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George Szirtes

ジョージ・シルテシュ

Jōji Shiruteshu

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1948-11-29 （Budapest, Hungary）
Nationality
Hungarian, British
Languages
Hungarian, English
Residence History
London (raised) → Wymondham, Norfolk (resident)

Career

Occupations
Poet, Translator, Writer, Teacher
Active Years
1973-
Affiliations
University of East Anglia (former faculty), Royal Society of Literature (Fellow)
Memberships
Royal Society of Literature (Fellow)
Influenced By
Martin Bell (teacher/poet)
Nominations
1992 Shortlisted for Whitbread Poetry Prize for Bridge Passages, 1999 Shortlisted for Weidenfeld Prize for The Adventures of Sindbad (translation), 2000 Shortlisted for Forward Prize Single Poem: Norfolk Fields, 2005 Shortlisted for Popescu Prize for The Night of Akhenaton, 2009 Shortlisted for T. S. Eliot Prize for The Burning of the Books and Other Poems, 2013 Shortlisted for T. S. Eliot Prize for Bad Machine, 2020 Shortlisted for the PEN/Ackerley Prize for The Photographer at Sixteen

Education

London (studied fine art)
Country: United Kingdom
Studied fine art in London and Leeds (details unspecified)
Leeds (studied fine art)
Country: United Kingdom
Reportedly studied under poet Martin Bell in Leeds

Awards

Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize
1980
Work: The Slant Door
Organization: Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize committee
Result: winner
Cholmondeley Prize
1986
Organization: Royal Society of Literature / Cholmondeley Prize
Result: winner
T. S. Eliot Prize
2004
Work: Reel
Organization: T. S. Eliot Prize committee
Result: winner
Bess Hokin Prize
2008
Work: Poems published in Poetry magazine
Organization: Poetry Foundation
Result: winner
Best Translated Book Award
2013
Work: Satantango (translator)
Organization: Best Translated Book Award committee
Result: winner
Man Booker International Prize (as translator)
2015
Work: Translation of László Krasznahorkai (as translator)
Organization: Man Booker International
Result: winner
James Tait Black Prize for Biography
2020
Work: The Photographer at Sixteen
Organization: James Tait Black Prizes committee
Result: winner
King's Gold Medal for Poetry
2024
Organization: The Royal Family / King's Gold Medal committee
Result: winner
Ovid Prize
2006
Organization: Ovid Prize committee
Result: winner
Pro Cultura Hungarica medal
2004
Organization: Pro Cultura Hungarica
Result: recipient

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Slant Door

1979 Poetry collection

Early poetry collection published in 1979; winner of the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize.

migrationmemorythe everyday

Reel

2004 Poetry collection

Poetry collection published in 2004; awarded the T. S. Eliot Prize.

timememoryvisual imagery

The Photographer at Sixteen

2019 Memoir / Non-fiction

A memoir reflecting on youth, photographs and memory. Winner of the 2020 James Tait Black Prize for Biography.

memoryfamilyidentity

Satantango (translation)

2012 Translation (novel)

English translation of László Krasznahorkai's novel. Highly regarded as a translation; won the Best Translated Book Award in 2013.

translationEastern European literature

The Flight (poem set to music)

Poem set to music

The poem 'The Flight' was set to music by composer Richard Causton and performed for a King's College event.

flightinvocation
Adaptations
  • [Music] The Flight (choral piece) / Richard Causton

Bibliography

  • Poetry Introduction 4 (co-edited) (1978)
  • The Slant Door (1979)
  • November and May (1981)
  • Short Wave (1984)
  • The Photographer in Winter (1986)
  • Bridge Passages (1991)
  • Reel (2004)
  • New and Collected Poems (2008)
  • The Photographer at Sixteen (2019)
  • Fresh Out of the Sky (2021)

Adaptations

  • Poem 'The Flight' set to choral music by Richard Causton

Translations by Author

  • English translations of works by László Krasznahorkai and other Hungarian authors
  • Translation of Imre Madách's The Tragedy of Man (verse play)

Translations of Works

  • Selected poems have appeared in Hungarian, Chinese, Italian, German and Romanian translations

Style & Themes

Literary Style
lyrical, memory-rooted styleuse of vivid, cinematic imagerytranslation-aware, bilingual sensibility
Recurring Motifs
migration and exilefamily and father figuresmemory and photographslandscape (Britain and Hungary)

Legacy

A Hungarian-born English-language poet and translator known for bridging bilingual cultures. Highly regarded for both his poetry and translations, and recipient of multiple international awards.

Academic Societies

  • Royal Society of Literature (Fellow)

In Popular Culture

  • Contributor to 'A New Divan: A Lyrical Dialogue between East and West'

Trivia

  • Came to the UK as a refugee at age eight after the 1956 Hungarian uprising.
  • Ran The Starwheel Press with his wife Clarissa Upchurch, who designed many of his book jackets.
  • Known internationally both as a poet and as a translator from Hungarian into English.