Max Lawton is an American writer and translator of Russian literature into English. He is known for translating the works of Vladimir Sorokin, whose Telluria was longlisted for the 2023 Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize.[1] A total of eight of Sorokin's books are being translated into English by Lawton,[2] as well as articles[3] and short stories, including "Horse Soup" which won the O. Henry Award in 2022.[4][5]
Max Lawton | |
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| Born | Belgium |
| Occupation | Translator & Writer |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Oxford |
| Notable works |
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| Notable awards | |
| Spouse | Ecem Lawton |
 Literature portal | |
Biography
Lawton was born in Brussels, Belgium, where he lived for the first 3 years of his life.[6] He grew up in Chicago. He received his BA in Russian Literature from Columbia University,[7] where he also was on the rowing team. He was a winner of the John Jay Scholarship as well as the National Merit Scholarship.[8]
He received the Clarendon Fund Scholarship for his Masters of Philosophy from The Queen's College, Oxford.[9] He lives in Los Angeles, California[10] and is described as a "Sorokin superfan".[11]
In addition to Russian, Lawton also speaks and translates from French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Turkish.[12] He is working on a translation of Michael Lentz's novel Schattenfroh from German to English, as well as translations of Stefano D’Arrigo's Horcynus Orca and Antonio Moresco's Games of Eternity trilogy from Italian to English.[13]
Lawton has been translating Sorokin's works since 2016, starting with novella Nastya, short story Horse Soup, and notably attempting the first English translation of Blue Lard, a more linguistically complex and longer work than the short stories.[14]
Selected translations
- Sorokin, Vladimir (2024), Dispatches from the District Committee, Dalkey Archive Press, ISBN 9781628975178, OCLC 1344422372
- Littell, Jonathan (2024), The Damp and the Dry, OR Books, ISBN 9781682193914, OCLC 1344422815
- Sorokin, Vladimir (2024), Blue Lard, NYRB Classics, ISBN 9781681378183, OCLC 1380391734
- Sorokin, Vladimir (2024), Red Pyramid, NYRB Classics, ISBN 9781681378206, OCLC 1389179539
- Sorokin, Vladimir (2022), Telluria, NYRB Classics, ISBN 9781681376332, OCLC 1340418075
- Sorokin, Vladimir (2022), Their Four Hearts, Dalkey Archive Press, ISBN 9781628973969, OCLC 1267752875
- Sorokin, Vladimir (2022), Nastya, The Baffler
Personal life
Lawton lives in Los Angeles, where he also plays in a metal band.[6]