Emeritus Professor Brian Nelson awarded the prestigious NSW Premier’s Prize for Translation

The winners of the NSW Premier's Literary Awards were announced at the State Library in Sydney on 18 May 2015. Monash University Emeritus Professor in the School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics, Brian Nelson, was named winner of the prestigious NSW Premier’s Prize for Translation.

“It is a tour de force!"

The quality – notably the fluency and linguistic scope – of Brian Nelson’s translations of the works of Emile Zola from French was admired by the judges, who declared that “he captures Zola’s exuberant satirical style with sustained sensitivity to nuance, reviving the erudition without missing any of the humour. […] Both energetic and subtly precise […] Nelson’s translation fully restores the vividness by removing all the varnish: the flawless masterpiece reappears, reading in English as it must have done in French for its original audience. [He produces] a unique language that sounds both like Zola and what was current in Zola’s time, and modern, of our time, broadly speaking. […] It is a tour de force."

Brian Nelson, Winner of the NSW Premier’s Prize for Translation (centre) with John Ajaka, Minister for Multiculturalism (left) and Hakan Harman, C.E.O. Multicultural NSW
Credit: http://www.crc.nsw.gov.au/about_crc/?a=26159

About Brian Nelson

Brian Nelson is Emeritus Professor in the School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics at Monash University. Following teaching positions at the prestigious Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, and at Aberystwyth University in Wales, Brian Nelson was appointed Professor of French Studies at Monash University in 1985.

An Emile Zola specialist, his critical studies and translations of the novels of the 19th century French author include The Cambridge Companion to Zola,  Zola and the Bourgeoisie and translations (for Oxford World’s Classics) of Earth (with Julie Rose), and five novels from the Rougon saga: The Fortune of the Rougons, The Belly of Paris, The Kill, Pot Luck and The Ladies’ Paradise. Since 2002, he has also been editor of the Australian Journal of French Studies and he is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

About the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards

Established in 1979, the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards have recognised hundreds of talented Australian writers: novelists, poets, playwrights, scriptwriters, translators, and authors of non-fiction and children’s books. The NSW Premier's Literary Awards have a proud history, both in celebrating achievement by Australian writers and in helping to establish values and standards in Australian literature.

The Translation Award, sponsored by Multicultural NSW, is awarded biennially and carries prize money of $30,000. It aims to raise the profile of the translation profession and highlight its cultural and economic value in our society.