Howard Goldblatt

Howard Goldblatt (Chinese: 葛浩文, born 1939) is a literary translator of numerous works of contemporary Chinese (mainland China & Taiwan) fiction, including The Taste of Apples by Huang Chunming and The Execution of Mayor Yin by Chen Ruoxi. Goldblatt also translated works of Chinese novelist and 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature winner Mo Yan,[1] including six of Mo Yan's novels and collections of stories.[2][3] He was a Research Professor of Chinese at the University of Notre Dame from 2002 to 2011.[1]

Howard Goldblatt
Born	1939 (age 81–82) California, United States
Alma mater	California State University, Long Beach San Francisco State University Indiana University (PhD) National Taiwan Normal University
Occupation	Translator
Organization	University of Notre Dame
Spouse(s)	Sylvia Li-chun Lin
Chinese name
Chinese	葛浩文
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Gé hàowén

Biography

Goldblatt encountered Chinese for the first time as a young man, during his tour of duty with the US Navy, sent to military base in Taiwan at the beginning of the 1960s. He stayed there and studied at the Mandarin Center for two more years before returning to the US. He then enrolled at the Chinese language program of the San Francisco State University.[4] Goldblatt received a B.A. from Long Beach State College, an M.A. from San Francisco State University in 1971, and a Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1974.[5]

Awards

• 2000 National Translation Award for translation of Notes of a Desolate Man by Chu T’ien-wen
• 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship[6]

Works

Selected translations

[7]

• Wang Anyi (1988). Lapse of Time. Translator Howard Goldblatt. San Francisco: China Books and Periodicals. ISBN 0-8351-2032-5.
• Ai Bei (1990). Red Ivy, Green Earth Mother. Translator Howard Goldblatt. Salt Lake City: Peregrine Smith Books. ISBN 0595006744.
• Li Ang (1994). The Butcher's Wife and Other Stories. Translator Howard Goldblatt. Boston: Cheng & Tsui Company. ISBN 978-0-88727-222-6.
• Liu Heng (1994). Black Snow. Translator Howard Goldblatt. New York: Grove Press. ISBN 978-0-8021-3389-2.
• Gu Hua (1996). Virgin Widows. Translator Howard Goldblatt. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-1802-9.
• Ma Bo (1996). Blood Red Sunset: A Memoir of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. New York: Viking Press. ISBN 9780140159424.
• Li Rui (1997). Silver City. Translator Howard Goldblatt. New York: Metropolitan Books. ISBN 0805048952.
• Wang Shuo (1998). Playing For Thrills. Translator Howard Goldblatt. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-026971-0.
• Wang Zhenhe (1998). Rose, Rose, I Love You. Translator Howard Goldblatt. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-11202-4.
• Chu T’ien-wen (1999). Notes of a Desolate Man. Translators Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-chun Lin. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-11608-4. - American Literary Translators Association Translation of the Year
• Wang Shuo (2000). Please Don't Call Me Human. Translator Howard Goldblatt. Hyperion East. ISBN 978-0-7868-6419-5.
• Mo Yan (2000). The Republic of Wine. Translator Howard Goldblatt. Arcade Publishing. ISBN 978-1-55970-531-8.
• Hong Ying (2000). Daughter of the River. Translator Howard Goldblatt. New York: Grove Press. ISBN 978-0-8021-3660-2.
• Huang Chunming (2001). The Taste of Apples. Translator Howard Goldblatt. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-12261-0.
• Xiao Hong (2002). The Field of Life and Death & Tales of Hulan River. Translator Howard Goldblatt. Boston: Cheng & Tsui Company. ISBN 978-0-88727-392-6.
• Liu Heng (2002). Green River Daydreams. Translator Howard Goldblatt. New York: Grove Press. ISBN 978-0-8021-3904-7.
• Pingwa Jia (2003). Turbulence: A Novel. Translator Howard Goldblatt. Grove Press. ISBN 978-0-8021-3972-6.
• Mo Yan (2003). Shifu, You'll Do Anything for a Laugh. Translator Howard Goldblatt. London: Methuen Publishing. ISBN 9780413771193.
• Alai (2003). Red Poppies. Translators Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-chun Lin. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780618340699.
• Mo Yan (2003). Red Sorghum. Translator Howard Goldblatt. London: Arrow. ISBN 9780099451679.
• Chun Sue, Chunshu (2004). Beijing Doll. Translator Howard Goldblatt. Riverhead Books. ISBN 978-1-59448-020-1.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
• Su Tong (2004). Rice. Translator Howard Goldblatt. New York: Perennial. ISBN 0060596325.
• Chen Ruoxi (2004). The Execution of Mayor Yin and Other Stories from the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Translators Nancy Ing, Howard Goldblatt. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34416-8.
• Mo Yan (2004). Big Breasts and Wide Hips. Translator Howard Goldblatt. Arcade Publishing. ISBN 978-1-55970-672-8.
• Xiao Hong (2005). The Dyer's Daughter: Selected Stories of Xiao Hong. Translator Howard Goldblatt. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press. ISBN 978-962-996-014-8.
• Aili Mu; Julie Chiu; Howard Goldblatt, eds. (2006). Loud Sparrows: Contemporary Chinese Short-Shorts. Translator Howard Goldblatt. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-13848-2.
• Su Tong (2005). My Life as Emperor. Translator Howard Goldblatt. Hyperion East. ISBN 978-1-4013-6666-7.
• Chu T’ien-hsin (2007). The Old Capital: A Novel of Taipei. Translator Howard Goldblatt. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-14112-3.
• Bi Feiyu (2007). The Moon Opera. Translators Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-chun Lin. London: Telegram. ISBN 978-0-15-101294-7.
• Mo Yan (2008). Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out. Translator Howard Goldblatt. Arcade Publishing. ISBN 978-1-55970-853-1.
• Shih Shu-ching (2008). City of the Queen: A Novel of Colonial Hong Kong. Translators Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-chun Lin. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 9789622099111.
• Su Tong (2009). Binu and the Great Wall of China. Translator Howard Goldblatt. Edinburgh: Canongate Books. ISBN 9781847670625.
• Bi Feiyu (2010). Three Sisters. Translators Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-chun Lin. London: Telegram. ISBN 9781846590238.
• Su Tong (2010). The Boat to Redemption. Translator Howard Goldblatt. Black Swan. ISBN 9780552774543.
• Lao She (2010). Rickshaw Boy. Translator Howard Goldblatt. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780061436925.
• Mo Yan (2011). The Garlic Ballads. Translator Howard Goldblatt. New York: Arcade Publishing. ISBN 9781611452518.
• Jiang Rong (2008). Wolf Totem. Penguin. ISBN 978-1-59420-156-1.
• Mo Yan (2012). Change. Translator Howard Goldblatt. London: Seagull Press. ISBN 9781906497484.
• Ba Jin (2012). Ward Four: A Novel of Wartime China. Translator Howard Goldblatt. San Francisco: China Books and Periodicals. ISBN 9780835100007.
• Xi Ni Er (2012). The Earnest Mask. Translators Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-chun Lin. Singapore: Epigram Books. ISBN 978-981-07-3659-0.
• Wong Meng Voon (2012). Under the Bed, Confusion. Translator Howard Goldblatt. Singapore: Epigram Books. ISBN 978-981-07-3661-3.
• Mo Yan (2012). Pow!. Translator Howard Goldblatt. London: Seagull Press. ISBN 9780857420763.
• Mo Yan (2013). Sandalwood Death. Translator Howard Goldblatt. Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 9780806143392.
• Alai (2013). The Song of King Gesar. Translators Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-chun Lin. New South Wales: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9781847672353.
• Yeng Pway Ngon (2014). Trivialities About Me and Myself. Translator Howard Goldblatt. Singapore: Epigram Books. ISBN 9789814615105.
• Liu Zhenyun (2014). I Did Not Kill My Husband. Translators Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-chun Lin. New York: Arcade Publishing. ISBN 9781628724264.
• Mo Yan (2015). Frog. Translator Howard Goldblatt. New York: Viking Press. ISBN 9780525427988.

