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{{Short description|English translator}}
{{distinguish|Barbara Wright (professor)}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox writer 
| name = Barbara Wright
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| birth_date = {{birth date|1915|10|13|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Worthing]], Sussex, England
| death_date = {{death date and age|2009|03|03|1915|10|13|df=y}}
| death_place = London, England, UK
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| spouse = Walter Hubbard (''sep.'')
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| awards = [[File:Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Commandeur ribbon.svg|35px]] [[Ordre des Arts et des Lettres|Commandeur, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]] (''France'')
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'''Barbara Winifred Wright''' (13 October 1915 – 3 March 2009) was an English translator of modern [[French literature]].

==Early life==
Wright was born on 13 October 1915 in [[Worthing]], West Sussex. After attending [[Godolphin School]] in [[Salisbury]], she studied to be a pianist at the [[Royal College of Music]] in London and trained under [[Alfred Cortot]] in Paris. Wright taught at [[Dora Russell]]'s Beacon Hill School from 1936 to 1937. In 1938 she married Walter Hubbard, a kinsman of the [[Baron Addington|Barons Addington]] – the couple had a daughter in 1944, before separating in 1957.

Though she never formally studied as a translator, Wright believed that her work as an accompanist helped her capture the rhythm of the text. Her first major translation was [[Alfred Jarry]]'s ''[[Ubu Roi]]'', published in 1951 by [[Gaberbocchus Press]].<ref name="KellyRenouard2013">{{cite book|author1=Debra Kelly|author2=Madeleine Renouard|title=Barbara Wright: Translation as Art|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8KDoBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT5|date=1 August 2013|publisher=Dalkey Archive Press|isbn=978-1-56478-986-0|pages=5–}}</ref><ref name="TimesObit" /><ref name=Calder>[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/may/07/barbara-wright-obituary-literary-translator "Barbara Wright Leading light in the translation of modern French literature"]. ''The Guardian'', John Calder, 7 May 2009</ref>

==Translator==
Wright specialised in the translation of poetic prose and drama with a focus on French surrealist and existential writing.<ref name="Higgins" /> While working on a translation, she immersed herself in the author's world. Reading other texts by the writer, conferring with [[francophones]] about French idioms and, where possible, forging relationships with the authors were all aspects of her process. Over the course of her career Wright worked closely with, and befriended, [[Raymond Queneau]], [[Robert Pinget]] and [[Nathalie Sarraute]].<ref name="TimesObit" /><ref name="KellyRenouard2013" /> In addition to her [[translation]]s, Wright authored literary criticism and was a regular contributor to the ''[[Times Literary Supplement]]'' as a reviewer.<ref name="Calder" />

After she had completed translations of two short stories by Queneau, the author proposed that Wright translate his ''[[Exercises in Style|Exercices de style]]''. The work had been deemed 'untranslatable' due to Queneau's reliance on unique French writing styles and language. Trusting her skill, Queneau encouraged and endorsed Wright's improvised English equivalents of French turns of phrase. The result was a resounding success with her text becoming the basis for translations of the work in other languages.<ref name="TimesObit" /><ref name="KellyRenouard2013" /> In 2008 it was recognised as one of the best translations during a 50-year period by the [[Society of Authors]].<ref name="RenouardKellyFell">{{cite web|last1=Renouard|first1=Madeleine|last2=Kelly|first2=Debra|last3=Fell|first3=Jill|title=Barbara Wright: Translator of French literature who adapted Ionesco|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/barbara-wright-translator-of-french-literature-who-adapted-ionesco-jarry-and-genet-1673384.html|website=The Independent|publisher=Independent|accessdate=16 August 2016|date=23 April 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=50 Outstanding Translations|url=http://www.societyofauthors.org/50-outstanding-translations|publisher=societyofauthors.org|accessdate=16 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819081837/http://www.societyofauthors.org/50-outstanding-translations|archive-date=19 August 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1953 Wright was elected a member of the [[College of Pataphysics]], as ''Régente de Zozologie Shakespearienne''. She was elevated to Satrape in 2001, a position she held alongside [[Umberto Eco]] and [[Jean Baudrillard]]. In 1986 Wright was appointed [[Commandeur]] of l'[[Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]]. She was also a two-time recipient of the [[Scott Moncrieff Prize]]. Wright was recognised in 1987 for her translation of [[Pierre Albert-Birot]]'s ''Grabinoulor'' and again in 1992 for Michel Tournier's ''The Midnight Love Feast''.<ref name="TimesObit">{{cite news|title=Barbara Wright|url=http://find.galegroup.com.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=ocul_mcmaster&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=IF503830201&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0|accessdate=9 June 2016|work=Times|issue=69582|publisher=Times Digital Archive|date=13 March 1999|location=London|page=72}}</ref>

