Daniel Hahn OBE (born 26 November 1973) is a British writer, editor and translator.[1]

Daniel Hahn
Hahn at the 2016 Hay Festival
Born
Daniel Hahn

(1973-11-26) 26 November 1973 (age 50)
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Author, editor, translator

He is the author of a number of works of non-fiction, including the history book The Tower Menagerie,[2] and one of the editors of The Ultimate Book Guide, a series of reading guides for children and teenagers,[3] the first volume of which won the Blue Peter Book Award. Other titles include Happiness Is a Watermelon on Your Head (a picture-book for children),[4] The Oxford Guide to Literary Britain and Ireland (a reference book), brief biographies of the poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Percy Bysshe Shelley, and a new edition of The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature.[5]

His translation of The Book of Chameleons[6] by José Eduardo Agualusa won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in 2007.[7] His translation of A General Theory of Oblivion, also by José Eduardo Agualusa, won the 2017 International Dublin Literary Award, with Hahn receiving 25% of the €100,000 prize.[8] His other translations include Pelé's autobiography[9] and work by novelists José Luís Peixoto, Philippe Claudel, María Dueñas, José Saramago, Eduardo Halfon, Gonçalo M. Tavares, and others.

A former chair of the Translators Association and the Society of Authors, as well as national programme director of the British Centre for Literary Translation, he currently serves on the board of trustees of the Society of Authors and a number of other organisations working with literature, literacy and free expression, including English PEN, The Children's Bookshow and Modern Poetry in Translation.

In 2017, Hahn donated half his winnings from the International Dublin Literary Award to help establish a new prize for debut literary translation – the TA First Translation Prize.[10]

Hahn was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to literature.[11]

He won the 2023 Ottaway Award for the Promotion of International Literature.[12]

References

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  1. ^ "Daniel Hahn". Translated Fiction. BookTrust. Archived from the original on 8 August 2011.
  2. ^ Williams, Hywel (22 March 2003). "Review: The Tower Menagerie by Daniel Hahn". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  3. ^ "The Ultimate Book Guide". The Ultimate Book Guide. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  4. ^ Dreis, Stella; Hahn, Daniel (April 2013). Happiness is a watermelon on your head. London. ISBN 9781907912054. OCLC 757148898.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. ^ Hahn, Daniel; Morpurgo, Michael; Carpenter, Humphrey; Prichard, Mari (2015). The Oxford companion to children's literature (Second ed.). Oxford. ISBN 9780199695140. OCLC 907725751.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ "Daniel Hahn". Simon & Schuster. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  7. ^ Tonkin, Boyd (2 May 2007). "'Independent' Foreign Fiction Prize won by Angolan writer". The Independent on Sunday. Archived from the original on 22 March 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2009.
  8. ^ "The 2017 winner is announced!". Dublin Literary Award. 21 June 2017. Archived from the original on 25 June 2021.
  9. ^ "Daniel Hahn on the art of translation". The Economist. 21 May 2019. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  10. ^ Cowdrey, Katherine (21 June 2017). "Hahn donates award winnings to found a First Translation Prize". The Bookseller. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020.
  11. ^ "No. 63135". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 October 2020. p. B12.
  12. ^ "Daniel Hahn to Receive 2023 Ottaway Award for the Promotion of International Literature". Words Without Borders. 11 April 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
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