John Irons studied Modern & Medieval Languages (German, French, & Dutch) at Cambridge University and completed his PhD The Development of Imagery in the Poetry of PC Boutens at the same university.
He worked as a senior lecturer at Odense University in Denmark. He has been a professional translator, from Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, German and French to English, since 1987. He was award the NORLA translation prize for non-fiction in 2007.
He has worked on a long and distinguished list of publications and here are a few publications related to Dutch poetry:
Gerrit Komrij, Forgotten City and other poems, Snail Press, 2001
Albert Hagenaars, Tropendrift/Tropical Drift, In de Knipscheer, 2003
Dirk van Bastelaere: The Last to Leave. Selected Poems. Translated from the Flemish by Willem Groenewegen, John Irons and Francis R Jones. Published 20 April 2005.
Hugo Claus, Greetings, Anthology of poetry, Harcourt Books, New York, 2004
At the Edge of the Abyss. A Concentration Camp Diary 1943-1944.
David Koker’s diary is one of the most notable accounts of life in a German concentration camp written by a Jew during the years of the Holocaust. Published in 1977 as Dagboek geschreven in Vught (Diary Written in Vught). (Translation of poems in the book)
He has been a translator for Poetry International Rotterdam since 1996, and has translated poems by: Renée van Riessen, Gerrit Komrij, Hester Knibbe, Anne Vegter, Anneke Brassinga, Jan Lauwereyns, Jan Lier, Jan Glas, Willem Jan Otten, Paul Bogaert, Ruben van Gogh, Gerrit Krol, Erik Menkveld, Alfred Schaffer, Erik Spinoy, Joke van Leeuwen and Menno Wigman.
He has translated poems by Brassinga, Gerlach, Reints, Komrij and Wigman for the Dutch Foundation for Literature dossiers.
Other work soon to be published and in progress:
100 Norwegian poems from the medieval period to the present day – Spartacus Forlag
The Looking-Glass Sisters, Gøhril Gabrielsen (Peirene Press) (from the Norwegian)
Anthology of poetry by the Swedish poet Lars Gustafsson (Bloodaxe)
Password: Chairos (latest collection of Norwegian poetry by Torild Wardenær)
100 Swedish poems from the medieval period to the present day – 100 possible poems now translated in draft form.
Translations of 74 sonnets (so far!) by the Dutch poet Dèr Mouw (Adwaita) for Dèr Mouw Genootschap. In collaboration with Ben Bal.
Heartland, collection of poems by Klaus Høeck, soon to be joining the other collections at the Danish Royal Library manuscripts website.
100 Dutch-Language Poems – From the Medieval Period to the Present Day, collected and translated by Paul Vincent and John Irons, Holland Park Press 2015.
John Irons lives in Odense, Denmark. You can follow John Irons on his blog.
