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Esther Allen

エスター・アレン

Esuteru Aren

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1962-06-29
Nationality
American
Languages
English, Spanish, French

Career

Occupations
Writer, Translator, Professor
Active Years
1990-
Affiliations
Baruch College, Department of Modern Languages & Comparative Literature, The Graduate Center, CUNY — Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Ph.D. Program; French Ph.D. Program, American Literary Translators Association (Development Committee), Writers Omi (part of Omi International Arts Center) — board
Memberships
American Literary Translators Association (Development Committee), Writers Omi (Omi International Arts Center) — board, Advisory Council, Spanish-language program, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism

Awards

Fellow, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
2018
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: フェロー
National Translation Award
2017
Work: Zama
Organization: American Literary Translators Association (ALTA)
Result: 受賞
Biography Fellowship, Leon Levy Center for Biography
2014
Organization: Leon Levy Center for Biography (CUNY Graduate Center)
Result: フェロー
Feliks Gross Awards
2012
Organization: CUNY Academy for the Arts and Sciences
Result: 受賞
Fellow, Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers
2009
Organization: New York Public Library — Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers
Result: フェロー（2009–2010）
Chevalier, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
2006
Organization: Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Result: 叙勲（シュヴァリエ）
Translation Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts
1995
Organization: National Endowment for the Arts
Result: フェロー（翻訳）
Translation Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts
2010
Organization: National Endowment for the Arts
Result: フェロー（翻訳）

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Zama

1956 Novel

A novel about a colonial official, Don Diego de Zama, and his existential isolation and decline in a frontier posting. Allen produced the first English translation (NYRB, 2016) and an introduction that brought the book to anglophone readers.

IsolationPower and impotenceColonialismTime and memory

Selected Writings (Penguin Classics) — José Martí

2002 Collected writings / Essays

An edited and translated selection of José Martí's key essays and writings, presenting his thought and prose to English-speaking readers.

Political thoughtLatin American independence and cultureEssays

Dancing with Cuba: A Memoir of the Revolution

2005 Memoir / Non-fiction

English translation of Alma Guillermoprieto's Spanish-language manuscript; the author praised Allen's rendering of her text into beautiful, assured English.

RevolutionMemoryNation and culture

In Her Absence (translated of Antonio Muñoz Molina)

2001 Novel

Allen's English translation of Antonio Muñoz Molina's novel, praised for capturing shifting subtleties of tone and mood.

MemoryHumor and pathosIndividual and society

The Book of Lamentations — Rosario Castellanos (translation)

1962 Novel

Translation of Rosario Castellanos's notable novel; Allen's translation first published in 1996 and later issued by Penguin Classics (1998).

Female perspectiveSocial alienationGrief and resistance

The Tale of the Rose: The Love Story Behind The Little Prince

2000 Memoir / Biographical

English translation of Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry's memoir about the love story behind The Little Prince, published posthumously in France (2000) and translated by Allen (Random House, 2003).

Love and lossReminiscenceLiterary history

Selected Non-Fictions — Jorge Luis Borges (co-translated)

2000 Essays / Non-fiction

An edited and co-translated selection of Jorge Luis Borges's non-fiction, produced with Eliot Weinberger and Suzanne Jill Levine for Penguin Classics.

On readingMemory and literaturePhilosophical essays

Bibliography

  • Zama (English translation, 2016)
  • José Martí: Selected Writings (editor & translator, 2002)
  • Dancing with Cuba (translator, 2005)
  • In Her Absence (translator, 2007)
  • Selected Non-Fictions (co-translator, 2000)
  • The Book of Lamentations (translator, 1996/1998)
  • The Tale of the Rose (translator, 2003)
  • In Translation: Translators on Their Work and What It Means (editor, 2013)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
A translation approach that preserves the original tone and nuance while rendering text into fluent, readable EnglishCareful contextualization through introductions and notes
Recurring Motifs
Focus on Latin American literatureExploration of memory and historyColonialism and cultural friction

Legacy

Esther Allen is a translator and scholar who has introduced key French- and Spanish-language writers to English-language audiences. She co-founded PEN World Voices and has supported translation initiatives and institutions, contributing significantly to the global literary translation field.

Academic Societies

  • American Literary Translators Association (ALTA)
  • PEN World Voices (co-founder)

Archives

  • New York Public Library — Cullman Center related materials
  • Baruch College / CUNY Graduate Center related archives

Quotes

  • Esther Allen "turned my stammering Spanish-language manuscript into an English text far more beautiful and assured than I could have written," wrote Alma Guillermoprieto.
    Source: Acknowledgements in Dancing with Cuba, 2005 (2005)
  • Critics praised Allen's translation of Zama, noting that it vividly conveyed the novel's energy and voice.
    Source: Reviews and criticism (e.g., New York Review of Books, The New Yorker) (2016)

Trivia

  • Co-founded PEN World Voices: The New York Festival of International Literature (2004).
  • Produced the first English translation of Zama and won the National Translation Award in 2017 for it.
  • Was named a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France) in 2006.