Michael Kandel (born December 24, 1941 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American translator and author of science fiction.

Biography

Kandel received a doctorate in

Slavistics Slavic (American English) or Slavonic (British English) studies, also known as Slavistics is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic areas, languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist or Slavicist was prim ...

from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

. His most recent position was editor at the Modern Language Association. Prior to that, at Harcourt, he edited (among others) Ursula K. Le Guin's work. Kandel is perhaps best known for his translations of the works of

Stanisław Lem Stanisław Herman Lem (; 12 September 1921 – 27 March 2006) was a Polish writer of science fiction and essays on various subjects, including philosophy, futurology, and literary criticism. Many of his science fiction stories are of satirical ...

from Polish to English. "Trying to Build a Tower That Reaches Heaven: Interview with Translator Michael Kandel"
by Maria Khodorkovsky, July 14, 2015 Recently he has also been translating works of other Polish science fiction authors, such as Jacek Dukaj, Tomasz Kołodziejczak, Marek Huberath and

Andrzej Sapkowski Andrzej Sapkowski (; born 21 June 1948) is a Polish fantasy writer, essayist, translator and a trained economist. He is best known for his six-volume series of books '' The Witcher'', which revolves around the eponymous "witcher," a monster-hun ...

. The quality of his translations is considered to be excellent; his skill is especially notable in the case of Lem's writing, which makes heavy use of wordplay and other difficult-to-translate devices.

Bibliography

Novels

*'' Strange Invasion'' (1989) *'' In Between Dragons'' (1990) *'' Captain Jack Zodiac'' (1991) *'' Panda Ray'' (1996)

Short fiction

*"Virtual Reality" (1993) in ''Simulations'' (ed. Karie Jacobson) *"Ogre" (1994) in '' Black Thorn, White Rose'' (ed.

Ellen Datlow Ellen Datlow (born December 31, 1949) is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror editor and anthologist. She is a winner of the World Fantasy Award and the Bram Stoker Award (Horror Writers Association). Career Datlow began her career ...

and Terri Windling) *"Acolytes" (1997) in '' The Horns of Elfland'' (ed. Ellen Kushner,

Delia Sherman Cordelia Caroline Sherman (born 1951, Tokyo, Japan), known professionally as Delia Sherman, is an American fantasy writer and editor. Her novel ''The Porcelain Dove'' won the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award. Background Sherman attended The Chapin Scho ...

, and Donald G. Keller) *"Wading River Dogs and More" in '' Asimov's'', May 1998 *"Hooking Up" in ''

Fantasy and Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher ...

'', August 1999 *"Time to Go" in ''

'', November 2004 *"Enlightenment" in ''Thrilling Wonder Stories'', Summer 2007

Translations

*'' Memoirs Found in a Bathtub'' (with Christine Rose, 1973) *'' The Cyberiad'' (1974) *'' The Futurological Congress'' (1974) *'' The Star Diaries'' (1976) *'' Mortal Engines'' (1977) *'' A Perfect Vacuum'' (1978) *''

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice (HMV) was the name of a major British record label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a Jack Russ ...

'' (1983) *'' Fiasco'' (1987) *'' Peace on Earth'' (with Elinor Ford, 1994) *'' Highcastle: A Remembrance'' (1995)

Paweł Huelle Paweł Marek Huelle (10 September 1957 – 27 November 2023) was a Polish prose writer. Life and career Huelle studied Polish philology at Gdańsk University and, in 1980, participated in the efforts to establish an independent student organiz ...

*''Who Was David Weiser?'' (1992) - first translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones (1991). *''Moving House and Other Stories'' (1995) - first translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones (1994). Marek S. Huberath *'' Nest of Worlds'' (Restless Books, 2014)
"Yoo Retoont, Sneogg. Ay Noo"
on Words without Borders; in ''A Polish Book of Monsters'' (PIASA Books, 2010)
"Balm of a Long Farewell"
on Words without Borders Andrzej Stasiuk *''On the Road to Babadag'' (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011) Kayko and Kokosh

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

series by

Janusz Christa Janusz Christa (19 July 1934, Wilno – 15 November 2008, Sopot) was a Polish author of comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of com ...

. *''Flying School'' (Egmont Poland, 2018) *''The Big Tournament'' (Egmont Poland, 2018)

Editor and translator

*''Mortal Engines'' (Seabury, 1977): Stories by Stanisław Lem *''The Cosmic Carnival of Stanisław Lem: An Anthology of Entertaining Stories by the Modern Master of Science Fiction'' (Continuum, 1981) *''A Polish Book of Monsters: Five Dark Tales from Contemporary Poland'' (PIASA Books, 2010): Stories by Marek Huberath,

, Tomasz Kołodziejczak, Andrzej Zimniak, and Jacek Dukaj

Notes

External links

Michael Kandel on Words Without Borders
by Michael Kandel
"Translation is Quixotic: A Conversation with Michael Kandel"
at Restless Books * 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American science fiction writers Science fiction editors Polish–English translators Living people 1941 births American male short story writers 20th-century translators 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers {{US-sf-writer-stub