Nicky Harman is a UK-based prize-winning

literary 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 ''transla ...

, working from

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of v ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

and focussing on contemporary fiction, literary non-fiction, and occasionally poetry, by a wide variety of authors. When not translating, she spends time promoting contemporary Chinese fiction to English-language readers. She volunteers fo
Paper Republic
a non-profit registered in the UK, where she is also a trustee. She writes blogs (for instanc
Asian Books Blog
, give talks and lectures, and takes part in literary events and festivals, especially with th
Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing
She also mentors new translators, teaches summer schools (Norwich, London, Warwick and Bristol), and judges translation competitions. She tweets, with Helen Wang, as the China Fiction Bookclub @cfbcuk. She taught on the MSc in Translation at Imperial College until 2011 and was co-chair of the Translators Association (Society of Authors) 2014–2017.

Life and career

Harman studied Chinese at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, and first went to China in 1974.

Awards and honors

* Winner of a Special Book Award of China in 2020 * Shortlisted for the 2021

Newman Prize for Chinese Literature The Newman Prize for Chinese Literature was established in 2008 by Peter Gries, director of the Institute for U.S.-China Issues at the University of Oklahoma. The first major American award for Chinese literature, the Newman Prize, is awarded e ...

, for her co-translation with

Natascha Bruce Natascha Bruce is a British writer and translator of Chinese fiction and nonfiction. She currently resides in Amsterdam. Biography Bruce graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2010 with a Bachelor's degree in Chinese, focusing on ...

Xu Xiaobin Xu or XU may refer to: People and characters * Xu (surname), one of two Chinese surnames ( or /), transliterated as Xu in English * ǃXu, a name for the ǃKung group of Bushmen; may also refer to the ǃKung language or the ǃKung people * ǃXu ( ...

's work. * Longlisted for the FT/Oppenheimer Funds Emerging Voices Awards 2016, with Xu Xiaobin's ''Crystal Wedding''. * Winner of the Mao Tai Cup People's Literature Chinese-English translation prize 2015. Link here:

n Chinese N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

* Longlisted for the 2015 Best Translated Book Award Fiction BTBA Longlist, with Dorothy Tse's ''Snow and Shadow''. * Winner of first prize in the 2013 China International Translation Contest, Chinese-to-English section, with Jia Pingwa's "Backflow River" (贾平凹: 《倒流河》) * Won a PEN Translation Fund Award (2006) for her translation of ''Banished!'' by Han Dong, which was subsequently long-listed for the Man Asian Literary Prize 2008.

Translations

A list of her published translations can be found on he
Paper Republic homepage

References

External links

Nicky Harman profile
at

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

Nicky Harman profile
at

English PEN Founded in 1921, English PEN is one of the world's first non-governmental organisations and among the first international bodies advocating for human rights. English PEN was the founding centre of PEN International, a worldwide writers' associati ...

Nicky Harman profile
a
Paper Republic

Nicky Harman profile
at

Free Word Centre Free Word was an international centre for literature, literacy and free expression based at 60 Farringdon Road, Clerkenwell, London. It developed local, national and international collaborations that explored the transformative power of words. Fr ...

Nicky Harman
on Worldcat
China Fiction Book Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harman, Nicky Chinese–English translators Translators to English Translators from Chinese British translators Living people Literary translators Year of birth missing (living people)