Olivia Milburn

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Olivia Milburn (born 1976) is a sinologist, author and literary translator who specialises in Chinese cultural history and in Chinese minority groups.

Contents

Life and career

Milburn is a professor at the School of Chinese, Hong Kong University. [1]

Milburn grew up in a multilingual family living in eight different countries, [2] and became interested in Chinese literature as a teenager, after reading a translation of the Dream of the Red Chamber . [2] [3] She completed a bachelor's degree at St Hilda's College, University of Oxford in 1998, a master's at Downing College, University of Cambridge in 1999, and a doctorate in classical Chinese at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London in 2003. After working as a lecturer at the University of London, she joined Seoul National University in 2008 and was appointed as a professor there in 2017. She started her current role at Hong Kong University in April 2022. [1]

Contributions

Milburn has authored several books including Cherishing Antiquity: The Cultural Construction of an Ancient Chinese Kingdom, [4] Urbanization in Early and Medieval China: Gazetteers for the City of Suzhou, [5] and The Spring and Autumn Annals of Master Yan. [6]

She is also a literary Chinese-to-English translator. [7] Her translations include the bestselling novel Decoded by Mai Jia (co-translated by Christopher Payne), which caught her attention because of a family connection: her grandfather was a codebreaker in World War II, like the book's protagonist.[ citation needed ] Her translation has been praised for its "tightly wrought aphorisms" and for "the classic beauty and elegant taste of the language". [8] [9]

In 2018, Milburn's translation work was recognised by the Chinese government with a Special Book Award of China, which honours contributions to bridging cultures and fostering understanding. [3]

Selected works

Selected translations

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References

  1. 1 2 "Olivia Milburn | School of Chinese, HKU". The University of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  2. 1 2 Kim, Boram (October 17, 2008). "Professor Olivia Milburn: At Home in the World". Seoul National University.
  3. 1 2 Mei, Jia (22 August 2018). "China recognizes 15 in prestigious book awards". China Daily.
  4. 1 2 Reviews of Cherishing Antiquity:
  5. 1 2 Reviews of Urbanization in Early and Medieval China:
  6. 1 2 Reviews of The Spring and Autumn Annals of Master Yan:
  7. ↑ Davis, Chris (11 June 2014). "Unlocking China's literary gems through translation". China Daily.
  8. ↑ "Chinese bestsellers take on the world". The Telegraph. 4 December 2018. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019.
  9. ↑ "Book review: "Decoded" by Mai Jia (Trs by Olivia Milburn and Christopher Payne)". The Independent. 26 January 2014.
  10. ↑ Reviews of The Glory of Yue:
  11. ↑ Fang, Fang (2022-11-18). "The Walls of Wuchang". Sinoist Books. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
  12. ↑ Chaffetz, David (2022-03-14). "Two New Translations of Feng Menglong's Classic "Chronicles"". Asian Review of Books. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  13. ↑ Menglong, Feng (2023-10-31). Kingdoms in Peril, Volume 1: The Curse of the Bao Lords. Translated by Milburn, Olivia. University of California Press. ISBN   978-0-520-38100-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  14. ↑ Menglong, Feng (2023-10-31). Kingdoms in Peril, Volume 2: The Exile Returns. Translated by Milburn, Olivia. University of California Press. ISBN   978-0-520-38103-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  15. ↑ Menglong, Feng (2023-10-31). Kingdoms in Peril, Volume 3: The Death of a Southern Hero. Translated by Milburn, Olivia. University of California Press. ISBN   978-0-520-38107-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  16. ↑ Menglong, Feng (2023-10-31). Kingdoms in Peril, Volume 4: The Assassins Strike. Translated by Milburn, Olivia. University of California Press. ISBN   978-0-520-38110-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
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