In recent years she has been noted for her work in translating the novels of
José Saramago, for which she won a number of awards. Her translations include
All the Names, and
Death at Intervals, about a country where death ceases to exist, was published in 2008. As part of its "Europe 1992–2004" programme, the UK publishers
Dedalus embarked on a series of new translations by Jull Costa of some of the major classics of Portuguese literature. These include seven works by
Eça de Queiroz:
Cousin Bazilio (1878, translation published 2003, funded by the
Arts Council of England),
The Tragedy of the Street of Flowers,
The Mandarin (and Other Stories),
The Relic,
The Crime of Father Amaro,
The Maias and
The City and the Mountains (2008). In 2006, she published the translation of the first part of
Javier Marías's trilogy,
Your Face Tomorrow 1: Fever and Spear. The second part,
2: Dance and Dream, was published in 2006, while the concluding part,
3: Poison, Shadow and Farewell, appeared in November 2009. This last volume won her the 2010
Premio Valle-Inclan. Her English translation of ''The Accordionist's Son'' by the Basque author
Bernardo Atxaga was published by Harvill Secker (2007) while her previous translations of Atxaga's work include
The Lone Man (1996) and
The Lone Woman (1999). Her translation of
The Maias by
Eça de Queiroz was published by
Dedalus Books in 2007. The original book was described by
José Saramago as "the greatest book by Portugal's greatest novelist". In 2008, as the first of a new Dedalus Euro Shorts series, Jull Costa made the first-ever English translation of
Helena, or The Sea in Summer,
Julián Ayesta's enduring, pointillist novel, first published in Spain in 1952 as
Hélena o el mar del verano, and for which he is most remembered. Her biographical introduction to the book provides English-language readers with a brief but essential portrait of Ayesta (1919–1996), author, Spanish diplomat and outspoken critic of
Francoist Spain. ==Selected translations==