About
I am a Polish to English translator, literary scholar, writer, and educator.
Education
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Literature and Linguistics at Koszalin University of Technology (Politechnika Koszalińska) located in the beautiful coastal region of Western Pomerania.
I recently finished 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.
Research
My first book project examines the process by which regional memory is transformed from a personal and family memory & 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 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).
My second long-term project studies Irena Krzywicka (1899-1994), a writer and public intellectual who remained an active contributor to literary circles and the broader discourse for most of her long life.
I have also conducted field work within the diaspora community of Panna Maria, Texas, and I am working on a larger project tracking the institutional history of Polish Studies at universities in North America & elsewhere.
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 literary fiction, nonfiction, testimony (including diaries & letters), 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, 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 (MHRA, 2027).
My book-length translation of Jerzy Pilch’s Spis cudzołożnic, co-authored with Antonia Lloyd-Jones, is being published by Open Letter Books in 2027.
Thank you
My projects have been supported by dear mentors and cultural institutions like ALTA, NCW, and the Polish Book Institute (IK).
I also gained a tremendous amount from academic organizations 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.
For a loose string of (small) English words to somehow come out of me, I’d need a few shots of indomitable Albanian brandy, but for now there wasn’t a shadow of that anywhere. Still, not wanting to look like a complete bumpkin or a mute, I beckoned the Swedish Scholar to the door with one hand while drawing an outline of Kraków in the air with the other. It must’ve made quite a dramatic impression on him, because this time, with a firm and unerring gesture, he reached into his pocket and handed me a pack of American cigarettes.
Jerzy Pilch, A Little Black Book of Wanton Women
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).
This year at ALTA in Portland, OR, I’m contributing to a panel on fruit! This painting, Portrait of Dr. Ignancy Wasserberg (MNK) by Witkacy, is more than a fitting introduction.
I am currently pitching new translation of Witkacy’s Pożegnanie jesieni, co-translated with Dawid Mobolaji. Surprising, the largest collection of Witkacy’s work is not in Zakopane (pictured), but Słupsk, a short drive from my home in Koszalin!
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.
