Sayedeh Iravani
Co-president & Farsi Translator
Sayedeh was born and raised in Tehran, Iran. She is a third-year undergraduate student pursuing a BA in Psychology while following a Pre-PA track. She plans to become an interpreter and translate nonfiction books to allow/access/expand readers across the world.
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Abigail Kloha
Co-president & Spanish Translator
Abby is a third year student of translation, creative writing, and Spanish. She studies Japanese outside of school and also enjoys drawing, cooking, and traveling. Her writing can be found in Spires Magazine, the Write Michigan 2021 Anthology, and The Foundationalist.
Autumn Mayer
Translation Coordinator & French Translator
Autumn is a third-year studying French, translation, and English and creative writing on the publishing track. When she's not busy coordinating and translating for TIP, copyediting for Wilder Things, or being an Honors Writing Fellow, she can be found making her way through an endless stack of books, writing novels, or rock climbing at the Rec.
Grace Pignolo
Creative Coordinator & Italian Translator
Grace Pignolo is a fourth year English and Creative Writing student with minors in Italian, International Relations, and Theater Arts. She loves playing the piano, brushing up on her Latin, going to the movies, and talking with family friends over the phone to practice her Italian.
Meet Our Executive Team
Sophia Franco Esparza
Event Coordinator - French & Spanish Translator
Sophia is a writer and translator from Mexico studying English and creative writing and translation at the University of Iowa. She likes listening to diverse genres of music and loves to care for her plants.
Jodi Jin
Community Coordinator & Chinese Translator
Jodi is a freshman majoring in biomedical sciences. She has spoken Chinese as a second language for as long as she can remember, and she loves to read, write, and sing in multiple languages. She has also been learning French since she was 12. In her free time, Jodi likes to write novels and play the piano.
Miya Swenson
Web Designer - Spanish & Chinese Translator
Miya Swenson is double-majoring in Chinese and translation. She enjoys listening to music, reading, writing, and dancing. Her current song obsession is "scenic route" by sundial. It would be an absolute dream of hers to have a library with a bunch of hidden tunnels and secrets.
Lauren Downs
Boundless Coordinator & French Translator
Lauren is a third year studying English and Creative Writing on the Publishing track with a minor in Translation. Once she finishes her degree, Lauren plans to work in a publishing house as a literary agent or novel editor! She is currently reading Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides.
MJ Thierry
Social Media Coordinator & Chinese Translator
MJ is the Social Media Coordinator and translator for TIP. After living abroad in Taiwan and Spain, language learning and translation has become as major passion for them. MJ can mostly likely be found drinking mochas, reading cheesy romance books, or attending concerts around IC.
Angélica Toro Torres
Spanish & Italian Translator
Now in her senior year, Angélica Toro Torres is a cinema major translating stories from English to Spanish and/or Italian one more time. Her plans after graduation are to either go to grad school or find work in the film industry, maybe leaning towards grad school. But when she’s not preparing for her future after Iowa, she’s watching horror movies on Prime Video, her recent favorite being Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula (1992).
Ava Walton
Italian Translator
Ava is currently a translator of Italian who has also worked in Latin and Greek. Her interest in translation stemmed from classics which stemmed from an interest in death and dying. She uses the tools and philosophies of translation to make sense of--or peace with--love and loss. Translation across time, as an act of preservation, and why we choose to preserve is one of her primary interests in this work.
Meet Our Translators
Afley Barnabas
Amharic & Tigrinya Translator
Afley is a third-year Accounting and Business Analytics major at The University of Iowa. He values connections that lead to better decision-making and business collaborations. With his majors he hopes to pursue a career with a diversified background in Accounting and Data Analytics that will make him stand out in today’s ever-changing job market.
Diana Zhang
Chinese & Korean Translator
Diana is a senior double majoring in English and Creative Writing and Translation. Her translation languages are Chinese and Korean. In her spare time, she likes to play video games with her boyfriend.
Jobin Terranova
Korean Translator
Jobin Terranova is a junior at the University of Iowa, majoring in English and Creative Writing and also studying Korean. Originally from Maine, he enjoys listening to music as well as watching tv and writing. With a love for Korean media, he also has an interest in translation and being able to use both English and Korean languages.
Thomas Brown
Japanese Translator
Translation and language major at the University of Iowa.
Eleanor MacKellar
Spanish Translator
Eleanor is a psychology major and Spanish minor. She joined TIP as a way to practice her Spanish skills and loves the puzzle of it. She works in a sleep lab on campus, is a TA for Honors, and is secretary for Cross-stitch and Embroidery Club. In her free time she likes to read fantasy and sci-fi books and watch sub-par adventure movies.
Sonja Cutts
Latin Translator
Sonja is a third-year Ethics and Public Policy major from Portland, Oregon. She's double minoring in Geographic Information Science and Environmental Policy & Planning, as well as pursuing two certificates: one in Social Science Analytics and another in Writing. When not busy with school, she likes to read, jog, and practice yoga. Her translation language is Latin.
Charlotte Hagen
Latin Translator
Charlotte Hagen is a second year English & Creative Writing and Ancient Civ double major. She plays cello in the campus orchestra and writes definitely trustworthy news for the Doily Allergen. Their favorite video game is Hades, and their favorite book is anything from the Beartown trilogy by Fredrik Backman (a fantastic Swedish translation). She learned Latin in high school, and is teaching herself French while also learning Greek at Iowa.
Jessica Housour
Spanish Translator
Jessica is a third-year student double-majoring in English and Spanish, with a minor in Translation. This is her second year working with the Translate Iowa Project. She is also an Honors TA, an Acquisitions Editor for Catharsis, and a volunteer at the Women's Resource and Action Center. In her free time, she likes reading, rewatching her favorite movies (like Pride and Prejudice!), and starting all sorts of new hobbies.
Maria Pereira
Portugese Translator
Maria Inês Pereira is a second-year English and Creative Writing Major and French minor at the University of Iowa. She's lived her whole life in Lisbon, Portugal, and she definitely misses it the most when it starts to snow in Iowa City. In her spare time, she watches movies, attempts (unsuccessfully) to teach herself Korean, and runs a relatively unknown gluten-free baking Instagram account.
Ahmed Ahmoudi
English & Arabic Translator
Ahmed is a translator hailing from Sudan with over a decade of experience in translation. He worked in Saudi Arabia for about 15 years, practice translation in his free time at those years. Fluent in both Arabic and English, Ahmed has translated a diverse range of texts, from technical manuals, applications to literary works. Currently based in Iowa, Ahmed dedicates his skills to helping new Sudanese immigrants navigate their new lives through language.
Hannah Siefken
French Translator
Hannah Siefken is a second-year undergraduate at Iowa who is double-majoring in Theatre Arts (Acting, Directing, and Musical Theatre) and Translation. They have been studying French for nearly a decade, and they have a particular interest in translating French drama and literary fiction. Hannah has studied throughout Western Europe, including in France, and earned their Seal of Biliteracy in 2023. Outside of school, they enjoy practicing yoga, writing poetry, and playing with their dog, Cleo.
Terra Richardson
French, Arabic, & Spanish Translator
Terra is a second year student studying French, International Studies, and Translation, with minors in Arabic and Spanish. She has always loved the challenge of taking on new languages and now loves the challenge of translating from one to the other. When she’s not traveling back and forth from her double-life in France, she enjoys playing the bass and reading Stephen King.
