Jess Jensen Mitchell

About

I am a Polish to English translator, literary scholar, writer, and educator.

Education

I am finishing my PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures at Harvard University.

I went to McGill University for undergrad. I’ve also studied at Middlebury College, the University of Warsaw, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In addition to English, I speak Polish, French, and Russian.

Slavic at Harvard→

Research

My dissertation examines the process by which regional memory is transformed from a personal and family experience into nationally legible and marketable narratives. Taking the hotly contested region of Upper Silesia as a case study, my project illuminates the workings of the national and global book markets, as well as the influence of the shifting media landscapes on contemporary prose and criticism. My article on regional realism will come out in Industrial Regions in Transition: Upper Silesia, the Donbas, and Beyond with Anthem Press (forthcoming).

I’ve also been working on two other research projects. This summer, I traveled to Panna Maria, Texas, to research the Polish and Silesian settlements that date back to the 19th century. I am interested in the community’s identity, as well as how contemporary Polish authors have drawn inspiration from European regional cultures placed against the backdrop of the American frontier.

I am also researching a forgotten figure of the interwar literary scene, Irena Krzywicka. Last February, I read a paper on her genre-bending writing and translation at Wadham College, Oxford. This spring, I will conduct research in her hometown, Warsaw, and Bures-sur-Yvette, France, the setting of her twilight years.

Translation

I cut my teeth in the Emerging Translator Mentorship in Polish with the NCW, the Bread Loaf Translators’ Conference, and the BCLT Summer School. I tend to work on fiction, nonfiction (including diaries), and academic writing, but I am open to proposals.

My work has appeared in The Penguin Book of Polish Short Stories, Two Lines Journal, Asymptote (forthcoming), Przekładaniec, The New Books from Poland Catalogue, conference presentations and lectures, an audio reportage, and a forthcoming anthology: The Tender Translator: Olga Tokarczuk Across Languages (expected Spring 2026).

My book-length translation of Jerzy Pilch’s List of Adulteresses (Spis cudzołożnic), co-authored with Antonia Lloyd-Jones, is being published by Open Letter/Deep Vellum.

Contact me for a sample →

Thank you, next

My projects have been supported by dear mentors, academic institutions, and additional grants, including the Jurzykowski Fund, the Frederick Sheldon Traveling Fellowship, the Svetlana Boym Prize, and additional funding from the Middlebury School of Russian.

At Harvard, I had the chance to teach language and literature/culture courses.

I also enjoy teaching English, particularily to speakers of Slavic languages.

„I wandered around the bazaar looking for two things: a first edition of Mental Suggestion by Julian Ochorowicz and a notebook with lined, woodfree paper. I’d always felt an irresistible pull towards notebooks with lined, woodfree paper. I kept buying them, one after the other. The very act of purchasing notebooks with lined, woodfree paper was an intensely exciting experience, at least for me. I imagined that I’d fill them with writing that was meticulous and unusual, but also… who knows. In my characteristically Protestant style, I avoided definitive statements. I didn’t want to write a diary, short story, or novel. I longed for something more, something that would overcome the prescriptive boundaries of content and form.”

from List of Adulteresses by Jerzy Pilch (forthcoming)

When I was a kid, I loved hearing my grandma’s stories about growing up in a Polish diaspora community in Central Wisconsin. In a way, my academic and creative work can be traced back to the tales of immigrants from a handful of villages in Greater Poland (now suburbs of Poznań). I’ve learned Polish, but I still need to try czernina (a regional delicacy for the strong-hearted).

I am pleased to report that „Beanstalk„—a story from Dominika Słowik’s short story collection, Samosiejki (2021)—is now available in English. Though work of speculative fiction and body horror (with a touch of anti-consumerist critique), the piece is actually quite funny and surprisingly light, even jolly. Asymptote knows how to pick ’em.

I recently reviewed Kasia Szymanska’s Translation Multiples: From Global Culture to Postcommunist Democracy for Hopscotch Translation. Beautifully written, the book sets to work immediately: it introduces a new literary genre, provides an overview of the crucial texts of translation studies, and even throws down a gauntlet to those who dismiss translation as an invisible or neutral act.

Edited by Antonia Lloyd-Jones,The Penguin Book of Polish Short Stories is a treasure trove of great stories, including „Life and Love in the Hen House” by Irena Krzywicka (and translated by me). I recommend reading the whole collection, alongside generous reviews by Larry Wolff in TLS and Agnieszka Dale in LARB. Thank you to Wojciech Szot for the shout out in Wyborcza! Antonia gives a glimpse of the selection process in culture.pl.