Translator’s Note: Longia Milosz Miller on Translating Small Town & Rifts in Time

In this episode, Longia Milosz Miller shares her Translator’s Note and opens up about her personal journey into the world of literary translation. She discusses why and when she began translating, and what inspired that first step, how her bilingual background and love for language and literature shaped her path.
William Miller Illustrations, Malgorzata Pospiech political and psychological thrillers Small Town and Rifts in Time

Small Town by Malgorzata Pospiech beautifully translated from the Polish by Longia Milosz Miller, with stunning illustrations by William Miller."
Set in the aftermath of WWII Poland and inspired by events that took place in the author’s childhood hometown, Small Town traces the tragic legacy of October 1945, when—in brutal act of retaliation for the assassination of two Secret Police agents—eight innocent townspeople were brutally murdered- a trauma that echoes across generations.
At the heart of the story is deeply moving a daughter’s search for the father she never knew and the truth about the traumatic events he witnessed. The reader is also drawn into the life of Nora, the author’s passionate and headstrong alter ego, as she navigates love, family, and identity —from her childhood in 1960s–70s Poland to her years as a writer in New York.
From the haunted streets of a small Polish town to the vibrant literary circles of New York, Small Town explores themes of memory, silence, identity, and resilience.
Blending historical fiction, family saga with emotional depth, and semi-autobiographical narrative, this novel is a must-read for fans of post-WWII stories, Polish history, and literary fiction rooted in truth an is a moving exploration of memory, silence, and resilience—and the first installment in an unforgettable literary journey..

Longia Miłosz Miller
As a student of the Polish language and literature, Longia has translated two of Malgorzata Pośpiech’s novels: Small Town and Rifts of Time. Longia is currently translating another of Pośpiech’s novels: The Seventh Circle.
Along with her enjoyment of Polish literary expression, Longia has both a dual career as a soft toy designer and engineer and as a multimedia artist spanning forty-seven years. She was a designer at Knickerbocker Toy Company and a design director at Hasbro. Subsequently, she founded Longia Miller Design, developing soft toys for major American toy manufacturers and creating craft projects for leading pattern companies.
As an artist Longia creates paintings, sculptures and utilizes photography as a means of self expression. Her work has appeared in juried exhibitions at the Phillips’ Mill, the Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie, the Hunterdon Art Museum, New Hope Arts, Arts Of Yardley, and the Perkins Center for the Arts.
Longia is a graduate of Pratt Institute.

Drawings byWilliam Miller
William Miller was born in Detroit, Michigan and graduated from Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute. He began his career as a graphic designer for General Motors Styling Division, and later managed a team of multimedia designers at AT&T.
Bill was a national advertising manager at AT&T from 1979 to 2007, responsible for TV, radio, print, direct mail and web advertising. As an illustrator, Bill’s drawings have appeared in Conde Nast’s Traveller magazine and Małgorzata Pośpiech’s psychological thrillers: Small Town and Rifts of Time.
Bill’s paintings have been exhibited in group exhibitions at the Hunterdon Art Museum, the Phillips’ Mill, and the City of Trenton Museum at Ellarslie.