# Imogen Taylor
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{{Short description|British literary translator}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
'''Imogen Taylor''' is a British literary translator. She translates works from German to English, and has previously won the Goethe-Institut Prize for her work. Her notable translations include [Sasha Marianna Salzmann](/source/Sasha_Marianna_Salzmann)'s novel, ''Beside Myself'', [Melanie Raabe](/source/Melanie_Raabe)'s ''The Trap'', as well as Florian Huber's ''Promise Me You’ll Shoot Yourself: The Downfall of Ordinary Germans, 1945;'' and [Sascha Arango](/source/Sascha_Arango)'s novel'', The Truth and Other Lies.'' Her work has been shortlisted for the [Schlegel-Tieck Prize](/source/Schlegel-Tieck_Prize) and [Helen and Kurt Wolff's Translator Prize](/source/Helen_and_Kurt_Wolff_Translator's_Prize).
== Biography ==
Taylor completed her undergraduate education at [New College, Oxford](/source/New_College%2C_Oxford) where she studied French and German. She completed her doctorate at the Humboldt University, in Berlin, where she studied bilingual couples in 18th century French novels.[{{Cite web|title=Imogen Taylor - Writes @ Berlin|url=https://www.literaturport.de/wab/Imogen.Taylor/en/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220211/https://www.literaturport.de/wab/Imogen.Taylor/en/ |archive-date=2022-02-11 |url-status=live|access-date=2022-02-11|website=www.literaturport.de}}{{cbignore}}] She has lived in Berlin since 2001.[{{Cite web|title=Beside Myself – DUBLIN Literary Award|url=https://dublinliteraryaward.ie/books/beside-myself/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220211/https://dublinliteraryaward.ie/books/beside-myself/ |archive-date=2022-02-11 |url-status=live|access-date=2022-02-11|language=en-US}}{{cbignore}}]
== Career ==
In 2015, Taylor published a translation of [Sascha Arango](/source/Sascha_Arango)'s novel, ''The Truth and Other Lies'' (''Die Wahrheit und andere Lügen''). Her translation was listed as ''The New York Times''' 100 Notable Books of 2015.[{{Cite news|date=2015-11-27|title=100 Notable Books of 2015|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/books/review/100-notable-books-of-2015.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220211/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/books/review/100-notable-books-of-2015.html |archive-date=2022-02-11 |url-status=live|access-date=2022-02-11|issn=0362-4331}}{{cbignore}}] In 2016, Taylor won the Goethe-Institut award for an excerpt of her translation ''Momente der Klarheit'' by [Jackie Thomae](/source/Jackie_Thomae) (Hanser Berlin).[{{Cite web|title=Oxford Alumna wins top award for new translators {{!}} Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages|url=https://www.mod-langs.ox.ac.uk/news/2016/03/09/oxford-alumna-wins-top-award-new-translators|access-date=2022-02-11|website=www.mod-langs.ox.ac.uk}}] In the same year, the ''Seattle Times's'' critic Adam Woog listed her translation of [Melanie Raabe](/source/Melanie_Raabe)'s ''The Trap'' as one of the 10 best mysteries of the year.[{{Cite web|date=2016-12-08|title=Adam Woog’s 10 best mysteries of 2016|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/books/adam-woogs-10-best-mysteries-of-2016/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161209150430/http://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/books/adam-woogs-10-best-mysteries-of-2016/ |archive-date=2016-12-09 |url-status=live|access-date=2022-02-11|website=The Seattle Times|language=en-US}}]
In 2018, ''The Guardian'' praised her "sure-footed" translation of ''Fear'' by [Dirk Kurbjuweit](/source/Dirk_Kurbjuweit) (Orion)[{{Cite web|date=2018-01-21|title=Consent by Leo Benedictus and Fear by Dirk Kurbjuweit – review|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jan/21/consent-by-leo-benedictus-fear-by-dirk-kurbjuweit-review |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220211/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jan/21/consent-by-leo-benedictus-fear-by-dirk-kurbjuweit-review |archive-date=2022-02-11 |url-status=live|access-date=2022-02-11|website=the Guardian|language=en}}{{cbignore}}] and listed it as one of the best books of 2018.