Hello, I'm Heather D. Davis

I was born and raised in the USA, an avid reader and language enthusiast. My first literary translations were published during undergraduate studies at Brown University, where I majored in Literary Arts and International Relations. Upon graduation in 2019, I moved to Japan to attend the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies (IUC) on the Blakemore-Freeman Fellowship. After passing the JLPT N1 in 2020, I began my career as a Japanese to English freelance literary and media translator.

I have participated in several literary translator development programs, including the British Centre for Literary Translation (BCLT) and the Bristol Translates summer schools. This March 2026, I graduated from the Japanese-language Master's program in Comparative Literature at Tokyo University. I've also been working as an in-office literary translator at Hayakawa Publishing since October 2024.

My short story translations have appeared in prestigious literary magazines such as Brooklyn Rail, Chicago Review, and The Paris Review. Most recently, Guernica published my translation of a short story titled "Quiet Night" by Kaori Fujino. I've also worked on sample translations and pitch packs for several publishers and literary agencies, including Kodansha and Bungei Shunjū.

I am interested in a wide variety of literary translation, and have a particular passion for speculative and queer fiction. Please get in touch if you would like to commission a reader's report, pitch pack, or full novel translation. I'm also open to other creative translation work requests.