Robert Majzels
Robert Majzels (born May 12, 1950) is a Canadian novelist, poet, playwright and translator.[1]
Life[edit]
Majzels was born in Montreal, Quebec. In 1986, he graduated with a master's degree in English Literature from Concordia University in Montreal, where he would later teach creative writing for thirteen years. Between 2000 and 2002, he lived in Beijing, China and studied Chinese. After teaching for seven years at the University of Calgary, he now lives in Sooke, British Columbia.
Works[edit]
Majzels is strongly influenced by critical and literary theory. His works explore both the limits of language and narrative forms and their ethical repercussions. His novels highlight the artificiality of Western literary language, especially its linearity, archetypal narratives, and the ways in which it works to establish characters as believable personae (characterization). Concurrently, they explore other, neglected forms of literary expression. For example, Apikoros Sleuth experimented with a Talmudic form, noted for its polyphonic, discursive, and digressive qualities.
Awards[edit]
- 2000 Governor General's Award for French to English translation for Just Fine, from the French Pas Pire, by France Daigle (2000).[2]
- 2008 Griffin Poetry Prize shortlist for Notebook of Roses and Civilization, from the French Cahier de roses & de civilisation, by Nicole Brossard (2007).
- 2008 Governor General's Award for French to English translation nomination with Erín Moure for Notebook of Roses and Civilization, from the French Cahier de roses & de civilisation, by Nicole Brossard (2007).
- 2014 Best Translated Book Award, Poetry, shortlist for White Piano by Nicole Brossard, from the French.[3]
- 1994 Canadian Jewish Playwriting Competition, first prize for This Night the Kapo.
- 1991 Dorothy Silver Award, Playwrights competition, first prize for This Night the Kapo.[4]
Partial bibliography[edit]
- Novels
- 1992: Hellman's Scrapbook a novel. Cormorant Books ISBN 0-920953-78-6
- 1998: City of Forgetting a novel. Mercury Press ISBN 1-55128-045-0
- 2004: Apikoros Sleuth a novel. Mercury Press ISBN 1-55128-105-8
- 2007: The Humbugs Diet a novel. Mercury Press ISBN 1-55128-130-9
- 2020: kHarLaMoV's aNkLe: A Utopian Fantasy. The Elephants ISBN 978-1-988979-31-1
- Plays
- 2005: This Night the Kapo. Playwrights Canada Press ISBN 978-0887547829
- Translations
- 1999: A Fine Passage a novel, translated from the French Un fin passage by France Daigle. Anansi ISBN 0-88784-681-5
- 2000: Installations poetry translated with Erín Moure from the French Installations by Nicole Brossard. Muses' Co. ISBN 1-896239-65-X
- 2002: Museum of Bone and Water poetry, translated with Erín Moure from the French Musée de l'os et de l'eau by Nicole Brossard. Anansi ISBN 0-88784-686-6
- 2004: Life's Little Difficulties a novel, translated from the French Petites difficultés d'existence by France Daigle. ISBN 0-88784-700-5
- 2013: For Sure translated from the French Pour sûr by France Daigle. Anansi ISBN 978-1770892040
References[edit]
- ^ Alexander Hart, "MAJZELS, Robert" (2002) in: William H. New (ed.), Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada. University of Toronto Press ISBN 0-8020-0761-9, p. 750.
- ^ "Robert Majzels". Playwrights Canada Press. Archived from the original on October 27, 2015. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
- ^ Chad W. Post (April 14, 2014). "2014 Best Translated Book Awards: Poetry Finalists". Three Percent. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
- ^ Rob McLennan (December 8, 2007). "12 or 20 questions: with Robert Majzels". Alberta, Writing. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
External links[edit]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
- 1950 births
- Living people
- Canadian male dramatists and playwrights
- Canadian male non-fiction writers
- Canadian male novelists
- Canadian male poets
- People from the Capital Regional District
- Writers from Montreal
- Writers from British Columbia
- Concordia University alumni
- Governor General's Award-winning translators
- Academic staff of the University of Calgary
- 20th-century Canadian poets
- 20th-century Canadian male writers
- 20th-century Canadian translators
- 20th-century Canadian novelists
- 21st-century Canadian novelists
- 21st-century Canadian translators
- 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights
- 21st-century Canadian male writers
- Male translators from Quebec