Hi, I’m Lizzie, an editorial professional and translator with a decade of experience shepherding projects from manuscript to award-winning finished book. Previously senior editor at Coffee House Press, I joined Transit Books as editor and rights manager in 2023.

  • "Lizzie Davis is a skilled and experienced literary editor and translator, one of the best I've encountered in my career. She is professional, reliable, knowledgeable, and a true expert of the written word. Your work will be safe in her care, and it will be better because of it. I could not recommend her more."

    —Carla Valadez, former Managing Director of Coffee House Press

  • "Given the opportunity to invite any translator to help me with . . . the lost Neruda poems, I chose Lizzie Davis. She isn’t only a brilliant and intuitively gifted translator; she's a poet first. Her translations of Pilar Fraile . . . are as strange and gorgeous and magnetic as the originals."

    —Forrest Gander, winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry

  • "I’ve always believed that translating poetry requires much more than just being a good translator: it requires a special sensitivity that very few people have, as well as curiosity, a capacity for wonder, and a good ear. Lizzie Davis has all that and more."

    —Daniel Saldaña París, author of Among Strange Victims

  • "In 2015, Jai-Alai Books brought out the first United States publication by the Spanish poet Elena Medel, translated by Lizzie Davis. The project was a dream come true for us, and working with Davis was a huge part of that. Davis put her whole heart and soul into the project, and her dedication is visible on every single page. I can't imagine the book without her."

    —P. Scott Cunningham, former Executive Director of O, Miami

  • "I loved working with Lizzie Davis. She has a very intelligent, keen eye . . . and was able to elevate the manuscript to another level as a result of her acuity for language and plot. She’s also very thorough, and she read the manuscript several times. Each time, she was able to see something that would make it even better."

    —Vi Khi Nao, author of Fish in Exile

Based in the Chicago area, I’m recognized throughout the industry as a nimble, warm, and energetic literary citizen and a devoted advocate for innovative prose, poetry, and translation. I provide services including translation, developmental editing, line editing, copy editing, proofreading, project management, manuscript coaching, translation mentoring, and more.

Freelance Translator

2014—present

Since 2014, I’ve been translating prose and poetry from some of the foremost writers at work in the Spanish language today, including Juan Cárdenas, Elena Medel, Valeria Luiselli, Pilar Fraile, and Daniela Tarazona. My translations or cotranslations have been nominated for the PEN Translation Prize, the American Book Award, and the Kirkus Prize in Nonfiction, and longlisted for the National Book Award for Translated Literature and the Dublin Literary Award.

Transit Books

2023—present

I acquire and edit fiction and nonfiction; collaborate with the cofounders to lead the planning of seasonal book publishing programs—coordinating editorial, marketing, publicity, and development efforts to schedule, launch, and execute season lists; manage foreign rights; and advocate for our authors nationally and internationally. I carry out the full range of house editorial duties on several books per year: structural and line edits, author support, cover briefs, catalog copy, endorsement requests, etc.

Coffee House Press

2015—2023

I worked in various editorial roles, played an active part in shaping the future of Coffee House’s prose list, and championed dozens of projects by writers including K-Ming Chang, Karen Tei Yamashita, Tom Comitta, Aurora Mattia, Rikki Ducornet, Valeria Luiselli, Alia Trabucco Zerán, and others. As senior editor, I oversaw the editorial and production department, contracted and closely collaborated with freelancers and series editors, and managed a team of three.

Are you a publisher seeking editorial or production support? A writer looking for guidance on a manuscript in progress? An agent in need of translation samples and reader reports? Let’s work together.