Soldiers in the Fog

Former St Mary’s boy Simon Deefholts has thanked teacher Paul Juckes for setting him on his career path following the publication of a novel which Simon has translated from Spanish into English.

Simon, who started at St Mary’s in 1969, worked with Kathryn Phillips-Miles to produce a new English translation of Soldiers in the Fog, by Antonio Soler, which was first published in 1999 under the Spanish name El nombre que ahora digo. It was awarded the prestigious Premio Primavera de Novela.

Simon and Kathryn have jointly translated literary works from Spanish into English across a range of genres, including novels, short stories, plays and mediaeval minstrel songs. Previous publications include translations of Wolf Moon by Julio Llamazares, Sur by Antonio Soler, Nona's Room and The Gap Year by Cristina Fernández Cubas, The Clairvoyant by Gervasio Posadas and Inventing Love by José Ovejero, all published by Peter Owen Publishers (now part of Pushkin Press) and/or The Clapton Press.

They have also edited and translated Take Six: Six Spanish Women Writers, an anthology of short stories, for Dedalus Books.

Simon told me: “I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Paul Juckes who started teaching me Spanish over 50 years ago and instilled in me an enduring appreciation of Spanish literature."

Simon, originally from St Stephen’s, Welling, won the fifth form prize in Spanish and English (shared with Sean Coleman) in 1973/74, the lower sixth prizes for Spanish and English in 1974/75 and the upper sixth prize for Spanish in 1975/76.

In the summer of 1976, Simon left St Mary’s to read Languages at Aberystwyth University.