# Oliver Ready

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**Oliver James Ready** (born 17 April 1976) is a British [Slavist](/source/Slavic_studies) and [Russian](/source/Russian_language)-[English](/source/English_language) translator.

## Biography

In 1994–1998, he studied Modern Languages (Russian and Italian) at [Worcester College, Oxford](/source/Worcester_College,_Oxford). In 2000–2001, he did MA in Russian Studies at SSEES, [University College London](/source/University_College_London). In 2007, he completed his [DPhil](/source/Doctor_of_Philosophy) at [Wolfson College, Oxford](/source/Wolfson_College,_Oxford).[1]

In 2008–2017, he was consultant editor for Russian and East-Central Europe at [The Times Literary Supplement](/source/The_Times_Literary_Supplement).[2]

Since 2010, he has been a research fellow at [St Antony's College, Oxford](/source/St_Antony's_College,_Oxford).[3] In 2011–2014, he was director of the Russkiy Mir Program.

Since 2014, he has been working as a teacher of Russian literature at the [University of Oxford](/source/University_of_Oxford).[2]

## Literary translation

Oliver Ready came to the attention of the general public in 2014 when his translation of [Fyodor Dostoevsky](/source/Fyodor_Dostoevsky)'s novel *[Crime and Punishment](/source/Crime_and_Punishment)* was published. In a review with the telling title "This new translation of Crime and Punishment is a masterpiece", the writer and critic [A. N. Wilson](/source/A._N._Wilson) writes: "Sometimes, though, a new translation really makes us see a favourite masterpiece afresh", which is followed by claims that Ready's translation is better than the classic translations of [Constance Garnett](/source/Constance_Garnett) and [David Magarshak](/source/David_Magarshack).[4]

## Bibliography

### Author

- *Persisting in Folly: Russian Writers in Search of Wisdom, 1963–2013* (Peter Lang: Oxford, 2017) (Russian Transformations: Literature, Culture and Ideas). ISBN 978-1-78707-401-9.

### Translator

- [Yury Buida](/source/Yury_Buida): *The Zero Train* = Дон Домино (London: Dedalus, 2001; ISBN 978-1-903517-01-7)
- Yury Buida: *The Prussian Bride* = Прусская невеста (London: Dedalus, 2002; ISBN 978-1-903517-06-2)
- [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](/source/Fyodor_Dostoevsky). *Crime and Punishment* = Преступление и наказание (London: Penguin Books, 2014; ISBN 978-0-14-119280-2)
- [Vladimir Sharov](/source/Vladimir_Sharov). *Before and During* = До и во время (London: Dedalus, 2014; ISBN 978-1-9076-5071-0)
- [Ivan Maisky](/source/Ivan_Maisky): *The Maisky Diaries: The Wartime Revelations of Stalin's Ambassador in London* = Дневник дипломата (Лондон, 1934–1943) (edited by Gabriel Gorodetsky, translated by Oliver Ready and Tatiana Sorokina. — London: London Yale University Press, 2016; ISBN 978-0-300-22170-1)
- Vladimir Sharov: *The Rehearsals* = Репетиции (London: Dedalus, 2018; ISBN 978-1910213148)
- [Nikolai Gogol](/source/Nikolai_Gogol): *And the Earth Will Sit on the Moon* = Рассказы (London: Pushkin Press, 2019; ISBN 9781782275152)
- Vladimir Sharov: *Be as Children* = Будьте как дети (London: Dedalus, 2021)

## Acclaim

- 2005 — [Rossica Translation Prize](/source/Rossica_Translation_Prize) for translation of the short-story cycle *The Prussian bride* (author [Yuri Buida](/source/Yury_Buida)) into English.
- 2015 — Read Russia English Translation Prize for translation of the novel *Before and during* (author [Vladimir Sharov](/source/Vladimir_Sharov)) into English.
- 2016 — shortlist of the [PEN Translation Prize](/source/PEN_Translation_Prize) for translation of the novel *[Crime and Punishment](/source/Crime_and_Punishment)* (author [Fyodor Dostoevsky](/source/Fyodor_Dostoevsky)) into English.
- 2018 — Read Russia Prize for translation of the novel *Rehearsals* (author [Vladimir Sharov](/source/Vladimir_Sharov)) into English.

## Notes

1. ["From Aleshkovsky to Galkovsky: the praise of folly in Russian prose since the 1960s"](http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=oxfaleph016574108&context=L&vid=SOLO&lang=en_US&search_scope=LSCOP_ALL&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=local&query=any,contains,Oliver%20Ready%20Praise%20of%20Folly&offset=0). *Search Oxford Library online*

1. ["Dr Oliver Ready"](https://web.archive.org/web/20200716005046/https://www.mod-langs.ox.ac.uk/people/oliver-ready). *Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages. University of Oxford*. Archived from [the original](https://www.mod-langs.ox.ac.uk/people/oliver-ready) on 2020-07-16. Retrieved 2020-07-15.

1. ["Dr Oliver Ready"](https://www.sant.ox.ac.uk/people/oliver-ready). *St Antony`s College. University of Oxford*

1. A. N. Wilson (September 20, 2014). ["This new translation of Crime and Punishment is a masterpiece"](https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/this-new-translation-of-crime-and-punishment-is-a-masterpiece). *The Spectator*

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Oliver Ready](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ready) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ready?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.