Hinrich Schmidt-Henkel

Hinrich Schmidt-Henkel (born November 15, 1959 in Berlin ) is a German literary translator .

Life

Hinrich Schmidt-Henkel is a son of the Germanist Gerhard Schmidt-Henkel . Schmidt-Henkel studied German and Romance languages at the University of Saarbrücken and graduated in 1988 with the 2nd state examination. Then he organized a model project in health care. From 1991 to 1993 he was the personal advisor and press spokesman for the Hamburg Senator for Culture, Christina Weiss . Since 1996 he has been living in Berlin again as a freelance translator .

Since 1987 he has been translating prose, plays and poetry from French , Norwegian and Italian into German. His new translation of Céline's novel Reise zum Ende der Nacht ( Journey to the End of the Night) , published in 2003, was recognized by the critics as a particularly significant achievement . Schmidt-Henkel was nominated for the Leipzig Book Fair Prize in 2014 for his translation of Diderot's novel Jacques the Fatalist and His Lord (as was the case in 2007 with his translation of the novel Ravel by Jean Echenoz).

He has translated works by Stefano Benni , Massimo Carlotto , Philippe Delerm , Denis Diderot , Jean Echenoz , Tomas Espedal , Øivind Hånes , Jon Fosse , Hervé Guibert , Erik Fosnes Hansen , Michel Houellebecq , Henrik Ibsen , Erlend Loe , Édouard Louis , Lars , among others Mytting , Jo Nesbø , Camille de Peretti , Guri Tuft and Tanguy Viel .

Hinrich Schmidt-Henkel often appears as a moderator of literary events, often also as a speaker / reader. From 2008 to 2015 he was a spokesperson for the "Europa literarisch" series of the Representation of the European Commission in Berlin. He regularly accompanies authors he has translated on reading tours and reads from his translations. Together with Frank Heibert, he repeatedly performs staged readings from the joint new translation of Raymond Queneau's "Style Exercises". As part of Norway's guest country appearance at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2019, he moderated around 40 readings for various organizers with authors translated by him and other authors, such as the "Long Night of Norwegian Literature" in Cologne for Deutschlandfunk.

Schmidt-Henkel was from September 2008 to March 2017 in an honorary chairman of the Association of German translators of literary and scientific works , VdÜ, Federal Section translator in VS in ver.di . He has been an assessor on the board since March 2017 and has a seat on the association's honorary committee. He is a member of the LCB .

For the show Karambolage on the Franco-German broadcaster arte , he repeatedly appears in articles in which he explains the origin or creation of words, expressions or idioms.

Since summer 2007 he has been chairman of the German-German Chamber Choir eV

His longtime partner is the translator, author and singer Frank Heibert . Both entered into a registered civil partnership in the Berlin-Schöneberg registry office in May 2002 , and in May 2018 they married there, in accordance with the new legal situation.

Awards

• 1990 and 1995 Hamburg Prize for Literary Translations
• 2000 Jane Scatcherd Prize from the Heinrich Maria Ledig-Rowohlt Foundation
• 2004 Paul Celan Prize
• 2007 German Youth Literature Prize for his translation of the children's book "Sister" by Jon Fosse
• 2014 Appointment as Chevalier de l´Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture
• 2015 Eugen Helmlé translator award
• 2017 Prize of the City of Münster for International Poetry , together with Jon Fosse as author, for this inexplicable silence
• 2017 Straelen Translator Award of the Kunststiftung NRW , together with Frank Heibert , for their new translation of Raymond Queneau's style exercises and at the same time for the translating life's work of both. Eulogy, online, complete ; Print (excerpt): Translate , 2, 2017. By Rebekka Kricheldorf .
• 2018 Royal Norwegian Order of Merit, Knight 1st Class, presented by the Kgl. Norw. Ambassador in Berlin

Translations (selection)

From the French

Louis-Ferdinand Celine

• Journey to the end of the night , Roman, Rowohlt 2003, ISBN 3-498-00926-5

Denis Diderot

• Jacques the Fatalist and his Lord , Matthes & Seitz Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-88221-058-3

Jean Echenoz

• 14 , Roman, Hanser Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-446-24500-6
• The Queen's Caprice , Hanser Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-446-25072-7

Michel Houellebecq

• Lanzarote , short story, DuMont 2000, ISBN 978-3-8321-6354-9
• Rebirth , Poems, DuMont 2001, ISBN 3-7701-5359-6
• The sense of struggle , poems, DuMont 2001, ISBN 3-7701-5358-8
• Looking for happiness , DuMont 2006, ISBN 3-8321-7976-3
• Staying Alive , DuMont 2006, ISBN 978-3-8321-7970-0
• Collected poems , DuMont 2016, ISBN 978-3-8321-6355-6

