John Edwin Woods is an American translator who specializes in translating German literature, since about 1978. His work includes much of the fictional prose of

Arno Schmidt Arno Schmidt (; 18 January 1914 – 3 June 1979) was a German author and translator. He is little known outside of German-speaking areas, in part because his works present a formidable challenge to translators. Although he is not one of the p ...

and the works of contemporary authors such as Ingo Schulze and

Christoph Ransmayr Christoph Ransmayr (born 20 March 1954) is an Austrian writer. Life Born in Wels, Upper Austria, Ransmayr grew up in Roitham near Gmunden and the Traunsee. From 1972 to 1978 he studied philosophy and ethnology in Vienna. He worked there as ...

. He also translated all the major novels of

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

, as well as works by many other writers. Woods lives in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Selected translations

Alfred Döblin

* ''A People Betrayed'' * ''Karl and Rosa''

Doris Dörrie

* ''Love, Pain, and the Whole Damn Thing'' * ''What Do You Want from Me?''

Friedrich Dürrenmatt Friedrich Dürrenmatt (; 5 January 1921 – 14 December 1990) was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theatre whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author's work included avant-g ...

* ''A Monster Lecture on Justice and Law'' * ''The Execution of Justice''

Günter Grass

* ''Show Your Tongue''

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

* ''Joseph und seine Brüder'': ''

Joseph and His Brothers ''Joseph and His Brothers'' (''Joseph und seine Brüder'') is a four-part novel by Thomas Mann, written over the course of 16 years. Mann retells the familiar stories of Genesis, from Jacob to Joseph (chapters 27–50), setting it in the hi ...

'' * ''Der Zauberberg'': ''

The Magic Mountain ''The Magic Mountain'' (german: Der Zauberberg, links=no, ) is a novel by Thomas Mann, first published in German in November 1924. It is widely considered to be one of the most influential works of twentieth-century German literature. Mann s ...

'' * ''Doktor Faustus'': '' Doctor Faustus'' * ''Buddenbrooks'': ''

Buddenbrooks ''Buddenbrooks'' () is a 1901 novel by Thomas Mann, chronicling the decline of a wealthy north German merchant family over the course of four generations, incidentally portraying the manner of life and mores of the Hanseatic bourgeoisie in th ...

Libuše Moníková

* ''Die Fassade'': '' The Façade''

Wilhelm Raabe Wilhelm Raabe (; September 8, 1831November 15, 1910) was a German novelist. His early works were published under the pseudonym of Jakob Corvinus. Biography He was born in Eschershausen (then in the Duchy of Brunswick, now in the Holzminden Distr ...

* ''Horacker''

John Rabe John Heinrich Detlef Rabe (23 November 1882 – 5 January 1950) was a German businessman and Nazi Party member best known for his efforts to stop war crimes during the Japanese Nanjing Massacre (also known as Nanking) and his work to prot ...

* ''

The Good Man of Nanking ''The Good Man of Nanking: The Diaries of John Rabe'' is a collection of the personal journals of John Rabe, a German businessman who lived in Nanjing at the time of the Nanking Massacre in 1937–1938. The book contains the diaries that Rabe ...

Christoph Ransmayr Christoph Ransmayr (born 20 March 1954) is an Austrian writer. Life Born in Wels, Upper Austria, Ransmayr grew up in Roitham near Gmunden and the Traunsee. From 1972 to 1978 he studied philosophy and ethnology in Vienna. He worked there as ...

*''Die Schrecken des Eises und der Finsternis'': ''

The Terrors of Ice and Darkness ''The Terrors of Ice and Darkness'' () is a 1984 novel by the Austrian writer Christoph Ransmayr. It tells the stories of the 1872–74 Austro-Hungarian North Pole expedition, of a young Italian man who disappeared in 1981 while researching the exp ...

'' *''Die letzte Welt'': '' The Last World'' *''Morbus Kitahara'': ''

The Dog King ''The Dog King'' is a 1995 novel by the Austrian writer Christoph Ransmayr. Its original title is ''Morbus Kitahara''. A work of alternative history, it is set in Central Europe after World War II and the implementation of the Morgenthau Plan, whi ...

Arno Schmidt Arno Schmidt (; 18 January 1914 – 3 June 1979) was a German author and translator. He is little known outside of German-speaking areas, in part because his works present a formidable challenge to translators. Although he is not one of the p ...

* ''Nobodaddys Kinder'': '' Nobodaddy's Children'' * ''Das steinerne Herz'': '' The Stony Heart'' * ''Die Gelehrtenrepulik'': '' The Egghead Republic'' * ''Kaff auch Mare Crisium'': '' Boondocks/Moondocks'' * ''Zettel's Traum'': '' Bottom's Dream'' * ''Die Schule der Atheisten'': '' School for Atheists'' * ''Abend mit Goldrand'': '' Evening Edged in Gold'' (winner of the National Book Award and the PEN Prize for translation in 1981)

Ingo Schulze

* ''33 Augenblicke des Glücks'': ''33 Moments of Happiness''

Patrick Süskind Patrick Süskind (; born 26 March 1949) is a German writer and screenwriter, known best for his novel '' Perfume: The Story of a Murderer'', first published in 1985. Early life Süskind was born in Ambach, Bavaria. His father was writer and jo ...

* ''

Perfume Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Th ...

'' (winner of the PEN Prize for translation in 1987) * '' The Pigeon''

Hans-Ulrich Treichel Prof. Dr. Hans-Ulrich Treichel (born 12 August 1952) is a Germanist, novelist and poet. His earliest published books were collections of poetry, but prose writing has become a larger part of his output since the critical and commercial success ...

* ''Leaving Sardinia''

Awards

For his edition of Schmidt's ''Evening Edged in Gold'', Woods received the 1981 U.S.

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

in category Translation (a split award)."National Book Awards – 1981"

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established, "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America". Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: 'The Joy Luc ...

. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
There was a "Translation" award from 1966 to 1983. He won the PEN Prize for translation twice, for that work and again for ''

'' in 1987. Woods was also awarded the

Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize The Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize is an annual literary prize named for the German–American publishers Helen and Kurt Wolff "honoring an outstanding literary translation from German into English" published in the USA the previous year ...

for his translations of

's ''

'' and

's ''Nobodaddy's Children'' in 1996; as well as the

Schlegel-Tieck Prize The Schlegel-Tieck Prize for German Translation is a literary translation award given by the Society of Authors in London. Translations from the German original into English are considered for the prize. The value of the prize is £3,000.

for the translation of

's ''The Last World'' in 1991. He was awarded the Ungar German Translation Award in 1995, and most recently the prestigious Goethe-Medaille from the

Goethe Institute The Goethe-Institut (, GI, en, Goethe Institute) is a non-profit German cultural association operational worldwide with 159 institutes, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange and ...

in 2008.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, John E. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people German–English translators Writers from Berlin Translators of Thomas Mann National Book Award winners