{{Short description|British translator and writer}} {{use dmy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = | image = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = London, England | alma_mater = University of Cambridge; <br/>SOAS University of London | occupation = Translator and writer | known_for = | notable_works = | awards = English PEN Translates award, 2020 }}
'''Polly Barton''' is a British writer and translator of Japanese to English. She is the author of three non-fiction books, ''Fifty Sounds,'' ''Porn: An Oral History'', and ''What Am I, A Deer?.'' She has translated numerous titles of Japanese literature and non-fiction.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Polly Barton |url=https://www.torch.ox.ac.uk/polly-barton |access-date=2023-05-26 |website=www.torch.ox.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref> Her translations have been featured in ''Granta'', ''Catapult'', and ''The White Review,'' and in 2019 she won the Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize for her non-fiction debut, ''Fifty Sounds''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-04-04 |title=Falling Straight Into Sound: An Interview with Polly Barton |url=http://c-j-l-c.org/portfolio/falling-straight-into-sound-an-interview-with-polly-barton/ |access-date=2023-05-26 |website=CJLC |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Polly Barton |publisher=Fitzcarraldo Editions |url=https://fitzcarraldoeditions.com/authors/polly-barton |access-date=2023-05-26}}</ref>
== Life and career == Born and raised in west London, England, Barton studied philosophy at the University of Cambridge.<ref name="CHASE">{{cite web|url=https://www.chase.ac.uk/events-1/tcw-mar22|title=Literary translation and creativity |website=chase.ac.uk|publisher=Consortium for the Humanities & the Arts South-East England|date=12 May 2022|access-date=29 May 2025}}</ref> She travelled to Japan to teach English as part of the JET Program.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Polly Barton author information |url=https://www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm/author_number/x16456/polly-barton |access-date=2023-05-26 |website=BookBrowse.com |language=en}}</ref> She also holds an MA degree in the Theory and Practice of Translation from SOAS University of London.<ref name="CHASE" />
In 2025, Barton founded the festival ''Translated By, Bristol'', which celebrates translation and translated literature.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://translatedbybristol.com/programme/|title=Programme |website=translatedbybristol.com|publisher=Translated By, Bristol|access-date=29 Aug 2025}}</ref>
== Bibliography ==
* ''Fifty Sounds'' (2021) * ''Porn: An Oral History'' (2023) * ''What Am I, A Deer?'' (2026)
As translator:
* ''Spring Garden'', Tomoka Shibasaki * ''There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job'', Kikuko Tsumura * ''So We Look to the Sky'', Misumi Kubo * ''Where the Wild Ladies Are,'' Aoko Matsuda * ''Friendship for Grown-Ups,'' Naocola Yamazaki * ''Mikumari'', Misumi Kubo * ''Butter'', Asako Yuzuki * ''Mild Vertigo'', Mieko Kanai * ''Hunchback'', Saou Ichikawa * ''The Woman Dies'', Aoko Matsuda * ''Hooked'', Asako Yuzuki
== Awards and honours ==
* Winner of English PEN Translates award 2020, for translating ''There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nineteen PEN Translates awards go to titles from fifteen countries and thirteen languages |url=https://www.englishpen.org/posts/news/nineteen-pen-translates-awards-go-to-titles-from-fifteen-countries-and-thirteen-languages/|date=10 June 2020|access-date=2023-05-26 |website=English PEN |language=en-GB}}</ref> * Longlisted for the 2022 Ondaatje Prize for ''Fifty Sounds''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mill |first=Chris |date=2022-04-06 |title=RSL Ondaatje Prize 2022 Longlist Announced |url=https://rsliterature.org/2022/04/rsl-ondaatje-prize-2022-longlist-announced/ |access-date=2023-05-26 |website=Royal Society of Literature |language=en-GB}}</ref> * Shortlisted for the 2022 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award for ''Fifty Sounds''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-01 |title=Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2022 |url=https://www.travelwritingworld.com/edward-stanford-travel-writing-awards-2022-shortlists-winners/ |access-date=2023-05-26 |website=Travel Writing World |language=en-US}}</ref> * Longlisted for the 2025 International Booker Prize for translating ''Hunchback''<ref>{{cite news |last1=Marshall |first1=Alex |title=To the Point: Short Novels Dominate International Booker Prize Nominees |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/25/books/international-booker-prize-longlist.html |access-date=28 February 2025 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=25 February 2025}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist|30em}}
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, Polly}}
Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:Alumni of SOAS University of London Category:Alumni of the University of Cambridge Category:British translators Category:British women non-fiction writers Category:Japanese–English translators Category:Writers from London