After separating from her husband, Wright lived at [[Hampstead]] in [[north London]], and died on 3 March 2009.<ref name="Calder" /> Her literary translation papers are held by the Lilly Library at [[Indiana University (Bloomington)|Indiana University]].<ref name="RenouardKellyFell" /> The authors she translated who are represented in the collection include [[Jean Hamburger]], [[Eugène Ionesco]], Alfred Jarry, [[Pierre Lauer]], Robert Pinget, Raymond Queneau, Nathalie Sarraute and [[Stefan Themerson]]. Correspondence from publishers of Wright's works, including Gaberbocchus Press, [[John Calder]], [[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]], [[Faber & Faber]], [[New Directions Publishing|New Directions]], the [[Atlas Press]] and [[Red Dust (publisher)|Red Dust]], are also present.<ref name="Higgins">{{cite web|last1=Higgins|first1=Valerie|title=Wright, B. mss.|url=http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/lilly/mss/index.php?p=wrightbinv|website=indiana.edu|publisher=Lilly Library Manuscript Collections|accessdate=16 August 2016}}</ref>

==Translations==

===[[Pierre Albert-Birot]]===
* ''The First Book of Grabinoulor''.1986
* ''31 Pocket Poems''. 2003

===[[Fernando Arrabal]]===
*''Orison''; ''The Two Executioners''; ''Fernando and Lis''; ''The Car Cemetery'' in ''Plays. vol. 1'' 1962.
* ''Guernica''; ''The Labyrinth''; ''The Tricycle''; ''Picnic on the Battlefield''; ''The Condemned Man's Tricycle'' in ''Plays. vol. 2''. 1967.

===[[Elisabeth Badinter]]===
* ''The Unopposite Sex [Man/Woman: The One is the Other]''. 1989

===[[Samuel Beckett]]===
* ''[[Eleutheria]]''. 1996

===[[Simone Benmussa]]===
* ''The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs''. 1979
* ''Three Plays.'' (''The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs, Appearance'' and ''The Death of Ivan Illich'') in collaboration with [[Donald Watson]] 2000
* 'Appearances' in ''Gambit'' No. 35. 1980

===[[Sylvia Bourdon]]===
* ''Love is a Feast.'' 1977.

===[[Muriel Cerf]]===
* 'Blitz-Fortune' in ''Real Life – Writers from Nine Countries Illuminate the Life of the Modern Woman''. 1981

===[[André Couteaux]]===
* ''Portrait of the Boy as a Young Wolf/My Father's Keeper''. 1968.

===Roland Dubillard===
* ''The House of Bones''. 1971.
* ''The Swallows''. 1969

===[[Marguerite Duras]]===
* ''The Long Absence''. 1966.

===[[Romain Gary]]===
* ''King Solomon''. 1983

===[[Jean Genet]]===
* ''[[The Balcony]]''. 1971. (with [[Terry Hands]])

===[[Alberto Giacometti]]===
* ''The Dream, The Sphinx'' and ''The Death of T. in Grand Street'' in ''Space'' No. 54. 1995

===[[Christian Dietrich Grabbe]]===
* ''Comedy, Satire. Irony and Deeper Meaning'' (translation from German, illustrated by Franciszka Themerson). 1955.

===Henri Guigonnat===
* ''Daemon in Lithuania''. 1985

===[[Jean Hamburger]]===
* ''The Diary of William Harvey''. 1992

===[[Eugène Ionesco]]===
* ''Journeys Among the Dead.'' 1985

===[[Ludovic Janvier]]===
* ''The Bathing Girl'' (revision of translation by John Matthew). 1976

===[[Alfred Jarry]]===
* ''[[Supermale (novel)|The Supermale]]''. 1968.
* ''Ubu Roi'' (illustrated by Franciszka Themerson). 1951.

===[[Yves Klein]]===
* ''Selected Writings''. (in part). 1974

===Monique Lange===
* ''The Catfish'' in ''New Writers 1''. 1960.

===Pierre Lauer===
* ''The Suns of Badarane''. 1971.

===Herbert Le Porrier===
* ''The Doctor From Cordoba''. 1979.

===[[Andrée Martinerie]]===
* ''Second Spring''. 1962.

