Henry Coffin Carlisle (September 14, 1926 – July 11, 2011) was a

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

, and anti-

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

activist. Carlisle, with his wife Olga Andreyeva Carlisle, was notable for translating

Alexander Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Soviet and Russian author and dissident who helped to raise global awareness of political repression in the Soviet Union, especially the Gulag prison system. He was a ...

's work into English. Although Solzhenitsyn criticized the translations, Olga Carlisle felt they helped bring his work to a wider audience, and contributed to Solzhenitsyn's

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

. Carlisle was president of

PEN American Center PEN America (formerly PEN American Center), founded in 1922, and headquartered in New York City, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose goal is to raise awareness for the protection of free expression in the United States and worldwide thr ...

(elected 1976), and actively supported writers facing censorship.

Novels

* ''Ilyitch Slept Here'' (1965) * ''The Contract'' (1968) * ''The Somers Mutiny'' (1972) * ''Voyage to the First of December'' (1972) * ''The Land Where the Sun Dies'' (1975) * ''The Jonah Man'' aka “A Custom of the Sea”(1984) * ''The Idealists'' (1999) (with Olga Carlisle)

Translations

* ''

The First Circle ''In the First Circle'' (; also published as ''The First Circle'') is a novel by Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, released in 1968. A more complete version of the book was published in English in 2009. The novel depicts the lives of the o ...

'' by

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Soviet and Russian author and Soviet dissidents, dissident who helped to raise global awareness of political repression in the Soviet Union, especially the Gulag pris ...

(with Olga Carlisle) * ''

The Gulag Archipelago ''The Gulag Archipelago: An Experiment in Literary Investigation'' () is a three-volume nonfiction series written between 1958 and 1968 by Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a Soviet dissident. It was first published in 1973 by the Parisian ...

'' by

(with Olga Carlisle) * ''

The Idiot ''The Idiot'' (Reforms of Russian orthography, pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform ) is a novel by the 19th-century Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published serially in the journal ''The Russian Messenger'' in 1868–1869. The titl ...

'' by

Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influent ...

(1978, with Olga Carlisle)

Notes

External links

Henry Carlisle's works
at ''

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 ...

'' 1926 births 2011 deaths Russian–English translators 20th-century American novelists American free speech activists 20th-century American translators American male novelists 20th-century American male writers {{US-translator-stub

Novels

Translations

Notes

Further reading

External links