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Staff Profile

Emeritus Professor Francis Jones

Emeritus Professor of Translation Studies

Background

Introduction

I have retired from Newcastle University as a salaried staff member. However, I still give occasional lectures, I'm still writing research papers, and I'm still translating for publication.

My research focuses on poetry translation. 

I'm a poetry translator myself. I work largely from Dutch and Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian, though I've also translated from Hungarian, Russian, and Caribbean languages. Besides translating into standard English, I've also translated into Northern-English dialects. I have about 16 published books of translated poetry, a good number of which have won prizes.

Right now, I’m assembling and translating book-length selections of work by two grand masters of European poetry. One is the Yugoslav/Serbian poet Ivan V. Lalić (1931–1996). The other is the Netherlands poet Gerrit Kouwenaar (1923–2014).

Background

I studied German and Serbo-Croat on my BA at Cambridge University, followed by a year researching South Slav poetry at Sarajevo University in Bosnia, former Yugoslavia.

After working as a Dutch-English in-house translator, I combined freelance technical, commercial and literary translating with teaching English in the Netherlands and Greece. I joined Exeter University in 1988. I joined Newcastle University in 1990, working initially in foreign-language learning. I taught translation-related topics at Newcastle University between the mid-1990s and 2023. I was a founder staff member of Newcastle's MA programmes in Chinese-English and European-languages translating and interpreting, which started in 1997.

I also have translation editing experience, mainly in South Slav culture, politics and philosophy.

Qualifications

PhD (self-instruction in adult foreign-language learning), Newcastle University, 1996

MA, Applied Linguistics, Reading University, 1988

PGCE, Manchester Polytechnic, 1980

BA, Modern and Medieval Languages (Serbo-Coat and German), St. John's College, Cambridge University, 1977

Memberships

Honorary Member, Udruženje prevodilaca u BiH (Translators' Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Honours and Awards

2019: Third Prize, Open category, Stephen Spender Prize for poetry in translation

2013: First Prize, John Dryden Translation Competition 

2010: Winner, David Reid Poetry Translation Prize

2008: Runner-up, Vondel Prize for Translation of Dutch literature

2008: Runner-Up, David Reid Poetry Translation Prize

2008: “Publication of the Year” Shield, XX Sarajevo International Book Fair (with editor and graphic designer)

2007: Winner, David Reid Poetry Translation Prize

2005: Inaugural Winner, James Brockway Prize for the Translation of Dutch Poetry

2000: Best Translation, Association of Publishers and Booksellers in Bosnia and Herzegovina (with editor, publisher and graphic designer)

1999: Winner, Sarajevo April 6th Prize.

1997: Joint Winner, European Poetry Translation Prize

1996/7: Commendation, British Comparative Literature Association Translation Competition

1994/5: Second Prize, British Comparative Literature Association Translation Competition

1991: Winner, European Poetry Translation Prize

1988: Honorable Mention, James S. Holmes Translation Awards, Columbia University.

Languages

Near-native: Dutch

Fluent: French, German, Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian

Basic knowledge: Hungarian, Italian, Latin, Modern Greek, Russian, Spanish

Informal Interests

Poetry translating

Cycling

Lute playing

...

Teaching

I give occasional guest lectures and workshops about literary and poetry translating.

Research

Research Interests

My research is inspired by my work as a poetry translator, mostly from Dutch and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian. It falls into two overlapping areas:

  • Poetry translation - especially how poetry translators translate and how they work with others, creativity and style. Also, identity, ideology and the social/ethical role of the poetry translator.
  • South Slav (ex-Yugoslav) area studies, especially in the fields of modern poetry, culture and identity, with a specific interest in Bosnia and Serbia.

Other Expertise

Foreign/second language learning, especially in the field of self-instruction. This was the topic of my PhD thesis. Though I am no longer researching this area, it still interests me from a practical viewpoint.

Recent and Current Work

I've just finished work on a project "Poetry translation in poet-advisor-poet trios: collaborative, cross-language and creative processes". This explored how Dutch and UK poets translated each other's work with the help of 'language advisors' (bilingual translator intermediaries). I worked with colleagues from Modern Languages and Creative Writing at Newcastle University, and from Roehampton University. The project was funded by the UK's Arts and Humanities Research Council.

I’ve recently been exploring the notion of “dedicated experts” in literary translation. These are translators who become major intercultural ambassadors. They translate a lot themselves, but they often also encourage others to translate by acting as mentors, editors and/or translation commissioners. Two such figures I’ve written about are James S. Holmes (the Netherlands and Flanders) and Rusmir Mahmutćehajić (Bosnia & Herzegovina).

I also write analyses of poets and poems that I’m translating myself, combining literary-critical and translation-studies insights. A recent example is an article about the late-Yugoslav/Serbian poet Ivan V. Lalić.

See also my Google Scholar page.


Publications