Edited volumes

• Joseph S. M. Lau; Howard Goldblatt, eds. (1996). Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-13841-3.
• Chairman Mao Would Not Be Amused: Fiction from Today's China. Grove Press. 1996. ISBN 978-0-8021-3449-3.

References

• Lingenfelter, Andrea. "Howard Goldblatt on how the Navy Saved His Life and Why Literary Translation Matters". Full Tilt. Retrieved October 11, 2012.

1. Cohorst, Kate (October 11, 2012). "Professor From Notre Dame Translates Nobel Winner's Novels". University of Notre Dame. Archived from the original on March 29, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
2. "Works in English translation (including Goldblatt's)". Mo Yan. The Nobel Prize in Literature 2012. Bibliography. The Swedish Academy Nobelprize.org. 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
3. "Howard Goldblatt and Joseph Allen. A Conversation". University of Minnesota, Institute for Advanced Study. November 27, 2012. Archived from the original (available in video and audio formats) on December 7, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
4. Andrea Lingenfelter. "What got you into Chinese...?". Howard Goldblatt on How the Navy Saved His Life. Full Tilt, a journal of East-Asia poetry translation and the arts. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
5. Orbach, Michael. "H.Goldblatt： the foremost Chinese-English translator in the world". Douban. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-07-01. Retrieved 2009-10-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
7. "Howard Goldblatt". paper-republic.org. Retrieved 2009-01-18.

External links

• Howard Goldblatt talks about Mo Yan, the Nobel Prize, translation, and other matters of interest
• Granta interview with Howard Goldblat (11 December 2012)
• Howard Goldblatt on Worldcat