Edouard Louis

• The end of Eddy , Roman, S. Fischer 2015, ISBN 978-3-10-002277-6
• In the heart of violence , Roman, S. Fischer 2017, ISBN 978-3-10-397242-9
• Who killed my father , Roman, S. Fischer 2019, ISBN 978-3-10-397428-7

Camille de Peretti

• We grow old together , Roman, Rowohlt 2011, ISBN 978-3-498-05307-9

Romain Puertolas

• The incredible journey of the fakir stuck in an Ikea cupboard , S. Fischer 2014, ISBN 978-3-10-000395-9

Raymond Queneau

• Style exercises (translated together with Frank Heibert), Suhrkamp 2016, ISBN 978-3-518-22495-3

Raymond Radiguet

• The devil in the body , Roman, Hoffmann and Campe 2007, ISBN 978-3-455-40051-9

Yasmina Reza

• In Arthur Schopenhauer's sledge (translated together with Frank Heibert), Hanser 2006, ISBN 978-3-446-20720-2
• Early in the morning, in the evening or at night (translated together with Frank Heibert), Hanser 2008, ISBN 978-3-446-23029-3
• Your version of the game , Schauspiel (translated together with Frank Heibert), Libelle 2011, ISBN 978-3-905707-46-5
• The god of carnage , drama (translated together with Frank Heibert), Libelle 2007, ISBN 978-3-905707-15-1
• Glücklich die Glücklichen , Roman (translated together with Frank Heibert), Hanser 2014, ISBN 978-3-446-24482-5

Tanguy a lot

• Paris - Brest , Roman, Wagenbach 2010, ISBN 978-3-8031-3234-5
• The absolutely perfect crime , Roman, Wagenbach 2009, ISBN 978-3-8031-3221-5
• The Disappearance of Jim Sullivan. An American novel , Wagenbach 2014, ISBN 978-3-8031-3264-2

From the Italian

Massimo Carlotto

• The Refugee , Tropen 2010, ISBN 978-3-608-50205-3
• Banditenliebe , Tropen 2011, ISBN 978-3-608-50209-1
• The Marseille Connection , Tropen 2013, ISBN 978-3-608-50134-6

Pier Vittorio Tondelli

• Separate rooms. Rowohlt 1993, ISBN 3-499-12804-7

From Norwegian

Kjell Askildsen

• A beautiful place , stories, Luchterhand 2009, ISBN 978-3-630-62155-5

Jon Fosse

• Morgen und Abend , Roman, Alexander Fest, Berlin 2001 ISBN 978-3-8286-0113-0
• Dream in autumn and other pieces , Rowohlt 2001 ISBN 3-499-23109-3
• Denne uforklarlege stille / This inexplicable silence . Kleinheinrich, Münster 2016 ISBN 978-3-945237-04-5

Henrik Ibsen

• Nora or a dollhouse , Hedda Gabler , builder Solness , John Gabriel Borkmann , plays, Rowohlt 2006, ISBN 978-3-499-24234-2

Erlend Loe

• Jens. A man wants to go down , Kiepenheuer & Witsch 2013, ISBN 978-3-462-04499-7

Tomas Espedal

• Against the art , Matthes & Seitz Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-95757-137-3
• Against nature , Matthes & Seitz Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-88221-188-7

Lars Mytting

• The birches still know it , Suhrkamp 2016, ISBN 978-3458176732

Arne Lygre

• Numerous plays

literature

• Cathrin Elss-Seringhaus: He makes difficult things easy for us. A great translator - Hinrich Schmidt-Henkel. In: Saarbrücker Zeitung , Supplement Culture, from September 1, 2015, p. B4
• Julian Müller: "A boat that can be driven." Interview with members of the board since 2008, in: Sovereign Bridge Builders. 60 years of the Association of Literary Translators. For the Association of German-Language Translators of Literary and Scientific Works, Federal Department of Translators of the VS in ver.di. Ed. Helga Pfetsch. Special issue Language in the Technical Age, Böhlau Verlag , Cologne 2014 ISBN 9783412222840 ISSN  0038-8475 pp. 135-143 (other interviewees Luis Ruby, Brigitte Große , Martina Kempter, Josef Winiger )

Web links

• Literature by and about Hinrich Schmidt-Henkel in the catalog of the German National Library
• Schmidt-Henkel in the translator database of the Association of German-Language Translators of Literary and Scientific Works, VdÜ, 2019
• Self-description on the pages of the VdÜ, now as a board member
• Article about Schmidt-Henkel in the book report
• Audio recordings of numerous literary events moderated by Schmidt-Henkel for listening and downloading on Lesungen.net

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hinrich Schmidt-Henkel. In: Kürschner's German Literature Calendar 2016/2017. Volume II: PZ. Walter De Gruyter , 2016, ISBN 978-3-11-045397-3 , p. 1229.
2. ^ Editor . deutsch-deutscher-kammerchor.de. Retrieved June 10, 2020.