Paul Wilson (translator)

Paul Wilson
Paul Wilson (2013)
Born
Paul Robert Wilson

(1941-07-03) July 3, 1941 (age 83)
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Occupations
  • Translator
  • writer

Paul Robert Wilson (born 3 July 1941 in Hamilton, Ontario) is a Canadian translator and writer. In 1967 he moved to Czechoslovakia where he performed as a singer with The Plastic People of the Universe. Because he was a member of this group, he was expelled from Czechoslovakia in 1977.[1] This band was banned in Czechoslovakia and their recordings could not be officially released. Wilson later founded a record label Boží Mlýn and released some of their recordings in Canada.[2]

Paul Wilson later went on to become one of the major translators into English of Václav Havel's work. In 2006 he was working on a new translation of The Memorandum for the Havel Festival, which also features two of his other translations.[3] He also translated many books, such as I Served the King of England by Bohumil Hrabal, from Czech to English, and more recently Mr. Kafka and Other Tales from the Time of the Cult (2015).[4]

  1. ^ Vaughan, David (23 June 2012). "Paul Wilson's Bohemian Rhapsodies". Radio.cz. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  2. ^ Machovec, Martin (2012). "Paul Wilson - Krátká biografie". pritomnost.cz. Archived from the original on 17 November 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  3. ^ "The Havel Festival : Plays : The Memo". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2006-08-20.
  4. ^ "Interview with Translator Paul Wilson". wilmatheater.org. 22 April 2010. Retrieved 9 July 2014.