Alex Zucker

Alex Zucker is an American translator of Czech literature. Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1964, he lived in East Lansing, Michigan, from the ages of 4 to 17. He attended college at UMass-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.

During the years he lived in Prague (1990-95) he worked as editor/translator for the English-language section of ČTK (the Czech News Agency), copy editor/translator for the English-language newspaper Prognosis, and freelance translator for a variety of Czech- and English-language cultural reviews and litmags, including "Raut", "Trafika", "Yazzyk", and "Zlatý řez".

His translations from Czech include:
* "All This Belongs to Me", by Petra Hůlová (in Czech, "Paměť mojí babičce"), forthcoming from Northwestern University Press.
* "The Unlucky Man in the Yellow Cap" original title "Smolař ve žluté čepici", lyrics and translation of Zuzana Justman's adaptation of the original play with music by J. R. Pick [" [http://www.unluckyman.com/ The Unlucky Man in the Yellow Cap] " performed at the FringeNYC festival, August 2006] , directed by Marcy Arlin. Other lyrics by Peter Fish (also music), Zuzana Justman, and J.R. Pick (1925–1983).
* [http://www.catbirdpress.com/bookpages/sister.htm"City Sister Silver] ", by Jáchym Topol (Catbird Press 2000), selected for inclusion in the 2006 guide [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1001_Books_You_Must_Read_Before_You_Die 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die] . [" [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9904E2DD1339F937A35750C0A9679C8B63 Velvet Evolution] ", New York Times Book Review, March 4, 2001]
* "More Than One Life", by Miloslava Holubová, translated by Alex Zucker with Lyn Coffin and Zdenka Brodská, Hydra Books/Northwestern University Press 1999.

He has also translated lyrics by the Czech rock group "Psí vojáci" "(Dog Soldiers)" [http://www.psivojaci.cz/] , led by Filip Topol.

Recent translations by Zucker include subtitles for the 1966 Miloš Forman film "Dobře placená procházka" ("A Well-paid Walk"), which had its U.S. premiere during the [http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/film_exhibitions.php?id=7521 2008 Miloš Forman retrospective] at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City; overtitles for the 2008 revival of "Dobře placená procházka" (the original comic opera on which the 1966 film was based) at the National Theater in Prague; and the prose-poem "The Game," by Ivan Blatný, in [http://www.uglyducklingpresse.org/page-blatny.html "The Drug of Art: Selected poems of Ivan Blatný"] (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2007).

While living in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, from 1995 to the present, he has taught Czech at the NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies, and copyedited for the magazines "George", "Esquire", "Swing", "Condé Nast Traveler", "Interview", and "Vanity Fair", as well as for Aperture publishing house and "Bookforum".

Although currently in remission, his blog "Stickfinger" [ [http://stickfinger.blogspot.com/ stickfinger.blogspot.com] ] – in Czech "Strčprst", from the tongue-twister "Strč prst skrz krk" "(Stick finger through throat)" focused variously on humanitarian aid to Iraq in the early days of the war, U.S. foreign policy, Arab and Muslim civil rights within the U.S., literature, language, translation, and life and how to live it.

References