[{{Cite news|title=Guardian best books of 2018: across fiction, politics, food and more|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2018/dec/01/guardian-review-best-books-of-2018 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220211/https://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2018/dec/01/guardian-review-best-books-of-2018 |archive-date=2022-02-11 |url-status=live|access-date=2022-02-11|issn=0261-3077}}{{cbignore}}] The translation also earned praise from the ''Irish Times''[{{Cite web|title=Fear by Dirk Kurbjuweit review: a gripping tale of domestic terror|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/fear-by-dirk-kurbjuweit-review-a-gripping-tale-of-domestic-terror-1.3375123 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203113916/https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/fear-by-dirk-kurbjuweit-review-a-gripping-tale-of-domestic-terror-1.3375123 |archive-date=2018-02-03 |url-status=live|access-date=2022-02-11|website=The Irish Times|language=en}}] and ''Toronto Star''.[{{Cite news|last=Batten|first=Jack|date=2017-12-29|title=Whodunit: mini reviews of mysteries|language=en-CA|work=The Toronto Star|url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/reviews/2017/12/29/whodunit-mini-reviews-of-mysteries.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220211/https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/reviews/2017/12/29/whodunit-mini-reviews-of-mysteries.html |archive-date=2022-02-11 |url-status=live|access-date=2022-02-11|issn=0319-0781}}{{cbignore}}]
In 2019, she published an English translation of German author and historian Florian Huber's best-selling account of mass suicides in Germany towards the end of World War II, titled ''Promise Me You’ll Shoot Yourself: The Downfall of Ordinary Germans, 1945.''[{{Cite web|title='Promise me You'll Shoot Yourself': Nazi Germany's Suicide Wave|url=https://thewire.in/books/promise-me-youll-shoot-yourself-nazi-germanys-suicide-wave |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220211/https://thewire.in/books/promise-me-youll-shoot-yourself-nazi-germanys-suicide-wave |archive-date=2022-02-11 |url-status=live|access-date=2022-02-11|website=The Wire}}{{cbignore}}][{{Cite news|title=Why a Wave of Suicides Washed Over Germany After the Nazi Defeat|language=en|work=Haaretz|url=https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/2019-11-25/ty-article/.premium/germanys-mass-suicides-that-accompanied-the-nazis-defeat/0000017f-f6aa-d318-afff-f7ebd6e80000 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220211/https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/.premium-germany-s-mass-suicides-that-accompanied-the-nazis-defeat-1.8165793 |archive-date=2022-02-11 |url-status=live|access-date=2022-02-11}}{{cbignore}}] Taylor earned praise from the ''Financial Times'', with reviewer Ruta Sepetys praising her "vivid translation",[{{Cite news|last=Sepetys|first=Ruta|date=2019-08-16|title=Promise Me You’ll Shoot Yourself — a German requiem|work=Financial Times|url=https://www.ft.com/content/edd29dc2-aed6-11e9-b3e2-4fdf846f48f5 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220211/https://www.ft.com/content/edd29dc2-aed6-11e9-b3e2-4fdf846f48f5 |archive-date=2022-02-11 |url-status=live|access-date=2022-02-11}}{{cbignore}}] as well as from the ''Telegraph'', which reviewed her "fine translation.".[{{Cite news|last=Rees|first=Laurence|date=2019-06-29|title=‘The thought of living on is unbearable’: the story behind the German mass suicides of 1945|language=en-GB|work=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/thought-living-unbearable-story-behind-german-mass-suicides/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220211/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/thought-living-unbearable-story-behind-german-mass-suicides/ |archive-date=2022-02-11 |url-status=live|access-date=2022-02-11|issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}}]
In 2021, Taylor translated [Sasha Marianna Salzmann](/source/Sasha_Marianna_Salzmann)'s novel, ''Beside Myself'', from German to English. The translation was received well, and was shortlisted for two major German-English translation awards: the [Schlegel-Tieck Prize](/source/Schlegel-Tieck_Prize) and the [Helen and Kurt Wolff's Translator Prize](/source/Helen_and_Kurt_Wolff_Translator's_Prize).