PEN Translation Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 9 (1971) Winner
Max Hayward
マックス・ヘイワード
Max Hayward
Aliases:
Harry Maxwell Hayward
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1924-07-28 （London）
- Died
- 1979-03-18 （Oxford） age 54
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Languages
- English, Russian (used in translation)
- Residence History
- London → Liverpool → Oxford → Moscow (posted) → Prague (study) → Leeds
Career
- Occupations
- Translator, Lecturer, Russian literature scholar
- Active Years
- 1945-1979
- Affiliations
- St Antony's College, Oxford, Leeds University, British Embassy, Moscow, Magdalen College, Oxford
- Influenced By
- Constance Garnett, Various Russian modern authors
- Influenced
- Strobe Talbott (student, later diplomat), Anglophone translators and scholars of Russian literature
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magdalen College, Oxford | Faculty of Arts (initially German, later Russian) | Languages / Russian | First-class undergraduate degree | 1942–1945 | United Kingdom |
| Charles University of Prague | — | Russian studies (short course) | — | 1946–1947 | Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia) |
Magdalen College, Oxford
Faculty of Arts (initially German, later Russian)
/ Languages / Russian
Degree:
First-class undergraduate degree
Period:
1942–1945
Year of Graduation:
1945
Country:
United Kingdom
Entered on a scholarship; switched from German to Russian and graduated with a first-class degree.
Charles University of Prague
Russian studies (short course)
Period:
1946–1947
Country:
Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia)
Studied in 1946–1947; no clear record of a degree.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | PEN Translation Prize | For translation work (general) | — | PEN | 受賞 |
PEN Translation Prize
1971
Work:
For translation work (general)
Organization:
PEN
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Doctor Zhivago (translation, co-translator: Manya Harari)
1957 Novel (translation)Hayward, with Manya Harari, produced a major English translation of Boris Pasternak's novel, portraying personal love and fate amid the upheaval of the Russian Revolution and its aftermath.
LoveRevolutionIndividual and history
Adaptations
- [Film] Doctor Zhivago (film) / David Lean (1965)
Translations
- Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago — English translation (Harari & Hayward)
Selected translations of Isaac Babel
Short story collection (translation)Translations and edited selections of Isaac Babel's short stories, conveying vivid portrayals of Jewish and revolutionary-era Russian life.
ViolenceRevolutionJewish communities
Translations of Russian poets and writers (Mayakovsky, Mandelstam, Akhmatova, etc.)
Poetry, essays and memoir translationsHe translated numerous Russian-language works—poetry, memoirs and essays—by authors such as Mayakovsky, Nadezhda Mandelstam and Anna Akhmatova, contributing substantially to anglophone understanding of Russian literature.
Politics and poetryPersecution and memory
Bibliography
- Harari, Manya & Hayward, Max — Doctor Zhivago (English translation)
- Selected Stories of Isaac Babel (edited & translated)
- Selected Poems of Vladimir Mayakovsky (translation)
- Translations and introductions to Nadezhda Mandelstam's memoirs
Adaptations
- Film adaptation of Doctor Zhivago (the English translation contributed to the novel's reception)
Translations by Author
- Numerous Russian-to-English translations (Pasternak, Babel, Mayakovsky, etc.)
Translations of Works
- Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago — English translation (Harari & Hayward)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- English that aims to preserve the rhythm and tone of the original while remaining idiomaticExplanatory introductions and notes to supply background
- Recurring Motifs
- History and the individualMemory and testimonyPolitics and language
Legacy
Hayward is regarded as a major mid-20th-century translator and scholar who significantly contributed to the reception of Russian literature in the English-speaking world. He has been called one of the most important Russian-to-English translators since Constance Garnett and broadened understanding of Russian literature through translations and scholarly introductions.
Quotes
-
"He has been described as the best and most prolific translator of Russian prose into English since Constance Garnett."
Source: Literary Translation in Russia: A Cultural History (as cited) (1997)
Trivia
- While posted in Moscow he was reportedly too dumbstruck to interpret for the British ambassador during a visit to Joseph Stalin.
- Began work in 1957 on an English translation of Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago, co-translated with Manya Harari.
- Awarded the PEN Translation Prize in 1971.