Monday 27 April 2009

Wolff Translator's Prize to John Hargraves

As the Chicago Goethe-Institut announced, this year's Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize goes to John Hargraves for his version of Michael Krüger's Turiner Komödie, in English The Executor. The Complete Review describes the book as a "fairly well-done writerly/publishing tragi-comedy".

Hargraves, who has taught German at various universities and authored, edited and translated various books, often with a music focus, receives $10,000 and gets to spend a month on the shore of the Wannsee at the Literary Colloquium in Berlin (where I believe last year's winner, David Dollenmayer, is currently sojourning as we speak). Interestingly, he is also a bit of an expert on Philip Roth and has edited a number of translations of his work into German. Roth has had seven different German translators over the years, so a consistent editor is probably an excellent idea. The jury chose Hargraves' book from over fifty fiction and non-fiction submissions.

There'll be an award ceremony in Chicago on 8 June. Congratulations!

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