Ventseslav Konstantinov facts for kids
Ventseslav Konstantinov (Bulgarian: Венцеслав Константинов) (born September 14, 1940 – died April 22, 2019) was a Bulgarian writer, a person who writes short, wise sayings, and a translator. He translated books and texts from German and English.
Contents
His Life Story
Ventseslav Konstantinov was born in Sofia, Bulgaria. His father was a music professor. He studied Germanic languages and philosophy at university. He also wrote a special paper about how German expressionism (a style of art and literature) influenced Bulgarian poetry between the two World Wars. From 1987, he taught how to translate German poetry at the University of Sofia.
In 1991 and 1992, Konstantinov lived in Berlin, Germany, as part of a special art program. He gave talks and joined conferences in many European cities like Berlin, Leipzig, Vienna, and Zurich. From 1993 to 1994, he spent time in New York, USA, at SUNY Geneseo.
He wrote many poems and articles. He also made radio shows about German, Austrian, Swiss, and Bulgarian literature. He wrote essays about famous writers like Goethe, Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse, and Franz Kafka. He translated about 80 books in total.
Konstantinov lived in Sofia and in a village called Solishta in the Rhodope Mountains. He worked as a writer and translator.
Awards He Won
- 1993: He received the Translation Prize from the Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture in Vienna.
- 2006: He won the Prize of the Bulgarian Translator's Union for all his translation work.
- 2013: He received the Literature Prize of Sofia for his book The Great German Poets from the 12th to the 20th Century. An Anthology. (published in 2012).
His Works
Books He Wrote
-
Writers on Creativity
-
The Dream Flute
-
Gobelin, Embroidered with Devil Tails
-
The Secret Life of the Rain
-
The Invisible Certain Things
-
The Laughter of the Owl
-
German Literary Spaces
-
From Tannhäuser to Schumacher
-
Shoeing a Grasshopper
-
Socrates' Саt
- 2007: Writers on Creativity. Essays
- 2010: The Dream Flute. Literary Studies
- 2011: Gobelin, Embroidered with Devil Tails. Essays
- 2012: The Secret Life of the Rain. Aphorisms
- 2013: The Invisible Certain Things. Poetry
- 2014: The Laughter of the Owl. Aphorisms
- 2014: German Literary Spaces. Essays
- 2016: From Tannhäuser to Schumacher. Essays
- 2017: Shoeing a Grasshopper. Novel of Memories
- 2018: Socrates' Саt. Aphorisms
Collections of Works (Anthologies)
- Austrian Narrators, 1981
- At the Timber-Line. 10 German-Speaking Narrators of the 20th Century, 1983
- "I Softly Touch Your Hand". Poets from All Over the World on Mother and Motherhood, 1989
- WORLD LIGHT. German Poetry from Earliest Times to the Present – He wrote the introduction, put it together, and translated it into Bulgarian (2004–2008).
- THE DREAM FLUTE. German Narrators of the 20th Century – He wrote the introduction, put it together, and translated it into Bulgarian (2006–2009).
- 20th Century German Essays – He put it together and translated it into Bulgarian (2009).
- "I Quietly Dream of You...". German Love Poetry from Earliest Times to the Present – He put it together and translated it into Bulgarian (2004–2008).
- The Great German Poets from the 12th to the 20th Century. An Anthology by Ventseslav Konstantinov, 2012
- 66 Contemporary German Poets. An Anthology by Ventseslav Konstantinov, 2018
Essays He Wrote
- Jura Soyfer and Elias Canetti. Two Poets' Fates in Vienna during the In-Between-War Period (1992)
- Paradoxes sur le Traducteur. The Machine as Reader? Literary Translation and Computer-Translation (1992)
- The Poet and His Executioner. Censorship Cuts in Dürrenmatt's Novel "The Suspicion" (1992)
- In Search of Lost Identity. Bulgarian Literature in Transition (1992)
- The Battle Between the Dead. Orthodox and Islamic Religion in Communist Bulgaria (1992)
- In the Grand Scheme of History. The Image of Switzerland in Communist Bulgaria (1996)
- Elias Canetti – Austrian writer? Metamorphoses Between Rustschuk and Vienna (1999)
Books He Edited
- Rainer Maria Rilke, Selected Lyric, 1979
- Max Frisch, Diaries, 2 vols, 1979
- Ödön von Horvath, The Eternal Philistine. Selected Prose, 1983
- Ilse Aichinger, Mirror's Story. Selected Prose, 1984
- Stefan Zweig, The European Idea. Selected Essays, 1985
- Thomas Mann, Letters, 2 vols, 1988–1989
Books He Edited and Translated
- Bodo Uhse, March in September. Selected Stories, 1967
- Erich Kästner, Is Existentialism Curable? Selected Stories, 1968
- Lion Feuchtwanger, The House on "Green Way". Selected Stories, 1981
- Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis'. Selected Stories, 1982
- Martin Walser, Runaway Horse. Selected Stories, 1982
- Bertolt Brecht, The Trophies of Lucullus. Selected Stories, 1983
- Christoph Meckel, Hotel for Sleepwalkers. Selected Poems, 1984
- Hermann Hesse, The Stolen Suitcase. Selected Stories, 1986
- Kurt Tucholsky, Interview with Myself. Poems and Stories, 1986
- Heinrich Böll, The Dwarf and the Doll. Selected Stories, 1987
- Alfred Andersch, Diana and the Flute-Player. Selected Stories, 1988
- Erich Kästner, A Realistic Romance. Poetry and Prose, 2009
- Franz Kafka, In the Penal Colony. Selected Stories, 2010
- Heinrich Böll, Selected Stories, 2012
Books He Translated
- Bertolt Brecht, Life of Galileo. A Play, 1964
- Bertolt Brecht, Calendar Tales. Poems and Stories, 1975
- Bertolt Brecht, A Short Organum for the Theatre. Essay, 1985
- Bertolt Brecht, The Trial of Lucullus. Radio Play, 1985
- Max Frisch, Stiller. Novel, 1978, 1982, 2011
- Max Frisch, Homo Faber. Novel, 1973, 1981, 1995, 2012
- Max Frisch, Man in the Holocene. Story, 1984
- Max Frisch, Don Juan, or Love to Geometry. A Play, 1979
- Friedrich Dürrenmatt, The Suspicion. Novel, 1972, 1984, 1989
- Friedrich Dürrenmatt, The Tunnel. Story, 1981
- Elias Canetti, Wedding. Drama, 1980
- Stefan Zweig, Chess Story, 1973, 1987, 2013
- Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. Essay, 1989
- Hans Magnus Enzensberger, The Sinking of "Titanic". A Comedy, 1990
- Erich Maria Remarque, Heaven Has No Favorites. Novel, 1972, 1985, 2009
- Katja Mann, My Unwritten Memoirs, 1989
- Friedrich Christian Delius, Mogadishu Window Seat. Novel, 1992
- Henrik Ibsen, The Master Builder. Drama, 1979
- Peter Hacks, Peace. A Play, 1985
- Peter Hacks, The Beautiful Helene. A Play, 1986
- Erich Kästner, The Man of Glass. Stories, 2016
- Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters To A Young Poet, 2016
- Lion Feuchtwanger, Nero's Death. Stories, 2018
Authors He Translated
