Experts

Matthias Jacob
He is docent for literature, translator and journalist, and studied East and South Slavic Philology, Modern German Literature and Art History in Tübingen and Moscow. In the 1980s he conducted numerous study visits to Bosnia and Herzegovina. From 1999 until 2004 he was research assistant at the chair for Slavic Philology (literary sciences) at the Department for Slavic Studies of the University of Tübingen. During this time he was also course instructor in adult education (Russian literature). Today, he lives with his wife and daughter in Herrenberg, located between Stuttgart and Tübingen. He conducts introductory literary seminars as assistant lecturer primarily in the area of South-Slavic literatures, writes reviews (for the journal Buchmarkt) and translates fiction and scientific texts from Croatian, Serbian and Bosnian as well as Russian. Since 2005 Matthias Jacob is travel guide for „Biblical Tours / Stuttgart“ of art and cultural travel to Istria, Dalmatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.
Publications: Scientific and journalistic articles on the literature of Russia and South Slavic countries. Literary translations (amongst others): poetic volumes by Andrijana Škunca, Luko Paljetak, Nikica Petrak and Snežana Minić; collaboration on the anthology „admission ticket – Ulaznica. Serbia: A Panorama of Poetry oft he 21st Century“ (2011) and the poetry volume Burn, Baby, Burn by Zvonko Karanović (2013).

Jurko Prochasko
Foto © Markijan Prochasko

Was born in the eastern Galician Ivano-Frankivsk and is a specialist in German Studies, translator, essayist, journalist (Krytyka, Ji, Tygodnik Powszechny, Die Zeit, Kafka, La Repubblika, Falter, Frankfurter Rundschau, Volltext, Süddeutsche Zeitung) and curator of exhibitions. He studied German Studies (1987 – 1992) and Psychology (2004 – 2009) at the University of Lviv and completed the training as group analyst in Altaussee (Austria, 1997 – 2007). Translates from German (i.a. R. Musil, J. Roth, F. Kafka, R.M. Rilke, J. Hermann), Polish (J. Wittlin, J. Iwaszkiewicz, L. Kołakowski) and Jiddish (Deborah Vogel). Corresponding member of the Saxon Academy of Arts (Dresden, since June 2007). He ist he Friedrich Gundolf prize winner for mediating German culture abroad awarded by the German Academy for Language and Poetry (Darmstadt, 2008). In 2008 he received Translatio, the Autrian national prize for literary translation. In the academic year 2011-12 he was a fellow at theWissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin [Institute for Advanced Study] and in 2013 he was a fellow at the Landis&Gyr Foundation (Zug, Switzerland). He is a member of the editorial staff of the Kiev monthly Krytyka.
Yurko Prokhasko lives in Lviv where he works at the Ivan Franko Institute of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences as well as at the Ivan Franko University and at the Psychoanalytical Institute (2010) of which he is one of the founders.

Sława Lisiecka
Sława Lisiecka (born 1947) completed her degree in German Language and Literature in 1970 in Lodz. For several years she was a lecturer and docent at the university in Lodz. Since 1978 she is a freelance translator of German-language literature. Until now she has translated approximately 90 books into Polish, amongst others from P. Härtling, T. Bernhard, G. de Bruyn, S. Heym, S. Lenz, S. Nadolny, Ch. Ransmayr, A. Muschg, H. Hesse, J. Zeh, B. Vanderbeke, G.-A. Goldschmidt, K.-M. Gauß, G. Benn, U. Johnson, P. Henisch, G. Jonke. She also translates plays (amongst others by Günter Grass, Elfriede Jelinek, Georg Tabori, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Moritz Rinke, Juli Zeh) and poetry (amongs others by Ingeborg Bachmann, Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Günter Grass, Christine Koschel, Tina Stroheker, Gottfried Benn, Thomas Bernhard).
In addition she has published in many Polish literary journals fragments of works by Peter Handke, Elias Canetti, Ödön von Horváth, Ludwig Harig, Franz Hessel, Franzobel and others. For many years now she has translated philosophical, psychological, literature critical and sociological works (amongst others by Ludwig Wittgenstein, Victor Chu, Martin Heidegger, Hans Mayer) and also numerous translations in art catalogues.
She has been awarded a stipend by the German Literature Fund, the Robert Bosch Foundation, Perewest Foundation, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the European Translator Centre and the Austrian Assosiation for Literature. In 1985 she received the translator price from the Robert Bosch Foundation and the German Poland Institute, in 2007 the Austrian National Prize for literary translators of Austrian literature – Translatio, in 2009 the prize of the Polish monthly Literatura na świecie[Literature in the World] for the translation of the novel Mutmaßungen über Jakob[Speculations about Jakob] by Uwe Johnson. On May 8 in 2012 she was awared the prize of the NRW Foundation at the European Translator Centre in Straelen/Germany for her lifetime achievement with a special consideration of her translation of Thomas Bernhard’s works. Currently she works on the translation of: Kunst und Künstler [Art and Artist] by Otto Rank and Menschliches, Allzumenschliches [Human, All Too Human] by Friedrich Nietzsche.
She is married to Zdzisław Jaskuła with whom she translated amongst others Also sprach Zarathustra [Thus Spoke Zarathustra] by Friedrich Nietzsche, a large selection of poems by Ingeborg Bachmann entitled Erklär mir, Liebe [Explain to Me, Love] and the selection of poems ‘Nie einsamer’ und andere Gedichte [Never More Lonely and Other Poems] by Gottfried Benn. Currently both have been working on the translation of about 80 selected poems by Thomas Bernhard.
In 2007 she received the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta by the President of Poland for her outstanding achievements for the independence of Poland (1975-1989), for cultural and oppositional activities in support of democratic transformations and for her current professional activities.
In 2011 she was awarded the prize of the city of Lodz for her achievements.

Dr. Olaf Kühl
Olaf Kühl is a translator, author and political consultant. He lives in Berlin.
Born in 1955 in Wilhelmshaven, he studied Slavic Languages and Literature at Free University in Berlin. In 1995 he earned his doctorate degree with a thesis on the prose of Witold Gombrowicz. In 2005 he received the Karl Dedecius Prize for his lifetime achievements, in the same year he received the German prize for youth literature for his translation of Dorota Masłowska’s Snow White and Russian Red. With a Border Crosser research grant from the Robert Bosch Foundation he conducted research in 2008 in Siberia and wrote the novel Tote Tiere[Dead Animals] (Rowohlt Berlin, 2011). In winter semester 2011/2012 he was appointed August Wilhelm von Schlegel Visiting Professor for Poetics of Translation at Free University of Berlin.

Radovan Charvát
After his studies at Technical University in Prague (1972) where he was active as a mathematician at the data processing center in Prague (until 1984), he became a freelance translator and journalist. In 1987 he spent one year in Africa. From 1989 to 1990 he studied German, English and American Studies at the J.W. Goethe University in Frankfurt (literary theory, German literature of  the 19^th century, slang in American English). Since 1989 he is a freelance translator from German and English into Czech. He is divorced and has one child named Jan (*1985).
He translates screenplays into German, conducts simultaneous translations of films on TV and movies, and newspaper articles (Literární noviny, Lidové noviny).
Cooperation with: Austrian Cultural Forum Prague, ARD Studio Prague, Goethe Institute Prague (readings), Suhrkamp Publishers Frankfurt, Hanser Publications Munich, Aufbau Publishers Berlin and Volvox Globator, Prostor, Paseka, Opus and Argo (all in Prag). 

Natascha Grilj, director of the Austrian Cultural Forum in Prague

Berthold Franke, director of the Goethe-Institut Prague

David Stecher, director of the Prague Literature House for German Writing Authors

Tomáš Jelínek, German-Czech Future Fund

Christof Heinz, director of the DAAD Information Centre Prague

Elke Erb (Foto © gezett.de)
Elke Erb was born in Scherbach in the Eifel from where she then resettled in the German Democratic Republic (Halle). From 1958 /59 she worked on the fields, in 1963 she completed her exams to become a teacher, from 1963/65 she worked at the publishing house and since 1966 she has been working freelance. She conducts translations (primarily from Russian) and takes on editing jobs. Her own texts include short stories and poetry. Her latest publications are Sonanz (2008) at Urs Engeler; Meins [Mine] in Roughbook 006 (2010); Das Hündle kam weiter auf drein [The Puppy Came Further On] in Roughbook 028 (2013) and in Roughbook (2015) Sonnenklar [Crystal Clear].

Dagmar Leupold was born in 1955 and studied German studies, philosophy and comparative literature studies in Marburg, Tübingen und New York. She completed her PhD in 1993 an der Graduate School der City University of New York.
Since 1985 she is a freelance writer and has to date published a number of literary publications: poetry volumes, short prose and novels such as: „Eden Plaza“ (2002), „Nach den Kriegen“ [After the Wars] (2004), „Die Helligkeit der Nacht. Ein Journal“ [The Holiness of the Night: A Journal] (2009). Her latest is the novel „Unter der Hand“ [On the Quiet] (Jung und Jung).
A selection of awards she has received: Aspect Prize for the best prose debut (1992) and the latest the Tukan Prize of the city of München.
Since 2004 Dagmar Leupold coordinates “Studio Literature and Theatre” at the University of Tübingen.

Dr. Štefan Vevar, born in 1953 in Slovenj Gradec (Slovenia), studied German and English in Ljubljana.
He has translated numerous writers of classics (Goethe, Schiller, Novalis, Heine, Stifter, Fontane, Musil, Kafka, Dürrenmatt, Grass, Hermann Broch, Heiner Müller, Jurek Becker, Erich Fried, Christoph Ransmayr, W. M. Sebald, Sten Nadolny, Arno Geiger) and has published articles and forewords on German literature as well as articles about translation theory and criticism. In 1999 he received the Slovenian National Prize for Literary Translation for his translation of Goethe’s Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre[Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship].

Katja Stergar supervises the Department for International Cooperation at the Slovenian Book Agency. She is a consultant at the Slovenian Book Agency and the Slovenian representative for Traduki. At the event on The Slovenian Book Market and Advancement of Translation she will present different assistance programs for the advancement of translating foreign languages into Slovenian and the other way around.

Stana Anželj (1984) studied Translation Studies (German & French) at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana. Since 2007 she has been translating fiction and non-fiction, mostly from German and increasingly from Dutch. Since 2010 she has been a self-employed literary translator and since 2012 a member of the Slovenian Association of Literary Translators. For her translation projects she was awarded various residency grants (International Youth Library in Munich, European Translators’ College Straelen, Translators’ House Amsterdam …). Her translation of the German novel The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers received the Young Translators Award 2011 from the Slovenian Association of Literary Translators and her translation of the German novel The Alchemaster’s Apprentice by the same author made the IBBY Honour List 2014.

Sebastian Walcher
Born in 1981 in Graz, Sebastian Walcher studied Slavic Studies and Conference interpreting in Graz and Ljubljana. He has translated literary and technical texts from the areas of culture, pharmacy, linguistics, civil engineering, and others. He also works as an interpreter from German and Slovenian and as a moderator at mono- and multilingual events. He has translated works by such authors as Svetlana Makarovič, Berta Boetu, Stanka Hrastelj, Andrej E. Skubic, Peter Svetina, Dušan Šarotar, Marko Sosič, Andrej Blatnik, Matej Bogataj, Nino Flisar, Lidija Gačnik Gombač, Marko Samec, and Andrej E. Skubic. (sebastian@walcher.cc)

Donald Reindl (MA Rice University, linguistics, 1994; MA Indiana University, Slavic linguistics 1997; PhD Indiana University 2005, Slavic linguistics) has been an instructor at the Department of Translation at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, since 2001. He is also the owner and director of the translation company DEKS d.o.o. In addition to his book Language Contact: German and Slovenian (2008), he has coedited two volumes, published seventeen articles and twenty-three book reviews (mostly on linguistics and translation), and delivered various conference presentations. As a freelance journalist, he has contributed about 130 news articles on Slovenian culture and politics. His professional translation activity mostly involves cultural history, ethnography, geography, and urban planning, and, in addition to these topics, his research interests include historical linguistics, language contact, and onomastics.

Petra Vidali (1968) is a journalist, a literary and theatre critic, an editor, a comparatist, and a cultural sociologist. She has published many literary reviews and has served as a member of various selection committees (the Prešeren Foundation Selection Committee for Literature, the Prešeren Foundation Administrative Committee, the Rožanc Award Selection Committee, the Večernica Award Selection Committee, the Veronika Award Selection Committee, etc.). She has authored many forewords to translated and especially modern Slovenian prose works. In 1999 she was awarded the Stritar Award and in 2004 the Glazer Award (awarded by the Municipality of Ljubljana for extraordinary achievement in the field of culture). She works at the culture section of the newspaper Večer. Since 2004 she has worked as an editor for the Babilon series of contemporary translated prose works and the Nova znamenja series at the Litera publishing company. Currently, Petra Vidali is looking for new challenges in the publishing industry.

 Aleš Berger
Berger’s contributions to the literary and publishing market have been extremely diverse. He is primarily known for his activities as editor, translator, theater and literary critic and literary historian, but has also been active as an essayist, short story author, playwright and author of young adult literature. From 1978 up until his retirement in 2008 he was editor of translated literature at Mladinska knjiga publishers. Since the 1970s he repeatedly lived and worked in France as translator and scholar of the French government. In addition to his editorial work Berger translated French and Spanish literature. Here is a selection of awards: Sovre Award (1983), Prešeren Award (for the translation of „Les Chants de Maldoror“ by Lautréamont), Esasi Prize for the best literary translation from Spanish into Slovenian), Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2010).

