Sally Ann Laird (2 May 1956 – 15 July 2010) was a British editor and translator who specialised in Russian literature.
Education
Laird was born in the
London Borough of Barnet
The London Borough of Barnet () is a suburban London boroughs, London borough in north London, England. Forming part of Outer London, the borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It is the ...
and attended
Camden School for Girls
The Camden School for Girls (CSG) is a comprehensive secondary school for girls, with a co-educational sixth form, in the London Borough of Camden in north London. It has about one thousand students of ages eleven to eighteen, and specialis ...
. She was a student of Russian and philosophy at
St Anne's College, Oxford
St Anne's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 and gained full college status in 1959. Originally a women's college, it has admitted men since 1979. ...
. She was editor of ''
The Isis Magazine
The ''Isis'' is a student publication at the University of Oxford, where the magazine was established in 1892. Historically a rival to the student newspaper '' Cherwell'', ''Isis'' was finally acquired by the latter's publishing house, Oxford ...
'' at Oxford. Laird went on to
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, on a
Harkness Fellowship
The Harkness Fellowship (previously known as the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship) is a program run by the Commonwealth Fund of New York City. This fellowship was established to reciprocate the Rhodes Scholarships and enable Fellows from several co ...
, where she gained an MA in Soviet studies in 1981. As part of her Oxford degree, she spent a year at
Voronezh State University
Voronezh State University (, ВГУ; VSU) is one of the main universities in Central Russia, located in the city of Voronezh. The university was established in 1918 by professors evacuated from the University of Tartu in Estonia. The university ...
.
Career
Laird worked for
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
during the 1980s. She was USSR editor for the magazine
Index on Censorship
Index on Censorship is an organisation campaigning for freedom of expression. It produces a quarterly magazine of the same name from London. It is directed by the non-profit-making Writers and Scholars International, Ltd (WSI) in association wit ...
between June 1986 and November 1988, when she became editor-in-chief. She held the job until August 1989.
After leaving the magazine she worked as a translator and editor, and reviewed books for ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.
In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
''. She translated a series of Russian novels. ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' reviewed her translation of
Lyudmila Petrushevskaya
Lyudmila Stefanovna Petrushevskaya (; born 26 May 1938) is a Russian writer, novelist and playwright. She began her career writing short stories and plays, which the Soviet government often Censorship, censored and published several well-respec ...
's ''The Time: Night'': "Sally Laird's version, although a bit British and a bit bowdlerized, conveys the wonderful fluidity and occasional frenzy of the monologue "written" by Petrushevskaya's narrator".
Laird became project manager of the Central European Classics series, brought out by
Central European University Press
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
.
She contributed to ''Till my Tale is Told: Women’s Memoirs of the Gulag'', and wrote ''Voices of Russian Literature: Interviews with Ten Contemporary Writers'', the latter based on interviews she carried out between 1987 and 1994.
In 1993, Laird moved to
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
, living at
Ebeltoft
Ebeltoft is an old port town on the central east coast of Denmark with a population of 7,287 (1 January 2025). She learnt Danish and worked as a translator between English and Danish.
Personal life
Laird and her husband Mark Le Fanu had one daughter. Laird died in 2010.
Vladimir Sorokin
Vladimir Georgiyevich Sorokin (; born 7 August 1955) is a postmodern Russian writer of novels, short stories, and plays.
He has been described as one of the leading and most popular writers in contemporary Russian literature. Sorokin became k ...
(Readers International, 1988; New York Review Books, 2008; )
* Translation of ''The Time: Night'', by Ludmila Petrushevskaya (
Pantheon Books
Pantheon Books is an American book publishing imprint. Founded in 1942 as an independent publishing house in New York City by Kurt and Helen Wolff, it specialized in introducing progressive European works to American readers. In 1961, it was ...
, 1994)
* Translation of ''Immortal Love: Stories'', by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya (Pantheon Books, 1996)
* ''Voices of Russian Literature: Interviews with Ten Contemporary Writers'' (
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 1999)
* ''Till my Tale is Told: Women’s Memoirs of the Gulag'', ed Simeon Vilensky, (
Indiana University Press
Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes ...