Len Rix is a translator of Hungarian literature into English, noted for his translations of Antal Szerb's '' Journey by Moonlight'' and ''

The Pendragon Legend ''The Pendragon Legend'' (Hungarian: A Pendragon-legenda) is a 1934 novel by the Hungarian writer Antal Szerb. It was published by Pushkin Press. The book is a philosophical thriller/comedy/murder-mystery/ghost story set first in London and then ...

'' and of

Magda Szabó Magda Szabó (October 5, 1917 – November 19, 2007) was a Hungarian novelist. Doctor of philology, she also wrote dramas, essays, studies, memoirs, poetry and children's literature. She was a founding member of the , an online digital repos ...

's '' The Door'' and ''Katalin Street''.

Early life and education

Len Rix was born in

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

in 1942, where he studied English, French and Latin at the (then)

University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) is a public university in Harare, Zimbabwe. It opened in 1952 as the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and was initially affiliated with the University of London. It was later renamed the University ...

. In 1963 he won a

Commonwealth Scholarship The Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP) is an international programme under which Commonwealth governments offer scholarships and fellowships to citizens of other Commonwealth countries. History The plan was originally proposed b ...

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

, where he read English. He worked as a lecturer at the

University of Rhodesia The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) is a public university in Harare, Zimbabwe. It opened in 1952 as the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and was initially affiliated with the University of London. It was later renamed the University ...

/Zimbabwe and subsequently as a teacher of English at

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) in Manchester, England, is the largest independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1515 as a Grammar school#free tuition, free grammar school next to Manchester C ...

(where he was also Head of Careers), before retiring in 2005 to live in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

. Rix learned Hungarian on his own, using textbooks, audio recordings and literature.

Translations

Len Rix's first published translation from Hungarian was of Tamás Kabdebó's ''Minden idők'' (''A Time for Everything'') (Cardinal Press, 1995), but he is best known for his renderings of Antal Szerb, especially '' Journey by Moonlight'' (''Utas és holdvilág'', 1937), and of

's '' The Door'' (''Az ajtó'', 1987) and ''Katalin Street'' (''Katalin utca'', 1969).

Awards and honors

*2006

Independent Foreign Fiction Prize The ''Independent'' Foreign Fiction Prize (1990–2015) was a British literary award. It was inaugurated by British newspaper ''The Independent'' to honour contemporary fiction in translation in the United Kingdom. The award was first launched i ...

(short-listed) for the translation of

's '' The Door'' *2006

Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize is an annual literary prize for any book-length translation into English from any other living European language. The first prize was awarded in 1999. The prize is funded by and named in honour of Lord Weidenfe ...

winner, for the translation of

's '' The Door'' *2015 New York Times Book Review 10 Best Books of 2015, for

's '' The Door'' *2018

PEN Translation Prize The PEN Translation Prize (formerly known as the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize through 2008) is an annual award given by PEN America (formerly PEN American Center) to outstanding translations into the English language. It has been p ...

, winner, for the translation of ''Katalin Street'' by

*2019

Warwick Prize for Women in Translation The Warwick Prize for Women in Translation, established in 2017, is an annual prize honoring a translated work by a female author published in English by a UK-based or Irish publisher during the previous calendar year. The stated aim of the prize i ...

(short-listed) for the translation of

's ''Katalin Street'' *2020 Hyman Wingate Prize for Writing about Jewry, long-listed for

's ''Katalin Street'' * 2020

(short-listed) for the translation of

's ''

Abigail Abigail () was an Israelite woman in the Hebrew Bible married to Nabal; she married the future King David after Nabal's death ( 1 Samuel ). Abigail was David's second wife, after Saul and Ahinoam's daughter, Michal, whom Saul later marri ...

'' * 2021 Hungarian Gold Cross of Merit (''Magyar Köztársasági Arany Érdemkereszt - Polgári'') for his work in translating Hungarian literary classics into the English language

Bibliography

Literary works translated from Hungarian

* ''A Time for Everything'' (''Minden idők''), by Tamás Kabdebó), Cardinal Press, 1995 * '' Journey by Moonlight'' (''Utas és holdvilág''), by Antal Szerb), Pushkin Press, 2001 * '' The Door'' (''Az ajtó''), by

), Harvill Secker, 2005 * ''

'' (''A Pendragon legenda''), by Antal Szerb), Pushkin Press, 2006 * '' Oliver VII'' (''VII. Olivér''), by Antal Szerb, Pushkin Press, 2007 * ''The Queen's Necklace'' (''A királynő nyaklánca''), by Antal Szerb), Pushkin Press, 2009 * ''Love in a Bottle'' (''Szerelem a palackban''), by Antal Szerb, Pushkin Press, 2010 * ''The Third Tower'' (''A harmadik torony''), by Antal Szerb, Pushkin Press, 2014 * ''A Martian's Guide to Budapest (Budapesti kalauz marslakók számára''), by Antal Szerb, Magvető, 2015 * ''Katalin Street (Katalin utca''), by

NYRB Classics New York Review Books (NYRB) is the publishing division of ''The New York Review of Books''. Its imprints are New York Review Books Classics, New York Review Books Collections, The New York Review Children's Collection, New York Review Comics, ...

, 2017 * ''Abigail (Abigél''), by

, 2020 * ''The Enchanted Night, Transylvanian and other Tales'', by Miklós Bánffy, Pushkin Press, 2020

Other translations

* ''In the Footsteps of the Gods'' (from the early journalism of Sándor Márai),''The Hungarian Quarterly'' No. 185, Spring 2007

Other publications

* "Shakespeare's Meaning in 'The Merchant of Venice'", University of Rhodesia 'Studies in Literature' Series, No 7, 1974 * "Charles Mungoshi's 'The Coming of the Dry Season'", ''Mambo Review of Contemporary African Literature'', November 1974 * "Some Recent Criticism of Doris Lessing", ''Zambezia'', Vol. 4, No. 2, 1977 * ''The Selected Works of Arthur Shearly Cripps'', Mambo Press, 1976 (co-editor, responsible for Introduction and Bibliography) * ''Rhodesian Literature in English: A Bibliography'' (with Pichanik et al.), Mambo Press, 1977 * "The Subtle Art of Antal Szerb", ''The Hungarian Quarterly'', No. 186, Summer 2007 * "Magda Szabó: Acclaimed author of 'The Door'" (obituary), ''The Independent'', November 2007 * "In Praise of Translation", ''The Hungarian Quarterly'', No. 193, Spring 2009

Poetry

* Anthologised in ''Rhodesian Poetry'' Nos 11 (1972-3), 12 (1975) and 13 (1976-7) * Anthologised in ''25 Years of South African Poetry'', New Coin, Grahamstown, 1980 * Individual poems in ''Two Tone'' (Rhodesia), ''New Coin'' (South Africa), ''Staple'', ''Iota'',''The Interpreter's House'' (UK), and ''The New Hungarian Quarterly'' (Hungary)

Film

* '' The Door'' (2005), translation used for English version of 2012 film '' The Door'' by István Szabó, starring Helen Mirren * ''

Evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

'' (2021), English language translation of script by Kata Wéber and

Kornél Mundruczó Kornél Mundruczó (; born 3 April 1975) is a Hungarian film and theatre director. He has directed 18 short and feature films between 1998 and 2020. His film ''Johanna'' was screened in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2005 Cannes Film Fest ...

References

External links

''Guardian'' review of ''Journey By Moonlight''
in ''Hungarian Quarterly'' (2005)
Interview with Hungarian Literature Online''The Independent'' review of ''The Pendragon Legend''''The Telegraph'' review of ''Katalin Street''''The Spectator'' review of ''Abigail''''Times Literary Supplement'' review of ''Katalin Street'' and ''Abigail''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rix, Len Hungarian–English translators Living people Alumni of University of London Worldwide Alumni of the University of London University of Zimbabwe alumni Academic staff of the University of Zimbabwe 1942 births White Rhodesian people Alumni of King's College, Cambridge