Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 10 (2005) Winner
Michael Henry Heim
マイケル・ヘンリー・ハイム
Michael Henry Heim
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1943-01-21 （Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S.）
- Died
- 2012-09-29 （Westwood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.） age 69
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English, Russian, Czech, German, Dutch, French, Romanian, Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian
- Residence History
- Manhattan (birth) → Staten Island (raised) → Los Angeles (UCLA faculty; later life)
Career
- Occupations
- Literary translator, Scholar, Professor
- Active Years
- 1964-2012
- Affiliations
- University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Northwestern University Press (editor of translation series)
- Memberships
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Fellow)
- Influenced By
- Roman Jakobson, Gregory Rabassa
- Influenced
- Bill Johnston (translator), Subsequent generations of literary translators
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Curtis High School | — | — | — | — | United States |
| Columbia University | — | Oriental Civilization and Russian Language and Literature (double major) | B.A. | 1960s | United States |
| Harvard University | — | Slavic Languages and Literatures | Ph.D. | 1960s–1971 | United States |
Curtis High School
Country:
United States
High school; studied French and German.
Columbia University
Oriental Civilization and Russian Language and Literature (double major)
Degree:
B.A.
Period:
1960s
Year of Graduation:
1964
Country:
United States
Undergraduate studies included Chinese and Russian; formative for his translation career.
Harvard University
Slavic Languages and Literatures
Degree:
Ph.D.
Period:
1960s–1971
Year of Graduation:
1971
Country:
United States
Received Ph.D. under the mentorship of Roman Jakobson.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize | Translation of Thomas Mann's Death in Venice | — | Goethe-Institut / prize committee | 受賞 |
| 2009 | PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation | — | — | PEN American Center | 受賞 |
| 2010 | PEN Translation Prize | Translation of Hugo Claus's Wonder (De verwondering) | — | PEN American Center | 受賞 |
| 2006 | Guggenheim Fellowship | — | — | John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation | 受賞 |
| 2002 | Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences | — | — | American Academy of Arts and Sciences | 選出 |
Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize
2005
Work:
Translation of Thomas Mann's Death in Venice
Organization:
Goethe-Institut / prize committee
Result:
受賞
PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation
2009
Organization:
PEN American Center
Result:
受賞
PEN Translation Prize
2010
Work:
Translation of Hugo Claus's Wonder (De verwondering)
Organization:
PEN American Center
Result:
受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship
2006
Organization:
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result:
受賞
Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2002
Organization:
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Result:
選出
Awards & Nominations
PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation
1 appearances
-
Edition 10 (2009) Winner
PEN Translation Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 50 (2010) Winner
Works
Major Works
Death in Venice (translation of Thomas Mann)
2004 Novel (translation)Heim's English translation of Thomas Mann's work, noted for precision and attention to tone and register.
Desire and beautyDeathCivilization and decay
Wonder (translation of Hugo Claus)
2009 Novel (translation)An English translation of a major Dutch work; praised for cultural sensitivity and stylistic care; won the PEN Translation Prize.
MemoryWonder and the everyday
Too Loud a Solitude (translation of Bohumil Hrabal)
1990 Novella/Novel (translation)An English rendering of a Czech satirical-poetic text, notable for attempts to preserve original rhythm and humor.
Memory and lossKnowledge and destruction
My Century (translation of Günter Grass)
1999 Short pieces / historical recollections (translation)Translation of Grass's episodic recollections; conveyed historical consciousness and variety of voices to English readers.
20th-century memoryIndividual and history
Bibliography
- The Russian Journey of Karel Havlíček Borovský
- Contemporary Czech
- The Third Wave: Russian Literature in Emigration (editor)
- Un Babel fericit
- Numerous translations from multiple languages (Chekhov, Kundera, Günter Grass, Hrabal, Hugo Claus, etc.)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Faithful to source-text tone and rhythmBalances readability with fidelity
- Recurring Motifs
- Cultural exchange through translationConveying nuance across languages
Health
-
Melanoma (skin cancer)末期（2012年没）までDied of complications from melanoma in 2012. Likely affected late-career activity.
Legacy
Considered one of the foremost literary translators of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. His translations conveyed source-language style and cultural context to English readers; he also made philanthropic contributions such as establishing the PEN Translation Fund.
Academic Societies
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Archives
- UCLA Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures archives
Quotes
-
The process of literary creation often took place largely through the prism of translation.
Source: Biographical and critical accounts (e.g. UCLA, The New York Times)
Trivia
- In 2003 he and his wife used their life savings (approximately $734,000) to establish the PEN Translation Fund; his role as donor was kept private during his life.
- Taught in UCLA's Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures for nearly 40 years and was promoted to UCLA Distinguished Professor prior to his death.
- Translated extensively from many languages into English, including Russian, Czech, Serbo-Croatian, German, Dutch, French, Romanian, and Hungarian.