Paul Vincent

Paul is one of the most renowned translators of Dutch literature for the past twenty years.

Holland Press is very excited to have engaged his expertise in bringing the work of Arnold Jansen op de Haar to the attention of the English market.

His work is internationally recognised and he has won quite a few major awards.

He was the recipient of the first David Reid Poetry Translation Prize for this translation of Hendrik Marsman’s famous poem Herinnering aan Holland (Memory of Holland) in 2006, awarded by the Foundation for the Production and Translation of Dutch Literature.

In 2012 Paul Vincent received the Vondel Prize for My Little War his translation of Mijn kleine oorlog by Louis Paul Boon.

In addition to translating Yugoslav Requiem and King of Tuzla for Holland Park Press, Paul has recently translated an impressive list of Dutch literary novels:

The Hidden Force, Louis Couperus (Pushkin Press 2012)
My Little War, Louis Paul Boon (Dalkey Archive, Normal, Ohio, 2010)
Summer in Termuren, Louis Paul Boon (Dalkey Archive, Normal, Ohio, 2006)
Inevitable, Louis Couperus (Pushkin Press, London, 2005)
Siegfried, Harry Mulisch (Penguin, New York, 2003)
Villa des Roses, Willem Elsschot (London, Granta, 2003)
Cheese, Willem Elsschot (Granta, London, 2002)
On the Water, Hans Maarten van den Brink (London, Faber and Faber, 2001)
The Discovery of Heaven, Harry Mulisch (New York, Viking 1996)

In September 2015 Holland Park Press will publish 100 Dutch-Language Poems — From the Medieval Period to the Present Day, selected and translated by Paul Vincent and John Irons.

His impressive list of poetry translations since 1979 can be found at the end of this page.

He has a strong academic background in literature, linguistics and translation theory as well as teaching and practical interpreting experience.

He left his academic career in 1989 to become a freelance translator of Dutch and German into English. He writes many articles and continues to act as a tutor for a wide range of courses and workshops including:

MA translation workshops, University College London
UNL language teaching, tutor (distance learning), City University
Summer Course in Literary Translation, Amsterdam/Antwerp, 1997-1998
Literary promotion for Ministry of Flemish Community, Belgium, 1997-1999
MA in Technical and Specialised Translation at University of Westminster in 2002, where he taught and examined at all levels at Defence School of Languages, Beaconsfield, including an interpreting component.

From 1967 to 1989 he was a full time Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Dutch Language and Literature at Bedford College, University of London, and University College London. In 1983-1984 and 1988-1989 he was Head of Department.

Paul received 1964 BA (Hons) Modern Languages (German, Dutch, French) from University of Cambridge, UK in 1964. He undertook Postgraduate study at the University of Amsterdam during 1965-1966. He was awarded an MA from University of Cambridge in 1968.

He has also successfully translated non-fiction from Dutch into English and here is a selection of his recent work:

Metaphors of Memory, Douwe Draaisma (Cambridge, CUP) 2000
Accounting for the Past, ed. D.W. Fokkema (Palgrave/Macmillan, New York, 2004) (Final part of series on Dutch cultural history 1650-2000.)
For a Successful Life, Bas Haring (Beautiful Books, London, 2008)

Write-up & pictures of Leonard Nolens discussing his work with his English translator Paul Vincent at the Poetry Cafe on 26 September 2012.

Finally his impressive list of poetry translation from Dutch to English includes many of the Dutch masters including the incomparable Gerrit Kouwenaar.