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Bill Johnston

ビル・ジョンストン

Bill Johnston

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1960-01-01
Nationality
American
Languages
English, Polish (working language)
Residence History
United Kingdom (studied at Oxford) → Honolulu, Hawaiʻi (University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa) → Bloomington, Indiana, USA (Indiana University affiliation)

Career

Occupations
translator, professor of comparative literature, scholar
Active Years
1982-
Affiliations
Indiana University (professor of comparative literature)
Nominations
National Book Critics Circle Poetry Award (finalist, 2008), Best Translated Book Award (shortlist: A Treatise on Shelling Beans, 2014)

Education

University College, University of Oxford
Modern Languages
Degree: BA
Period: 1979–1982
Year of Graduation: 1982
Country: United Kingdom
BA in Modern Languages
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Graduate studies (Second Language Acquisition)
Degree: Ph.D.
Country: United States
Ph.D. in Second Language Acquisition (year unknown)

Awards

Found in Translation Award
2008
Work: new poems by Tadeusz Różewicz
Organization: Found in Translation (organizers)
Result: 受賞
PEN Translation Prize
2012
Work: Stone Upon Stone by Wiesław Myśliwski
Organization: PEN America
Result: 受賞
Best Translated Book Award (Fiction)
2012
Work: Stone Upon Stone by Wiesław Myśliwski
Category: フィクション
Organization: Best Translated Book Award committee
Result: 受賞
AATSEEL Translation/Book Award
2012
Work: Stone Upon Stone by Wiesław Myśliwski
Organization: AATSEEL (American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages)
Result: 受賞
AATSEEL Translation Award
2005
Work: Dreams and Stones by Magdalena Tulli
Organization: AATSEEL
Result: 受賞
National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship (Translation)
1999
Work: Balladina by Juliusz Słowacki
Organization: NEA (National Endowment for the Arts)
Result: 受賞（フェローシップ）
National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship
2005
Work: Translation project of The Coming Spring by Stefan Żeromski
Organization: NEH (National Endowment for the Humanities)
Result: フェローシップ
Amicus Poloniae
2003
Organization: Ambassador of the Republic of Poland
Result: 受賞
Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland
2012
Organization: President of the Republic of Poland
Result: 叙勲
Transatlantyk Prize
2014
Organization: Transatlantyk (prize for promotion of Polish literature abroad)
Result: 受賞
Tadeusz Walendowski Prize
2014
Organization: Polish Library in Washington
Result: 受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship
2013
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: フェロー（2013–2014）

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Stone Upon Stone

2011 Novel (translation)

A novel by Wiesław Myśliwski that explores rural Poland, memory, and generational narratives; Johnston translated it into English.

memoryrural lifehistory

A Treatise on Shelling Beans

2013 Novel (translation)

Translation of a work by Wiesław Myśliwski that depicts human and community relations through quotidian acts.

communityeveryday lifememory

Dreams and Stones

2004 Literary fiction (translation)

Translation of Magdalena Tulli's novel, characterized by experimental narration and fragments of memory.

memoryidentityexperimental style

Pan Tadeusz

2018 Epic poem (translation)

An English translation of Adam Mickiewicz's classic epic poem, introducing a cornerstone of Polish literature to English readers.

national identityhistorypastoral landscapes

Bibliography

  • Adam Mickiewicz: Pan Tadeusz. Archipelago Books. 2018.
  • Tomasz Różycki: Twelve Stations. Zephyr Books. 2015.
  • Stanisław Lem: The Invincible (translation). Pro Auctore. 2014.
  • Wiesław Myśliwski: A Treatise on Shelling Beans. Archipelago Books. 2013.
  • Magdalena Tulli: In Red. Archipelago Books. 2011.
  • Andrzej Stasiuk: Dukla. Dalkey Archive. 2011.
  • Stanisław Lem: Solaris (audiobook translation). Audible.com. 2011.
  • Magdalena Tulli: Flaw. Archipelago Books. 2007.
  • Stefan Żeromski: The Coming Spring. Central European University Press. 2007.
  • Tadeusz Różewicz: new poems. Archipelago Books. 2007.
  • Magdalena Tulli: Moving Parts. Archipelago Books. 2005.
  • Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński: White Magic and Other Poems. Green Integer. 2005.
  • Witold Gombrowicz: Polish Memories. Yale University Press. 2004.
  • Jerzy Pilch: The Mighty Angel. Open Letter. 2002.
  • Stefan Żeromski: The Faithful River. Northwestern University Press. 1999.
  • Andrzej Szczypiorski: The Shadow Catcher. Grove Press. 1997.
  • Bolesław Prus: The Sins of Childhood and Other Stories. Northwestern University Press. 1996.

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Emphasizes preserving original style and rhythm while producing natural English prosePays attention to reproducing poetic texture
Recurring Motifs
memory and oral traditionPolish rural life and historyrelations between individual and community

Legacy

Johnston is a leading translator who has introduced Polish literature to English-language readers; through numerous awards and academic work he has helped raise the international profile of Polish writing.

Academic Societies

  • AATSEEL (American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages) — multiple recognitions

Archives

  • Indiana University archives (possible holdings)

Trivia

  • Held the Henry Remak Endowed Professorship at Indiana University (2014–2017).
  • Translated Stanisław Lem's The Invincible for an audiobook release.
  • Won the PEN Translation Prize and Best Translated Book Award for his English translation of Wiesław Myśliwski's Stone Upon Stone.