Field of work: Literary translation, mainly poetry and poetic drama
Short biography:
Born on 5th April 1941 in Sofia. Graduated in English language and literature at Sofia University, 1966. Taught English literature at Sofia University from 1971 to 2008. PhD, 1972. Doctor Habil., 1991. Professor of English literature – since 1995. Founding member of the Union of Translators in Bulgaria – since 1974. First President of the Bulgarian Society for British Studies, 1990–96. President of the Three Seas Writers’ and Translators’ Council, Rhodos, Greece, 1997–2002. Member of international organizations: The European Society for the Study of English (ESSE); The English Association (Fellow); The International Shakespeare Association; PEN International. Lector at the University of London (1970–71), the University of California, Los Angeles/ UCLA (1979–81); Professor at the State University of New York / SUNY at Albany (2004), the WSU Kielce (2007–2012). Doctor honoris causa of the University of Kent (1990) and the University of Surrey (1993), UK.
Selected translations:
- Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, 1970, 1980, 1994, 2008
- The Theatre of the English Renaissance (Plays by Marlowe, Jonson, Decker, Webster, Middleton), 1975
- Beatrix Potter, Tales, Peter Rabbit, 1979, 1988, 2009
- John Milton, Paradise Lost, 1981, 2008
- Rabindranath Tagore, Poetry, Words with the Rhythm of Eternity, 1985, 2009
- Dylan Thomas, And Death Shall Have No Dominion. Selected Poems, 1993
- English Poetry. An Anthology, 1995
- John Updike, Gertrude and Claudius, 2003
- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 2006
- Shakespeare, The Great Tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, 2012
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Poetry and Prose, 2013
Awards:
- The Sofia University Honorary Medal with Blue Ribbon, 2001
- The National Hristo G. Danov Award for Contribution to Culture, 2007
- The National Stoyan Bakardzhiev Award for Literary Translation, 2007
- The Union of Translators’ Certificate for Contribution to the Art of Translation and Literary Studies, 2010
- The Askeer Honorary Prize for Creative Distinction and Contribution to the Art of the Theatre, 2013
Contact:
phone: (02) 866 1044; e‑mail: a.shurbanov@gmail.com