Max Lawton
Max Lawton | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Belgium |
| Occupation | Translator & Writer |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Oxford |
| Notable works |
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| Notable awards | |
| Spouse | Ecem Lawton |
 Literature portal | |
Max Lawton is an American writer and translator of Russian literature into English. He is known for translating the works of Vladimir Sorokin, whose Telluria was longlisted for the 2023 Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize.[1] A total of eight of Sorokin's books are being translated into English by Lawton,[2] as well as articles[3] and short stories, including "Horse Soup" which won the O. Henry Award in 2022.[4][5]
Biography
Lawton was born in Brussels, Belgium, where he lived for the first 3 years of his life.[6] He grew up in Chicago. He received his BA in Russian Literature from Columbia University,[7] where he also was on the rowing team. He was a winner of the John Jay Scholarship as well as the National Merit Scholarship.[8]
He received the Clarendon Fund Scholarship for his Masters of Philosophy from The Queen's College, Oxford.[9] He lives in Los Angeles, California[10] and is described as a "Sorokin superfan".[11]
In addition to Russian, Lawton also speaks and translates from French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Turkish.[12] He is working on a translation of Michael Lentz's novel Schattenfroh from German to English, as well as translations of Stefano D’Arrigo's Horcynus Orca and Antonio Moresco's Games of Eternity trilogy from Italian to English.[13]
Lawton has been translating Sorokin's works since 2016, starting with novella Nastya, short story Horse Soup, and notably attempting the first English translation of Blue Lard, a more linguistically complex and longer work than the short stories.[14]
Selected translations
- Moresco, Antonio, The Beginnings, Deep Vellum, ISBN 9781646053957
- Lentz, Michael (2025), Schattenfroh, Deep Vellum, ISBN 9781646053827
- Sorokin, Vladimir (2024), Dispatches from the District Committee, Dalkey Archive Press, ISBN 9781628975178, OCLC 1344422372
- Littell, Jonathan (2024), The Damp and the Dry, OR Books, ISBN 9781682193914, OCLC 1344422815
- Sorokin, Vladimir (2024), Blue Lard, NYRB Classics, ISBN 9781681378183, OCLC 1380391734
- Sorokin, Vladimir (2024), Red Pyramid, NYRB Classics, ISBN 9781681378206, OCLC 1389179539
- Sorokin, Vladimir (2022), Telluria, NYRB Classics, ISBN 9781681376332, OCLC 1340418075
- Sorokin, Vladimir (2022), Their Four Hearts, Dalkey Archive Press, ISBN 9781628973969, OCLC 1267752875
- Sorokin, Vladimir (2022), Nastya, The Baffler
Personal life
Lawton lives in Los Angeles, where he also plays in a metal band.[6]
References
- ^ "Max Lawton Lands on Longlist for Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize". Columbia Harriman Institute. 8 May 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
- ^ "Writer Vladimir Sorokin: 'I underestimated the power of Putin's madness'". Financial Times. 24 June 2022. Archived from the original on 28 June 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
- ^ "Vladimir Putin sits atop a crumbling pyramid of power". The Guardian. 27 February 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
- ^ "Violet Swans". Harpers. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
- ^ "The Best Short Stories 2022". Penguin Random House. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
- ^ a b "The translator bringing Vladimir Sorokin to English readers". Prospect Magazine. 24 April 2024. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
- ^ "Max Lawton". Give Me Liberty. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
- ^ "2016 Heavyweight Rowing Roster". Columbia Lions. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
- ^ "Max Lawton CC'16 wins prestigious Clarendon Scholarship". Columbia College. 18 April 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
- ^ "Max Lawton". NYRB. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
- ^ "He Envisioned a Nightmarish, Dystopian Russia. Now He Fears Living in One". NY Times. 16 April 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
- ^ "Max Lawton". The Baffler. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
- ^ "An interview with Max Lawton about translating Vladimir Sorokin's brilliant novel Telluria". Bibliokept. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
- ^ "Vladimir Sorokin's Blue Lard and Red Pyramid — surreal Russian satire that still shocks". Financial Times. 15 March 2024. Archived from the original on 15 March 2024. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
External links
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