Will Firth (born 23 May 1965) is an Australian literary translator who focuses on contemporary writing from the

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia an ...

speaking countries and

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

. He graduated in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

(with Serbo-Croatian as a minor) from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

in Canberra in 1986 (BA). He won a scholarship to read South Slavic studies at the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...

in the 1988–89 academic year and spent a further postgraduate year at the

Pushkin Institute The Pushkin State Russian Language Institute and its dormitory tower, a building made out of prefabricated concrete slabs. The Pushkin State Russian Language Institute (russian: Государственный институт русского � ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

in 1989–90. Subsequently, he qualified as a translator from Croatian, German, Macedonian and Russian with the

National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters The National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters Ltd (known as NAATI) is the national standards and accreditation body for translators and interpreters in Australia. NAATI's mission, as outlined in the NAATI Constitution, ...

(NAATI) in Australia. Since 1991 he has been living in Germany, where he works as a freelance translator of literature and the humanities. He translates from Russian, Macedonian, and all variants of Serbo-Croatian into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, occasionally into German. In 2005-07 he worked for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Since the mid-2000s, Firth has largely been translating works of South Slavic literature. He is a member of the professional associations of translators in the UK ( Translators Association) and Germany (VdÜ). Firth has been an

Esperantist An Esperantist ( eo, esperantisto) is a person who speaks, reads or writes Esperanto. According to the Declaration of Boulogne, a document agreed upon at the first World Esperanto Congress in 1905, an Esperantist is someone who speaks Esperant ...

since 1985.

Major translations

Translations into English

From Macedonian

* ''Anya's Diary'' (Дневникот на Ања), children's novel by Dimitar Baševski, Slovo,

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and List of cities in North Macedonia by population, largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Sk ...

, 2007 * ''Pirey'' (Пиреј), novel by Petre M. Andreevski, Pollitecon Publications, Sydney, 2009 (co-translated with Mirjana Simjanovska) * ''Stolen Thoughts'' (Украдени мисли), bilingual collection of poetry by Dušan Ristevski, Macedonian Literary Association “Grigor Prlichev”, Sydney, 2011 * ''The Sunrise in My Dream'' (Угрејсонце во мојот сон), bilingual collection of poetry by Ivan Trposki, Macedonian Literary Association “Grigor Prlichev”, Sydney, 2013 *''Homunculus'' (Човечулец), short stories by Aleksandar Prokopiev,

Istros Books Istros books is a London-based independent publisher of writers from South-East Europe and the Balkans, in English translation. It was set up in 2011 by Susan Curtis. Publications Notable publications include: *''Doppelgänger'' by Daša Drndić ...

, London, 2015 * ''The Eighth Wonder of the World'' (Осмото светско чудо), novel by Jordan Plevneš, Plamen Press, Washington, D.C., 2020

From Bosnian/Croatian/Montenegrin/Serbian

*''Hansen's Children'' (Hansenova djeca), novel by

Ognjen Spahić Ognjen Spahić (born 1977 in Podgorica, Montenegro), is a Montenegrin novelist. Spahić has published two collections of short stories: ''Sve to'' (All That, 2001) and ''Zimska potraga'' (Winter Search, 2007). His novel ''Hansenova djeca'' (Hansen' ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, 2011 * ''The Coming'' (Dolazak), novel by

Andrej Nikolaidis Andrej Nikolaidis (born 1974) is a Montenegrin- Bosnian novelist, columnist, and political adviser. His novel ''Sin'' (The Son) won the European Union Prize for Literature in 2011. The English translation was published in 2013 by Istros Books i ...

, London, 2011 * '' Our Man in Iraq'' (), novel by Robert Perišić,

, London, 2012, and Black Balloon Publishing,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, 2013 * ''A Handful of Sand'' (To malo pijeska na dlanu), novel by Marinko Koščec,

, London, 2013 * ''The Storm in the Still Life'' (Mrtva priroda i živo srce), epistolary novel by Ivan B. Vodopija, Ex Libris,

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

, 2013 * ''The Son'' (Sin), novel by Andrej Nikolaidis,

, London, 2013 * ''Ekaterini'', novel by Marija Knežević,

, London, 2013 * ''The Great War'' (Veliki rat), novel by Aleksandar Gatalica,

, London, 2014 * ''Till Kingdom Come'' (Devet), novel by Andrej Nikolaidis,

, London, 2015 * ''Quiet Flows the Una'' (Knjiga o Uni), novel by Faruk Šehić,

, London, 2016 * ''Journey to Russia'' (Izlet u Rusiju), travelogue by Miroslav Krleža, Sandorf, Zagreb, 2017 * ''Head Full of Joy'' (Puna glava radosti), short stories by Ognjen Spahić, Dalkey Archive Press, Victoria, 2018 * ''Mothers and Daughters'' (Dabogda te majka rodila), novel by Vedrana Rudan, Dalkey Archive Press, Victoria, 2018 * ''A Novel of London'' (Roman o Londonu), novel by

Miloš Crnjanski Miloš Crnjanski ( sr-cyr, Милош Црњански, ; 26 October 1893 – 30 November 1977) was a Serbian writer and poet of the expressionist wing of Serbian modernism, author, and a diplomat. Biography Crnjanski was born in Csongrád (mode ...

, Diálogos, New Orleans, 2020 * ''From Nowhere to Nowhere'' (Nigdje, niotkuda), novel by Bekim Sejranović, Sandorf, Zagreb, 2020 * ''Divine Child'' (Božanska dječica), novel by Tatjana Gromača, Sandorf Passage, South Portland, 2021 * ''Horror and Huge Expenses'' (Užas i veliki troškovi), short stories by Robert Perišić, Sandorf Passage, South Portland, 2021

Translations into German

From Macedonian

* ''Der große Koffer'' (Големиот куфер), short stories by Ivan Dodovski, Edition Erata,

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

, 2008 * ''Das Buch der Mutter'' (Ервехе. Книга за една мајка), novel by Luan Starova, Wieser Verlag,

Klagenfurt Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...

, 2010 * ''Das achte Weltwunder'' (Осмото светско чудо), novel by Jordan Plevneš, Leipziger Literaturverlag, Leipzig, 2015

References

External links

*
Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Firth, Will 1965 births Living people Australian translators Russian–English translators Serbian–English translators Translators from Macedonian German–English translators Translators to German