Iolanda Batallé’s ‘I’ll Do Anything You Want’ in the QM Catalan Book Club
Last month, the first session of the Queen Mary Catalan Book Club of 2025 took place. This time, the book chosen for discussion was Iolanda Batallé’s I’ll Do Anything You Want (Faré tot el que tu vulguis). We were joined by the author for this event, as well as the translator of the English edition, Martha Tennent.
After the readers debated topics such as women’s universal experiences and how men and women might have different views on such a novel, they were joined by the author and the translator. Iolanda Batallé answered the attendees’ questions and focused on different concepts present in the novel, like freedom or happiness, as well as the metaphors present therein. She also commented on her influences, including magic realism, and how she works with them. Martha Tennent talked about the experience of co-translating the book with Maruxa Relaño, and how they needed to choose different words dependent on the context of scenes, such as those related to sex. She also explained some of the reasons why some phrases were left in Catalan in the English translation.