Marian Schwartz » Slavnikova

Russian BookWorld: Dystopia for Our Times: “2017″ by Olga Slavnikova

mbs — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:02:31 +0000

Konstantin Boulich reports on my translation of Olga Slavnikova’s novel 2017 for Voice of Russia:

Thanks to a superb translation by Marian Schwartz, Olga Slavnikova’s dystopian novel “2017”, arguably the writer’s most important work today is now available in English. I talk to Marian Schwartz about the joys and challenges of translating Slavnikova’s rich and poetic language. A London based literary critic Phoebe Taplin tells us what makes this genre-defying novel special and Olga Slavnikova reveals her thoughts on the cyclical nature of Russian history, human role in disclosing natural beauty and the act of writing as a tool for envisioning the future.

To hear the complete podcast, click here.

“Luminous”

mbs — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:09:18 +0000

Phoebe Taplin has given Olga Slavnikova’s 2017 (now published in the UK as well, by Duckworth) a wonderful review in the January 5, 2012, “Russia Now” supplement to the London Telegraph, calling it “an ambitious, postmodern contribution to a revered literary tradition” and the translation “luminous.” Read the rest here.

2017 Translation Wins 2011 Heldt Prize

mbs — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:39:45 +0000

The Association of Women in Slavic Studies has awarded me the prize for 2011 Best Translation in Slavic/Eastern European/Eurasian Women’s Studies for my translation of Olga Slavnikova, 2017 (Overlook/Duckworth, 2010).

The prize will be celebrated at the AWSS annual meeting and luncheon convention at the Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies convention in Washington, DC, on Saturday, November 19, 2011, at its annual awards luncheon.

“Luminous Translation” of Olga Slavnikova’s “2017”

mbs — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 17:00:21 +0000

Phoebe Taplin writes a rave review of “2017” for Russia Beyond the Headlines:

Olga Slavnikova’s ‘2017,’ set on the anniversary of the revolution, is so packed full of ideas and images it threatens to explode.

And, she goes on to say,

Slavnikova’s strange, genre-defying novel, winner of the 2006 Russian Booker Prize, finally made it into English in Marian Schwartz’s luminous translation.

To read the review in full, click here.

An Evening with Olga Slavnikova and Marian Schwartz

mbs — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 13:56:44 +0000

On Wednesday, May 25, at 6:30p, Olga Slavnikova and I will be giving a reading at the Jerry Orbach Theater in New York. Last year her novel, 2017, which won the Russian Booker Prize, was published in English in my translation by Overlook Press. Save the date! Jerry Orbach Theater, 1627 Broadway Third Floor (entrance on the south side of West 50th).

Lobster & Canary Likes 2017 for 2010

mbs — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:02:35 +0000

Daniel A. Rabuzzi writes Lobster & Canary, a blog about speculative, fantastical and surreal fiction, poetry, and visual arts, fairy tales, oral epic, and children’s literature. He’s included Olga Slavnikova’s 2017 among his favorite novels read in 2010:

Olga Slavnikova, 2017 (Overlook, 2010, trans. from Russian by Marian Schwartz). The "most difficult-to-classify book of the year." Enjoyed without grasping its entirety, which was part of the enjoyment. Michael Froggatt, in his review (Strange Horizons, October 1, 2010), gets it precisely right: "Olga Slavnikova’s 2017, the winner of the 2006 Russian Booker Prize, is a novel which confounds the reader at every turn: its prose style, characterization and narrative consistently refuse to conform to expectations. It stubbornly refuses to depict people or events in a way which recognizably reflects real life…"

Catch Me Live

mbs — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 22:56:00 +0000

I’m excited about two speaking dates I have coming up later this month.

On Monday, October 26th, I’ll be giving a Russian Science Fiction Reading at Swarthmore College, reading from my translation of Olga Slavnikova’s 2017. For time and location, click here.

Later that same week, on Thursday, October 28th, I’ll be giving the 12th Annual Marilyn Gaddis Rose Lecture at the annual conference of the American Translators Association. The Literary Division has asked me to speak about “The Literary Translator and U.S. Publishing”—a subject dear to my heart. The conference is being held at the Hyatt Regency in Denver. For time and location, click here.

Russian Science Fiction Reading at Swarthmore

mbs — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 22:00:03 +0000

If you happen to be in Philadelphia next month, please join me on October 25 at Swarthmore College when I do a reading, presented by the Russian section of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, from my translation of Olga Slavnikova’s novel, 2017. For details on where and when, click here.

“Intense Lyricism” of Slavnikova’s 2017

mbs — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 22:12:32 +0000

Karen Vanuska, in her “writer’s journal of her reading and writing life,” has posted a flattering review of my translation of Olga Slavnikova’s 2017:

It wouldn’t be summer if I didn’t pick up a Russian novel. Though I received my review copy of 2017 by Olga Slavnikova back in March, I decided to save it for summer. Instead of dipping my brain into Lit Light, I prefer the dark, soulfulness of Russian Lit during the blazing heat (or cool fog) of summer. (There must be a support group for people like me).

My favorite Russian translator, Marian Schwartz, did the translation for this 2006 Book prize winning novel. True to form, she lets the Russian language penetrate each English line. This leads to moments of intense lyricism …

To read the rest, click here.

Slavnikova’s 2017 at barnesandnoblereview.com

mbs — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:24:11 +0000

Anna Mundow gives a glowing review of my translation of Olga Slavnikova’s 2017 at barnesandnoblereview.com:

Olga Slavnikova’s profound new novel 2017 evokes, with uncanny vividness, a Russia of the near-future in which a character reasonably wonders “…how much about human beings is human?” . . .

To read the rest, click here.