Available as Hardback, eBook
9 April 2026
A fascinating study into the world of translation and Shakespeare from the award-winning translator Daniel Hahn
Why might Hamlet be even longer in Italian?
How does the story of Romeo and Juliet begin … in Thai?
How do you build a joke in German, or recreate a rhyme in Japanese?
And why are Lady Macbeth’s pronouns such a problem?
What does it mean to translate Shakespeare? When we change all the poetry, all the wordplay, all the syntax – all the words! – is it still Shakespeare? And is it still any good?
Daniel Hahn, seasoned translator and Shakespeare fanatic, will change the way you think about language itself. Ranging widely across Shakespeare’s works, and across the world’s languages, this book explores why we choose the words we do and what effect they have.
No knowledge of any particular language is required, though a bit of patience for the nerdiest of close reading is desirable. This micro-attention to detail reveals anew the joy of Shakespeare, celebrates creativity and revels in the power of words.
“I’ve just finished, and loved, If this Be Magic. It’s a fresh and vivid way to think about Shakespeare; it’s so witty and knowledgeable, so alive to the ways in which language resists reduction. It feels like attending the most fascinating lecture of the term; like learning made swift and sharp and generous”
Katherine Rundell
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“A wonderful book, erudite and enjoyable. I love learning new things while having an excellent time. Danny is a brilliant writer”
Cathy Rentzenbrink
“Daniel Hahn is a remarkable translator, writer and editor, a dedicated supporter of literature and knowledge, and he has written this gem of a book which is clearly the outcome of decades of hard work and dedication, and passion, really, for the art of storytelling”
Elif Shafak
“A lifetime of love and learning distilled - what a joy and a privilege to read”
Lucy Mangan
“This lovely, expansive book illustrates Shakespeare’s global reach in languages from Afrikaans to Yiddish - but it also reveals how much can be found, rather than lost, in translation - poetically, culturally, and imaginatively.”
Emma Smith
Daniel Hahn
Daniel Hahn is an award-winning translator, author and editor. His translations include novels from a dozen countries, as well as short fiction, wide-ranging non-fiction, children’s books and plays. He is the author of Catching Fire: A Translation Diary, and editor of a new edition of The Oxford Companion to Children’s Literature. He has been on the board of a number of organisations that work with literature, literacy and free speech. He is currently editing The Penguin Book of Brazilian Short Stories (with Padma Viswanathan) and translating a Mexican novel.
danielhahn.co.uk