Max Lawton Explained

Max Lawton
Birth Place:Belgium
Nationality:American
Spouse:Ecem Lawton
Occupation:Translator & Writer
Alma Mater:Oxford
Awards:
Portaldisp:y

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. He grew up in Chicago. He received his BA in Russian Literature from Columbia University,[6] where he also was on the rowing team. He was a winner of the John Jay Scholarship as well as the National Merit Scholarship.[7]

He received the Clarendon Fund Scholarship for his Masters of Philosophy from The Queen's College, Oxford.[8] He lives in Los Angeles, California[9] and is described as a "Sorokin superfan".[10]

In addition to Russian, Lawton also speaks and translates from French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Turkish.[11] 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.[12]

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.[13]

Personal life

Lawton lives in Los Angeles, where he also plays in a metal band.[14]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 8 May 2023 . Max Lawton Lands on Longlist for Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize . 3 March 2024 . Columbia Harriman Institute . en-US.
  2. Web site: 24 June 2022 . Writer Vladimir Sorokin: ‘I underestimated the power of Putin’s madness’ . 4 March 2024 . Financial Times . https://archive.today/20220628125509/https://www.ft.com/content/1f4bd315-7753-4e7a-be4e-0ea7e31522b9 . 28 June 2022 . en-US.
  3. Web site: 27 February 2022 . Vladimir Putin sits atop a crumbling pyramid of power . 4 March 2024 . The Guardian . en-US.
  4. Web site: Violet Swans . 4 March 2024 . Harpers . en-US.
  5. Web site: The Best Short Stories 2022 . 8 March 2024 . Penguin Random House . en-US.
  6. Web site: Max Lawton . 3 March 2024 . Give Me Liberty . en-US.
  7. Web site: 2016 Heavyweight Rowing Roster . 22 March 2024 . Columbia Lions . en-US.
  8. Web site: 18 April 2016 . Max Lawton CC’16 wins prestigious Clarendon Scholarship . 3 March 2024 . Columbia College . en-US.
  9. Web site: Max Lawton . 3 March 2024 . NYRB . en-US.
  10. Web site: 16 April 2022 . He Envisioned a Nightmarish, Dystopian Russia. Now He Fears Living in One. . 3 March 2024 . NY Times . en-US.
  11. Web site: Max Lawton . 7 March 2024 . The Baffler . en-US.
  12. Web site: An interview with Max Lawton about translating Vladimir Sorokin’s brilliant novel Telluria. 7 March 2024 . Bibliokept . en-US.
  13. Web site: 15 March 2024 . Vladimir Sorokin’s Blue Lard and Red Pyramid — surreal Russian satire that still shocks . 22 March 2024 . Financial Times . https://archive.today/20240315080903/https://www.ft.com/content/065477c7-5e08-4457-92f0-b423dcd69c35 . 15 March 2024 . en-US.
  14. Web site: 24 April 2024 . The translator bringing Vladimir Sorokin to English readers . 5 May 2024 . Prospect Magazine . en-US.

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