Draft:John Cullen (American literary translator)
John Christopher Cullen III[1] was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on 1 April 1942, to John Christopher Cullen Jr. and Yvonne Marie Monju of New Orleans. He had two brothers, Paul Michael and Terrence, and a sister Kathleen. Cullen grew up in New Orleans, graduating in due course from Loyola University, New Orleans, with a BA.
Education
[edit]He completed an MA at the University of Virginia, and then obtained a PhD in English Literature, specializing in the classics. at the University of Texas at Austin, with a 1974 dissertation on "The literary criticism of Charles Williams".[2]
After his PhD, he travelled extensively in Europe, becoming fluent in German, Italian, Spanish, and French. What Cullen did between defense of his thesis in 1974 and employment as a literary translator in 1987 is not easily found by a simple web search.
Literary career
[edit]His fluency in languages led to a distinguished career as a translator, beginning in the late 1980s. He has translated books from German, French, Italian and Spanish, into English. He worked with several publishing companies, especially Nan A. Talese/Doubleday from 1995, and Other Press .
He has translated works by a long list of writers, including Stéphane Audeguy, Dominique Barbéris, Philippe Claudel, Kamel Daoud, Enrique de Hériz, Manuel de Lope, Carla Guelfenbein, Yasmina Khadra, Siegfried Lenz, Sarah Léon, Margaret Mazzantini, Patrick Modiano, Antonio Monda, Rithy Panh, Yasmina Reza, Eduardo Sacheri, Igiaba Scego, Antonio Skarmeta, Veronique Tadjo, Susanna Tamaro, Denis Thériault, Chantal Thomas, David Trueba, Christa Wolf, and Juli Zeh.
In 2004, two of his translations, Don't Move by Margaret Mazzantini (Italian), and The Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra (French), were shortlisted[3][4] for the Dublin Literary Award. In 2007, Lies by Enrique de Hériz (Spanish) was runner-up[5] for the Premio Valle-Inclán, and Brodeck by Philippe Claudel (French) won the 2010[6] Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the French-American Foundation Translation Prize[7]. The Color Line by Igiaba Scego was shortlisted[8] for the 2024 John Florio Prize (Italian).
Together with Alexandra Villard de Borchgrave Cullen wrote a 2001 biography[9] of American journalist and financier Henry Villard.
Personal Life
[edit]Cullen and his partner, writer Valerie Martin, moved to Montague, Massachusetts in 1987, to Rome, Italy for the period of 1994 to 1997, to Millbrook, New York in 1998, and to Madison, Connecticut in 2018.
Cullen passed away on April 15, 2021 after a brief illness.
References
[edit]- ^ "John Cullen Obituary". Dignity Memorial. 15 April 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
- ^ Cullen, John Christopher (1974). The literary criticism of Charles Williams (Ph.D. thesis). University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
- ^ "Margaret Mazzantini". Dublin Literary Award. 19 May 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
- ^ "Yasmina Khadra". Dublin Literary Award. 8 May 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
- ^ "Reading list: Winners of Premio Valle-Inclán & Calouste Gulbenkian Prize". in lieu of a field guide. 30 October 2010. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
- ^ Flood, Alison (14 May 2010). "Independent Foreign Fiction Prize goes to Philippe Claudel". the Guardian. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
- ^ "Past Winners". French-American Foundation. 15 May 2024. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
- ^ McDonald, Teddy (2 December 2024). "Announcing the Translation Prizes 2024 shortlists". The Society of Authors - The UK trade union for more than 12,500 writers, illustrators and literary translators. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
- ^ De Borchgrave, Alexandra Villard; Cullen, John (2001). Villard: The Life and Times of an American Titan. New York: Nan A. Talese. ISBN 978-0-385-48662-0.