Frank Wynne
Encyclopedia
Frank Wynne is an Irish
literary translator and writer.
Born in Co. Sligo, Ireland, he worked as a comics editor at Fleetway and later at Deadline magazine
. He worked for a time at AOL
before becoming a literary translator. He has translated many authors including Michel Houellebecq
, Boualem Sansal
, Frédéric Beigbeder
and the late Ivoirian
novelist Ahmadou Kourouma
.
He jointly won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
with Houellebecq for Atomised, his translation of Les Particules élémentaires. His translation of Frédéric Beigbeder's Windows on the World, a novel set in the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York during the September 11, 2001 attacks
, won the 2005 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize
. He also won the 2008 Scott Moncrieff Translation Prize.
His book, I Was Vermeer, a biography of Han van Meegeren
was published by Bloomsbury in August 2006 and serialised as the BBC Radio 4 "Book of the Week" (read by Anton Lesser
) in August 2006.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
literary translator and writer.
Born in Co. Sligo, Ireland, he worked as a comics editor at Fleetway and later at Deadline magazine
Deadline magazine
Deadline was a British comic magazine published between 1988 and 1995.Created by 2000 AD stalwarts Brett Ewins and Steve Dillon, Deadline featured a mix of comic strips and written articles targeted at older readers...
. He worked for a time at AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
before becoming a literary translator. He has translated many authors including Michel Houellebecq
Michel Houellebecq
Michel Houellebecq , born Michel Thomas, 26 February 1958—or 1956 —on the French island of Réunion, is a controversial and award-winning French author, filmmaker and poet. To admirers he is a writer in the tradition of literary provocation that reaches back to the Marquis de Sade and Baudelaire;...
, Boualem Sansal
Boualem Sansal
Boualem Sansal is an internationally acclaimed Algerian author.Boualem Sansal was born in Algeria in 1949. Trained as an engineer with a doctorate in economics, he began writing novels at the age of 50 after retiring from his job as a high-ranking official in the Algerian government...
, Frédéric Beigbeder
Frédéric Beigbeder
Frédéric Beigbeder is a French writer and literary critic. He won the Prix Interallié in 2003 for his novel Windows on the World and the Prix Renaudot in 2009 for his book Un roman français...
and the late Ivoirian
Côte d'Ivoire
The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...
novelist Ahmadou Kourouma
Ahmadou Kourouma
Ahmadou Kourouma was an Ivorian novelist.-Life:The eldest son of a distinguished Malinké family, Ahmadou Kourouma was born in 1927 in Côte d'Ivoire. Raised by his uncle, he initially pursued studies in Bamako, Mali...
.
He jointly won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is an international literary award for a work of fiction, jointly sponsored by the city of Dublin, Ireland and the company IMPAC. At €100,000 it is one of the richest literary prizes in the world...
with Houellebecq for Atomised, his translation of Les Particules élémentaires. His translation of Frédéric Beigbeder's Windows on the World, a novel set in the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York during the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, won the 2005 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize
Independent Foreign Fiction Prize
The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize was inaugurated by British newspaper The Independent to honour contemporary fiction in translation in the United Kingdom. The award was first launched in 1990 and ran for five years before falling into abeyance. It was revived in 2001 with the financial support...
. He also won the 2008 Scott Moncrieff Translation Prize.
His book, I Was Vermeer, a biography of Han van Meegeren
Han van Meegeren
Han van Meegeren , born Henricus Antonius van Meegeren, was a Dutch painter and portraitist, and is considered to be one of the most ingenious art forgers of the 20th century....
was published by Bloomsbury in August 2006 and serialised as the BBC Radio 4 "Book of the Week" (read by Anton Lesser
Anton Lesser
Anton Lesser is a British actor. He attended Moseley Grammar School and the University of Liverpool before going to RADA in 1977 where he was awarded the Bancroft Gold Medal as the most promising actor of his year....
) in August 2006.
Selected translations
- Atomised by Michel HouellebecqMichel HouellebecqMichel Houellebecq , born Michel Thomas, 26 February 1958—or 1956 —on the French island of Réunion, is a controversial and award-winning French author, filmmaker and poet. To admirers he is a writer in the tradition of literary provocation that reaches back to the Marquis de Sade and Baudelaire;...
- PlatformPlatform (novel)Platform is a novel by French writer Michel Houellebecq . It has received both great praise and great criticism, most notably for the novel's apparent condoning of sex tourism and anti-Muslim feelings...
by Michel HouellebecqMichel HouellebecqMichel Houellebecq , born Michel Thomas, 26 February 1958—or 1956 —on the French island of Réunion, is a controversial and award-winning French author, filmmaker and poet. To admirers he is a writer in the tradition of literary provocation that reaches back to the Marquis de Sade and Baudelaire;...
(adapted by Carnal Acts for the Institute of Contemporary ArtsInstitute of Contemporary ArtsThe Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...
