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Uljana Wolf

ウルヤナ・ヴォルフ

Uljana Wolf

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1979-04-06 （East Berlin, East Germany）
Nationality
German
Languages
German, English, Polish
Residence History
Berlin → New York

Career

Occupations
poet, literary translator, German instructor
Active Years
2005-
Affiliations
New York University (faculty)
Influenced By
Rainer Maria Rilke, Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Education

University in Berlin
German studies, cultural studies and English literature
Country: Germany
Studied German studies, cultural studies and English literature in Berlin
University in Kraków
exchange studies / interdisciplinary coursework
Country: Poland
Studied in Kraków (details not specified)

Awards

Peter Huchel Prize
2006
Work: Kochanie ich habe Brot gekauft
Organization: Peter Huchel Prize organization
Result: winner
Dresdner Lyrikpreis
2006
Organization: Dresdner Lyrikpreis organization
Result: winner
Merano Poetry Prize (Media Prize of RAI Bolzano)
2008
Category: メディア賞
Organization: Merano Poetry Prize
Result: winner
Erlanger Prize for Poetry as Translation
2015
Organization: Erlanger Prize organization
Result: winner
Adelbert von Chamisso Prize
2016
Organization: Adelbert von Chamisso Prize organization
Result: winner
Villa Massimo fellowship
2017
Category: フェローシップ（2017/2018）
Organization: Villa Massimo
Result: recipient
International Literature Award
2025
Organization: International Literature Award organization
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Kochanie ich habe Brot gekauft

2005 Poetry

An early collection of poems exploring multilingual fragments and linguistic dislocation in an experimental mode.

multilingualismidentitytranslation
Translations
  • Has English translations

False Friends

2009 Poetry

A poetry collection themed around 'false friends'—words that mislead across languages. An English translation exists.

misreading and mistranslationlinguistic borders
Translations
  • English translation by Susan Bernofsky (False Friends, 2009)

Box Office

2009 Poetry

A 2009 collection composed of short poems continuing her linguistic experiments.

fragmentslinguistic experimentation

Erasures (collaboration)

2012 Poetry / erasure

A bilingual collaborative erasure project with Christian Hawkey, working with Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnets from the Portuguese and their German translations.

erasuretraces of translationbilingualism

Meine schönste lengevitch

2013 Poetry

A 2013 poetry collection exploring intersections of personal memory and language.

memorylinguistic intersection

Bibliography

  • Kochanie ich habe Brot gekauft (2005)
  • False Friends (2009)
  • Box Office (2009)
  • Erasures (2012, with Christian Hawkey)
  • Meine schönste lengevitch (2013)

Translations by Author

  • Has translated from English and Polish

Translations of Works

  • False Friends (English translation by Susan Bernofsky, 2009)
  • i mean i dislike that fate that i was made to where (English translation by Sophie Seita, 2015)
  • Subsisters (English translation by Sophie Seita, 2017)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
experimental poetry emphasizing multilingualismfragmentary and collage-like structures
Recurring Motifs
linguistic dislocationtraces of translationmemory and fragments

Legacy

Uljana Wolf is regarded as a contemporary poet who probes multilingualism and traces of translation in her work. She has received awards at home and abroad and reaches an international readership through translations.

Trivia

  • Teaches German at New York University.
  • Her work often centers on multilingual experiments and the nature of translation.