===[[Patrick Modiano]]===
* [[:fr:Voyage de noces (roman)|''Honeymoon'']]. 1992

===[[René de Obaldia]]===
* ''Monsieur Klebs and Rosalie'' in ''Plays'' Vol. 4. 1985

===[[Robert Pinget]]===
* ''A Bizarre Will.'' 1989.
* ''Abel and Bela.''. 1987.
* ''Be Brave''. 1994.
* ''Between Fantoine and Agapa''. 1982.
* ''Fable''. 1980.
* ''Film script: 15 Rue des Lilas''. in Renouard & Kelly. 2013
* ''Monsieur Songe'' with ''The Harness, Plough''. 1988.
* ''Passacaglia''. 1978.
* ''Recurrent Melody''. 1975.
* ''Someone''. 1984.
* ''That Voice''. 1982.
* ''The Apocrypha''. 1986.
* ''The Enemy''. 1991.
* ''The Libera Me Domine''. 1972
* ''Theo, or The New Era''. 1994.
* ''Traces of Ink''. 1998.
* ''Trio'' (''Between Fatoine and Agapa'', ''That Voice'', ''Passacaglia''). 2005.

===Pol-Dives (Vladimir Polissadiv)===
* ''The Song of Bright Misery''. 1955.

===Aude Yung-de Prévaux===
* ''Jacques & Lotha''. 2000

===[[Raymond Queneau]]===
* ''[[Exercises in Style]]''. 1958.
* ''[[Zazie dans le Métro (novel)|Zazie in the Metro]]''. 1960.
* ''A Blue Funk'' and ''Dino'' in ''French Writing Today''. 1968.
* ''Alfred'' in ''Journal of Literary Translation. vol. XXIII''. 1990
* ''Between Blue and Blue''. 1967.
* ''Five Stories: Panic; Dino; At the Edge of the Forest; A Blue Funk; The Trojan Horse''. 2000.
* ''Pierrot Mon Ami''. 1987.
* ''The Bark Tree''. 1968.
* ''The Flight of Icarus''. 1973.
* ''The Last Days''. 1990.
* ''The Sunday of Life''. 1976.
* ''The Trojan Horse; At the Edge of the forest''. 1954.
* ''We Always Treat Women Too Well''. 1981
* Introduction and comments with extracts from ''Zazie'', ''Pierrot'', and ''The Flight of Icarus'', in "Tolling Elves 5" February 2003 to celebrate Queneau's centenary.
* publication of script for radio adaptation of ''Exercises in Style'' broadcast on 25 December 1959 by the BBC with introduction by Barbara Wright. 2006.

===[[Pascal Quignard]]===
* ''Georges de La Tour''. 1991

===[[Alain Robbe-Grillet]]===
* ''Snapshots'' and ''Towards a New Novel''. 1965.
* ''In the Corridors of the Underground'' in ''French Writing Today''. 1968.
* ''The Secret Room'' in ''The Penguin Book of French Short Stories''. 1968.

===[[Jean Rouaud]]===
* ''Of Illustrious Men''. 1996
* ''The World, More or Less''. 1997

===[[Nathalie Sarraute]]===
* ''Childhood''. 1983
* ''Here''. 1997
* ''It is There and other plays''. 1980
* ''The Use of Speech''. 1982
* ''You Don't Love Yourself''. 1990
* ''Fragments From Darkness''. 1998

===Coline Serrau===
* ''Lapin, Lapin''. 1995

===Liliane Siegel===
* ''In the Shadow of Sartre''. 1990

===[[Stefan Themerson]] and [[Franciszka Themerson]]===
* ''Mr Rouse Builds His House''. 1950 (translated from Polish with Stefan Themerson)

===[[Roland Topor]]===
* ''Leonardo Was Right''. 1978

===[[Michel Tournier]]===
* ''The Fetishist and Other Stories''. 1983
* ''A Garden at Hammamet.'' 1986
* ''The Golden Droplet''. 1987
* ''The Midnight Love Feast''. 1991
* ''Totems''. 1991

===[[Tristan Tzara]]===
* ''Seven Dada Manifestoes'' and ''Lampisteries''. 1977.

''Wright also wrote various plays, libretti (three by [[Mozart]]), artists' manifestos, composers' programme notes, introductions, forewords and postscripts.''

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/findingaids/view?doc.view=entire_text&docId=InU-Li-VAB8803 Finding aid to Barbara Wright's papers] at Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190928031043/http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/digital/exhibitions/exhibits/show/wright-ing-the-untranslatable Wright-ing the Untranslable], introduction to Barbara Wright's papers at Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington.

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Barbara}}
[[Category:1915 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Worthing]]
[[Category:People from Hampstead]]
[[Category:Writers from the London Borough of Camden]]
[[Category:Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]]
[[Category:English translators]]
[[Category:20th-century English translators]]
[[Category:20th-century English women non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:French–English translators]]

Barbara Wright (translator) - Revision history

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