This contribution seeks to analyse the complex and fascinating translation process of Abdelkader Benali’s award-winning novel De Langverwachte (Vassallucci 2003) into Italian. Due to a combination of professional and personal circumstances, Benali gave the Italian translator Claudia Di Palermo the total freedom to edit the novel. For example, the Italian translation, La Lunga Attesa (Fazi 2005), underwent an editing process in which, among other things, the number of chapters was reduced from 58 to 47. In the analysis, the profiles of the author and the translator will first be outlined. Subsequently, the most important reasons for the editing process will be explained on the basis of an interview with the translator. Finally, the four translation strategies are explained by referring to Di Palermo’s personal notes. These are: separation, merging, deletion and addition.
