what you want to convey through your thoughts and words by also putting herself in your shoes and thus connecting on a higher level with the content of your texts, which she does effortlessly in both languages (French and English), which also amplifies the possibilities on more than one level. She’ll be there to listen and to seek till she fully grasps what your needs are and above all, she’ll be there in the heat of the moment, while you’re running towards a deadline.’
Grégory Thirion (Responsable du Service Expositions, Le Botanique – Bruxelles)
‘Her translations are linguistically flawless and technically accurate. Her artistic knowledge, responsiveness and congeniality all contribute to make Paula Cook a highly valued collaborator.’
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Gauthier Hubert (artiste peintre)
‘Paula’s first request before starting to translate the subjective, technical and subtle texts about my paintings was that I should send her photographs of the works to allow her to fully absorb them. This accounts for the poetic, subtle and intelligent wording chosen to convey the same mood in the English translation as in the French versions.’
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Stéphane Leroux (MOF - Meilleur Ouvrier de France Pâtissier Confiseur, World Vice-Champion in pastry-making, compagnon du devoir)
'I met Paula a few years ago, when she translated my last book on artistic chocolate making, Bleu Chocolat, published by BAI.
This book is highly technical and demanded great precision in terms of translation. I really needed to be able to work with and rely on someone who also had these qualities: Paula took up this challenge with panache.
It was important that we could discuss the philosophy behind my work in order to convey the terminology as accurately as possible. She wanted to understand my texts in order to find the right word or words that would allow my audience to understand the exact meaning of a sentence, or of a gesture connected to an image.
Translating a text is not always easy. It requires a perfect knowledge of languages and their intricacies. Paula has this ability; an ability that I have rarely found in the work of a translator, so I can only recommend her.
Thank you Paula for the work you do, which is indispensable for anyone who wants to learn, wants to understand others and thus live together in harmony.'
Ana Correia (Historienne d’Art, Lisbonne)
‘As an art historian and coordinator for international publications, I was fortunate to work with Paula Cook. In terms of French-English and English French translations, art texts, essays, catalogues or poetic pieces, editing and proofreading, we always received impeccable quality, timely work, executed with great sensitivity, intelligence and professionalism. I highly recommend her work to anyone.’ (oxala)
Ann Michiels (Taal-ad-visie)
'I have worked with Paula Cook for many years now. Being perfectly bilingual, she translates indifferently from French and English, which proves extremely useful. Paula has a clean, authentic writing style. She can make sense of the most esoteric texts and render them accessible and understandable, which is an asset in the field of cultural and literary translations. In addition, contacts with Paula are always straightforward, she is easily reachable and will do her utmost to meet the deadline. Her kindness and warm personality are just the icing on the cake :-).'
