Esther Allen (born June 29, 1962) is a writer, professor, and translator of French-language and Spanish-language literature into English. She is on the faculties of

Baruch College Baruch College (officially the Bernard M. Baruch College) is a public college in New York City, United States. It is a constituent college of the City University of New York system. Named for financier and statesman Bernard M. Baruch, the colle ...

(Department of Modern Languages & Comparative Literature) and the

Graduate Center, CUNY The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and postgraduate university in New York City. Formed in 1961 as Division of Graduate Studies at City University ...

(Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Ph.D. Program; French Ph.D. Program). Allen co-founded PEN World Voices: the New York Festival of International Literature (2004), and worked with PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants from their inception in 2003 to 2010. Allen heads the Development Committee of the

American Literary Translators Association The American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) is an organization in the United States dedicated to literary translation. ALTA promotes literary translation through its annual ALTA conference and year-round events structured around the creatio ...

, and serves on the board of Writers Omi, part of Omi International Arts Center, on the Advisory Council to the Spanish-language program at the

CUNY Graduate School of Journalism The Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York is a public graduate journalism school located in New York City, New York, United States. One of the 25 institutions comprising the City University of New York, ...

, and on the Selection Committee for the French Voices translation subvention program of the Services culturels français.

Selected works

Selected translations

* '' Zama'', introduction and first English-language translation of 1956 Spanish-language novel by

Antonio di Benedetto Antonio di Benedetto (2 November 1922 – 10 October 1986) was an Argentine novelist, short story writer and journalist. Career Di Benedetto began writing and publishing stories in his adolescence, inspired by the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky and ...

. *

José Martí José Julián Martí Pérez (; 28 January 1853 – 19 May 1895) was a Cuban nationalism, nationalist, poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in ...

's ''Selected Writings (Penguin Classics)'', editor and translator. * ''Dancing with Cuba: A Memoir of the Revolution'', English-language translation of Spanish-language manuscript by Alma Guillermoprieto. Guillermoprieto wrote in the book's Acknowledgements: Esther Allen "turned my stammering Spanish-language manuscript into an English text far more beautiful and assured than I could have written." * ''In Her Absence'', English-language translation of 2001 Spanish-language novel by Antonio Muñoz Molina. Reviewer Michael Kern Johnson called the work "an assured translation from Esther Allen that captures beautifully the shifting subtleties of tone and mood... satirical, and even very funny ... touching and painful." * ''Selected Non-Fictions (Penguin)'', English-language translation of Spanish-language works by

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish literature, Spanish-language and international literatur ...

. Edited by Eliot Weinberger and co-translated with Weinberger and Suzanne Jill Levine. * ''The Book of Lamentations (Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin)'', English-language translation of 1962 Spanish-language novel by Rosario Castellanos. Translation originally published 1996 by Marsilio Publishers. * ''Dark Back of Time (Vintage International)'', English-language translation of Spanish-language novel by Javier Marías. Translation originally published 2001. * ''The Tale of the Rose: The Love Story Behind The Little Prince'', English-language translation of French-language memoir by Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry published post-humously in France in 2000.

Selected other

* Co-edited with Susan Bernofsky. * Co-edited with Sean Cotter and Russell Scott Valentino. ''The Man Between: Michael Henry Heim and a Life in Translation'', co-editor and contributor. Tribute to Michael Henry Heim. * ''Editor, To Be Translated or Not To Be'', published in English, Catalan and German and distributed at the 2007

Frankfurt Book Fair The Frankfurt Book Fair (German: , FBM) is the world's largest trade fair for books, based on the number of publishing companies represented. The five-day annual event in mid-October is held at the Frankfurt Trade Fair grounds in Frankfurt am ...

. Commissioned by

PEN International PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide professional association, association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association ...

and the

Institut Ramon Llull The Institut Ramon Llull (English: Ramon Llull Institute) is a consortium consisting of the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan Government), the Govern de les Illes Balears (Government of the Balearic Islands) and the City Council of Barcelona, A ...

Awards and fellowships

* Fellow, Guggenheim Foundation, 2018. * 2017 National Translation Award of the

for English-language translation of '' Zama'', published by New York Review Books. * Biography Fellow, Leon Levy Center for Biography, 2014–2015. * Awardee, Feliks Gross Awards,

City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

Academy for the Arts and Sciences, 2012. * Fellow, Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

, 2009–2010. * Chevalier,

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

, 2006. * Translation Fellowship,

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

, 1995 and 2010.

References

External links

Esther Allen
official website.
Esther Allen citations index
from ''

Google Scholar Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of Academic publishing, scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. Released in Beta release, beta in November 2004, th ...

''
Esther Allen article archive
from ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...

''
Esther Allen article archive
from '' Words Without Borders'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Esther 1962 births Living people Spanish–English translators French–English translators Baruch College faculty CUNY Graduate Center faculty Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Literary translators 20th-century American translators 21st-century American translators