Alex Zucker | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | US |
Alma mater | University of Massachusetts Amherst Columbia University |
Occupation | Translator |
Alex Zucker (born September 1, 1964) is an American literary translator.
Zucker was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. From ages 4 to 17, he lived in East Lansing, Michigan. He attended college at University of Massachusetts Amherst, obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Zoology in 1986. In 1990, he received a master's in international affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, with a certificate from the Institute on East Central Europe. [1]
During his years in Prague (1990–95), he worked as editor-translator for the English-language section of the Czech News Agency, [2] copy editor–translator for the English-language newspaper Prognosis, [3] and freelance translator for a variety of Czech and English-language cultural reviews and literary magazines, including Raut, [4] Trafika, [3] Yazzyk, [3] and Zlatý řez. [5]
From 1996 to 2000, he copyedited for Swing, [6] Condé Nast Traveler , Interview (magazine), and Vanity Fair (magazine), as well as for Aperture publishing house [7] and Bookforum .
From 2002 to 2004, Zucker taught Czech at the NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies.
In 2010, Zucker won the National Translation Award for his translation of Petra Hůlová's début novel of 2002, All This Belongs to Me. [8]
In 2011, he received a Creative Writing Fellowship [9] from the National Endowment for the Arts to support his translation of the 1931 Czech classic Marketa Lazarová , by Vladislav Vančura.
Zucker has also translated lyrics by Filip Topol, [25] leader of the Czech rock group Psí vojáci (Dog Soldiers). [26]
Milan Kundera was a Czech and French novelist. Kundera went into exile in France in 1975, acquiring citizenship in 1981. His Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked in 1979, but he was granted Czech citizenship in 2019.
Karel Čapek was a Czech writer, playwright, critic and journalist. He has become best known for his science fiction, including his novel War with the Newts (1936) and play R.U.R., which introduced the word robot. He also wrote many politically charged works dealing with the social turmoil of his time. Influenced by American pragmatic liberalism, he campaigned in favor of free expression and strongly opposed the rise of both fascism and communism in Europe.
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Jan Tomáš "Miloš" Forman was a Czech-American film director, screenwriter, actor, and professor who rose to fame in his native Czechoslovakia before emigrating to the United States in 1968. Throughout Forman's career he won two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Golden Bear, a César Award, and the Czech Lion.
The Czechoslovak New Wave is a term used for the Czechoslovak filmmakers who started making films in the 1960s. The directors commonly included are Miloš Forman, Věra Chytilová, Ivan Passer, Pavel Juráček, Jiří Menzel, Jan Němec, Jaromil Jireš, Evald Schorm, Hynek Bočan, Juraj Herz, Juraj Jakubisko, Štefan Uher and others. The movement was sometimes called the "Czechoslovak film miracle".
Josef Škvorecký was a Czech-Canadian writer and publisher. He spent half of his life in Canada, publishing and supporting banned Czech literature during the communist era. Škvorecký was awarded the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 1980. He and his wife were long-time supporters of Czech dissident writers before the fall of communism in that country. Škvorecký's fiction deals with several themes: the horrors of totalitarianism and repression, the expatriate experience, and the miracle of jazz.
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Filip Topol was a Czech singer, songwriter, pianist and writer. He was best known as leader of the alternative rock band Psí vojáci, but he also performed as a solo artist. Topol was the younger brother of the writer Jáchym Topol, son of the playwright and dissident Josef Topol and grandchild of the writer Karel Schulz.
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Jan Novák is a Czech-American writer, screenwriter and playwright. He writes in both Czech and English, frequently translating his work. He has received awards in both the United States and the Czech Republic. He has worked closely with such figures as Václav Havel and Miloš Forman.
Psí vojáci was a Czech rock band from Prague, fronted by singer, pianist and songwriter Filip Topol, son of playwright Josef Topol and brother of writer Jáchym Topol. Topol formed the band in 1979 with drummer David Skála and bassist Jan Hazuka, his elementary school classmates. It disbanded in August 2011, then reformed in October 2012 with the original line-up and finally ceased to exist in June 2013 with Topol's death. The band was named after the Dog Soldiers, a Cheyenne military society that appeared in Thomas Berger’s novel Little Big Man. They were a part of the Prague underground countercultural movement, and were influenced by punk rock as well as avant-garde and classical music including composers of the second half of the 18th century. Topol also performed solo on the piano and played songs from his solo albums, often with confessional lyrics.
Andel Exit is a 2000 Czech drama movie directed by Vladimír Michálek with Jan Cechticky and Klára Issová. The movie was based on the 1995 novel of Jáchym Topol named Anděl. The movie earned two Czech Lion Awards in 2000 for Best Design and Best Editing.
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