(ICA)) - Lanzarote by Michel HouellebecqMichel HouellebecqMichel Houellebecq , born Michel Thomas, 26 February 1958—or 1956 —on the French island of Réunion, is a controversial and award-winning French author, filmmaker and poet. To admirers he is a writer in the tradition of literary provocation that reaches back to the Marquis de Sade and Baudelaire;...
- An Unfinished Business (published in the US as The German Mudjahid) by Boualem SansalBoualem SansalBoualem Sansal is an internationally acclaimed Algerian author.Boualem Sansal was born in Algeria in 1949. Trained as an engineer with a doctorate in economics, he began writing novels at the age of 50 after retiring from his job as a high-ranking official in the Algerian government...
- The Frozen Heart by Almudena GrandesAlmudena GrandesAlmudena Grandes Hernández is a Spanish writer.She studied Geography and History at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. She is married to the poet Luis García Montero. In 1989 she won the La Sonrisa Vertical prize with her erotic novel Las edades de Lulú, which has been translated into several...
- What the Day Owes the Night by Yasmina KhadraYasmina KhadraYasmina Khadra is the pen name of the Algerian author Mohammed Moulessehoul .-Biography:Moulessehoul, an officer in the Algerian army, adopted a woman's pseudonym to avoid military censorship...
- Kamchatka by Marcelo FiguerasMarcelo FiguerasMarcelo Figueras is a writer and a screenwriter.-Novels :* El muchacho peronista* El espía del tiempo, * Kamchatka, 2003...
- Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules VerneJules VerneJules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
- Windows on the WorldWindows on the World (novel)Windows on the World a novel written by Frédéric Beigbeder was first published in France in 2003. The English translation by Frank Wynne was released March 30, 2005 by Miramax Books.-Plot summary:...
by Frédéric Beigbeder - Mammals by Pierre Mérot
- Waiting for the Wild Beasts to Vote by Ahmadou KouroumaAhmadou KouroumaAhmadou Kourouma was an Ivorian novelist.-Life:The eldest son of a distinguished Malinké family, Ahmadou Kourouma was born in 1927 in Côte d'Ivoire. Raised by his uncle, he initially pursued studies in Bamako, Mali...
- Allah is Not Obliged by Ahmadou KouroumaAhmadou KouroumaAhmadou Kourouma was an Ivorian novelist.-Life:The eldest son of a distinguished Malinké family, Ahmadou Kourouma was born in 1927 in Côte d'Ivoire. Raised by his uncle, he initially pursued studies in Bamako, Mali...
- The Little Book of Philosophy by André Comte-SponvilleAndré Comte-SponvilleAndré Comte-Sponville is a French philosopher born in Paris, France. He studied in the École Normale Supérieure, and is aggregated in philosophy...
- Working Knowledge by Petr KrálPetr KrálPetr Král is a Czech writer. Having graduated from FAMU, he worked as an editor in the Orbis publishing house, where he focused on a line of books about film and film-makers. In 1968, he emigrated to France where he worked in a gallery, a photo shop, as a teacher, interpreter, translator,...
- Forever Nude by Guy GoffetteGuy GoffetteGuy Goffette is a Belgian-born poet and writer. Goffette published his first book of poems in 1969. Since then he has worked as an editor at the publishing company Gallimard. Goffette's poetry has been compared to Verlaine - the contemporary French poet Yves Bonnefoy remarked Goffette is an heir...
- Banquet of Lies by Amin Zaoui
- Somewhere in a Desert by Dominique Sigaud (a New York Times notable book)
Awards
- 2008: Winner of the Scott Moncrieff PrizeScott Moncrieff PrizeThe Scott Moncrieff Prize, named after the translator C. K. Scott Moncrieff, is an annual £2,000 literary prize for French to English translation, awarded to one or more translators every year for a full-length work deemed by the Translators Association to have "literary merit"...
for the translation of Holiday in a Coma and Love Lasts Three Years by Frédéric BeigbederFrédéric BeigbederFrédéric Beigbeder is a French writer and literary critic. He won the Prix Interallié in 2003 for his novel Windows on the World and the Prix Renaudot in 2009 for his book Un roman français... - 2005: Winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction PrizeIndependent Foreign Fiction PrizeThe Independent Foreign Fiction Prize was inaugurated by British newspaper The Independent to honour contemporary fiction in translation in the United Kingdom. The award was first launched in 1990 and ran for five years before falling into abeyance. It was revived in 2001 with the financial support...
for Windows on the World by Frédéric Beigbeger - 2002: Winner of the International IMPAC Dublin Literary AwardInternational IMPAC Dublin Literary AwardThe International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is an international literary award for a work of fiction, jointly sponsored by the city of Dublin, Ireland and the company IMPAC. At €100,000 it is one of the richest literary prizes in the world...
for Atomised by Michel Houellebecq