Elizabeth Oehlkers Wright

Infobox Writer
name = Elizabeth Oehlkers Wright

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caption = photo by Franz Wright
birthdate = birth date and age|1966|10|03
birthplace = Baltimore, Maryland, United States
occupation = Translator| nationality = American
genre = Lyric poetry, non-fiction

Elizabeth Oehlkers Wright (* born "Elizabeth (Ann) Oehlkers" on October 3 1966 in Baltimore) is an American translator.

Biography

Elizabeth Oehlkers Wright translates texts of contemporary German authors, especially Lyric poetry, into English language. In 1996 she got a MFA for literary translation at the University of Arkansas. From September 1994 till July 1995 during an academic year in Berlin she had been translating, amongst others, the German-Turkish poets Zafer Şenocak and Zehra Çırak. After that she worked as a lecturer in Arkansas, at the Boston University and at the Oberlin College. Together with Zafer Şenocak she had bilingual readings in Memphis, New York City, Cambridge, San Francisco und Los Angeles. [ [http://www.slope.org/archive/eleven/senocak.html :: slope issue 11-12 :: ] ] She received several awards and research fellowships like NEA [„‚Elizabeth's about the best translator of free verse I've worked with‘, said John DuVal, UA professor of translation. ‚When I consider Elizabeth and her talent for translating, I see her taking Zafer Şenocak, say, and tactfully nudging his words into just the English that best reflects his zany German. Şenocak is full of wit, but his ideas can be difficult to understand, imprecise. Elizabeth's translations bring out the humor of his poetry and communicate his ideas while preserving that indirect style.‘“ In: „The Good Word – Three UA Poets Win Prestigious NEA Fellowships“. Source: "Arkansas. The Magazine of the Arkansas Alumni Association Inc.", Spring 2003, Vol. 52, No. 3] and ALTA. Her translations appear in "Agni" [ [http://www.bu.edu/agni/toc/52/index.html translations of some poems in the German "Jahrbuch der Lyrik"] , AGNI, No. 52] , "Slope" [ [http://www.slope.org/archive/eleven/senocak.html Zafer Şenocak] , Slope, Issue 11-12, July to October 2001] , "Seneca Review", "Another Chicago Magazine" and in the online magazine "Perihelion" [Aviya Kushner: „Elizabeth Oehlkers Wright: The Web and Translation“, "Poets & Writers", Nov/Dec 2002, Vol. 30, Issue 6, page 55] .

In 1999 Elizabeth Oehlkers Wright married Franz Wright, poet and Pulitzer Price winner of 2004. [David Mehegan: [http://www.boston.com/ae/media/articles/2004/05/18/out_of_the_darkness/ Out of the darkness. After battling alcoholism and mental illness, poet Franz Wright has stepped into the light] , Boston Globe, May 18, 2004] They live in Waltham, Massachusetts. Elizabeth Oehlkers Wright works at a medical translation agency in Boston.

Translations

*Ernst Peter Fischer: "Beauty and the Beast. The Aesthetic Moment in Science", 1999
*documentary film directed by Harald Ortlieb about Zehra Çirak and the Berlin sculptor Jürgen Walter, 2007 (translated in collaboration with Marilya Veteto Reese)
*Zafer Şenocak: "Door Languages", forthcoming 2008 [ [http://www.pen.org/author.php/prmAID/42 PEN American Center - Authors ] ] (some poems from "Fernwehanstalten" and from other books)
*Valzhyna Mort: "Factory of Tears". Port Townsend, Washington: Copper Canyon Press, forthcoming 2008 (translated from Belarusian language in collaboration with Franz Wright [ [http://www.blueflowerarts.com/vmort.html Valzhyna Mort, Poet ] ] )
*translations for literary journals and anthologies like "New European Poets", "Anthology of World Literature of the 20th Century" [ [http://www.pmc.edu/MFA/faculty.htm#wright Pine Manor College l MFA Programs l Creative Writing ] ] and "Green Integer. Anthology of World Poetry of the 20th Century" [ [http://www.greeninteger.com/book.cfm?-The-PIP-Anthology-of-World-Poetry-Volume-7-Contemporary-Poets-Writing-in-German-&BookID=218 The PIP (Project for Innovative Poetry) Anthology of World Poetry of the 20th Century | Volume 7: At Villa Aurora: Nine Contemporary Poets Writing in German | Green Integer Books ] ]

External links

*translations of several poems from Zafer Şenocak (if not already linked in footnotes): [http://www.webdelsol.com/Perihelion/senocak.htm Perihelion] , [http://www.octopusmagazine.com/issue03/work/Zafer_Senocak.html Octopus Magazine]

Persondata
NAME=Oehlkers Wright, Elizabeth
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Oehlkers, Elizabeth
SHORT DESCRIPTION=American translator
DATE OF BIRTH=October 3 1966
PLACE OF BIRTH=Baltimore
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=

References