This article focuses on works by New York writers Rachel Cantor and Idra Novey. Their transfictional novels provide case studies in which translation is “staged”: in other words, translation is a key element of the plot and the identity of the protagonists. In Cantor’s Good on Paper (2016) and Novey’s Ways to Disappear (2016), in fact, translators and translation are not at all incidental. The figure of the translator actually takes centre stage. The characters are preoccupied with translation, experienced as both a troubling and generative process. Building on an analysis of both works of fiction, this article draws on published commentary by the authors, reviews and other secondary sources, as well as interviews conducted with the authors. Taken together, this material contributes to the understanding of the ‘enjeux’ of literary translation in the modern world, shedding light on the continued dismantling of traditional borders between translating and writing.