Melody Makeda Ledwon (she/her) is a bidirectional translator, interpreter and educator. Sie works in German and English.

Born and raised in Berlin she spent most of her adult life in New York City. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Africana Studies and Sociology from Hunter College and a master’s degree in Education from Washington University in St. Louis.

Melody’s work focuses on Afrodiasporic, feminist and queer literature.

Her translations have ben published by S.Fischer Verlage, Penguin Random House, Aki Verlag, Mousse Magazine and TRANSIT.

She has interpreted for clients such as Akademie der Künste, Diversity Arts Culture, Federal Agency for Civic Education und die Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland (ISD).

In the fall of 2020, she founded the Black Translators’ Network – a platform for Black translators working in Germany and beyond.