 Tina Štrancar
Foto © Andrej Lovšin
Tina Štrancar was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 1985. She studied German language and literature at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, after which she continued her studies at the doctoral level in literary studies in Ljubljana and Berlin (doctoral thesis: The Discourse of Memory in Contemporary German Family Narratives). She has received a number of grants for her scholarly and translation work (DAAD, Robert Bosch Stiftung, Meeting of translators at the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin, etc.). Since 2008 she has been translating fiction, poetry, and children’s literature from German into Slovenian (including Bleutge, Bodrožič, Camenisch, Dinev, Erpenbeck, Hacker, Hermann, Kehlmann, Ransmayr, Schwitter and Stavarič) and is a member of the Slovenian Association of Literary Translators (DSKP). She spends her time between Berlin and Ljubljana.

Jurko Prochasko
Foto © Markijan Prochasko

Was born in the eastern Galician Ivano-Frankivsk and is a specialist in German Studies, translator, essayist, journalist (Krytyka, Ji, Tygodnik Powszechny, Die Zeit, Kafka, La Repubblika, Falter, Frankfurter Rundschau, Volltext, Süddeutsche Zeitung) and curator of exhibitions. He studied German Studies (1987 – 1992) and Psychology (2004 – 2009) at the University of Lviv and completed the training as group analyst in Altaussee (Austria, 1997 – 2007). Translates from German (i.a. R. Musil, J. Roth, F. Kafka, R.M. Rilke, J. Hermann), Polish (J. Wittlin, J. Iwaszkiewicz, L. Kołakowski) and Jiddish (Deborah Vogel). Corresponding member of the Saxon Academy of Arts (Dresden, since June 2007). He ist he Friedrich Gundolf prize winner for mediating German culture abroad awarded by the German Academy for Language and Poetry (Darmstadt, 2008). In 2008 he received Translatio, the Autrian national prize for literary translation. In the academic year 2011-12 he was a fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin [Institute for Advanced Study] and in 2013 he was a fellow at the Landis&Gyr Foundation (Zug, Switzerland). He is a member of the editorial staff of the Kiev monthly Krytyka.
Yurko Prokhasko lives in Lviv where he works at the Ivan Franko Institute of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences as well as at the Ivan Franko University and at the Psychoanalytical Institute (2010) of which he is one of the founders.

Dorota Stroińska works and lives in Berlin. She translates philosophical and fictional texts from German into Polish (i.a. Karl Jaspers, Rüdiger Safranski, Lutz Seiler, Christian Kracht, Sibylle Lewitscharoff and Ilse Aichinger). In 1998 she received the Translator Prize of the Polish Translator Association for her translation of Karl Jaspers’ philosophical text titled “Nietzsche”. She however also translates from Polish into German, such as the book on contemporary architecture for children called Treppe Fenster Klo [Stairs Window Toilet] which has received several awards, and the children’s book on design called Farbe Form Orangensaft [Color Form Orange Juice]. In addition she translated Wojciech Kuczok’s Dreckskerl [Punk] (2007) and Höllisches Kino [Hellacious Cinema] (2008), both of which were translated in cooperation with Gabriele Leupold. She leads the German-Polish translator workshops (ViceVersa), alternatively in Poland and in a German-speaking country, moderates readings, conceptualizes and organizes events with literary translators and on topics concerning translation (Weltlesebühne e.V.). In 2006 she founded the bilateral “Sztamtysz” in Berlin which offers monthly workshops for literary translators from both languages. From 2010 to 2012 she conducted research in the Karl Dedecius Archive at the CollegiumPolonicum in Slubice/Frankfurt (Oder) in the field of theory and practice of literary translation. Since 2013 she works at the S. Fischer Foundation.

Ryszard Wojnakowski (born 1956) studied German and Scandinavian Studies at the Jagiellonen University in Krakow. Before he became self-employed in 1993 as a literary translator, he worked as a reader for several years. It is surprising that he can very well remember his first translations, but in the past years there have been blank spots due to the sheer breadth of his literary interests which encompass prose and poetry and also nonfiction and the great number of translated texts and authors. Ryszard Wojnakowski has i.a. translated Friederike Mayröcker, Heinrich Böll, Erich Maria Remarque, Wolfgang Hilbig and Martin Walser into Polish. In addition he is active as editor of a series of contemporary Austrian poems (since 2000) as well as an anthology of Swiss poetry after 1945. In 1996 Ryszard Wojnakowski received the Prize of the Polish Translator Association and in 2009 the Karl Dedecius Prize.