Oliver Ready Explained

Oliver James Ready (born 17 April 1976) is a British Slavist, Russian-English translator.

Biography

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

In 2008–2017, he was Consultant Editor for Russian and East-Central Europe at The Times Literary Supplement.^[2]

Since 2010, he has been a Research Fellow at 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.

Literary translation

Oliver Ready came to the attention of the general public in 2014 when his translation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel 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 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 and David Magarshak.^[4]

Bibliography

Author

• Persisting in Folly: Russian Writers in Search of Wisdom, 1963–2013 (Peter Lang: Oxford, 2017) (Russian Transformations: Literature, Culture and Ideas). .

Translator

• Yury Buida: The Zero Train = Дон Домино (London: Dedalus, 2001;)
• Yury Buida: The Prussian Bride = Прусская невеста (London: Dedalus, 2002;)
• Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Crime and Punishment = Преступление и наказание (London: Penguin Books, 2014;)
• Vladimir Sharov. Before and During = До и во время (London: Dedalus, 2014;)
• 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;)
• Vladimir Sharov: The Rehearsals = Репетиции (London: Dedalus, 2018;)
• Nikolai Gogol: And the Earth Will Sit on the Moon = Рассказы (London: Pushkin Press, 2019;)
• Vladimir Sharov: Be as Children = Будьте как дети (London: Dedalus, 2021)

Acclaim

• 2005 — Rossica Translation Prize for translation of the short-story cycle The Prussian bride (author Yuri Buida) into English.
• 2015 — Read Russia English Translation Prize for translation of the novel Before and during (author Vladimir Sharov) into English.
• 2016 — shortlist of the PEN Translation Prize for translation of the novel Crime and Punishment (author Fyodor Dostoevsky) into English.
• 2018 — Read Russia Prize for translation of the novel Rehearsals (author Vladimir Sharov) into English.

Notes and References

1. Web site: From Aleshkovsky to Galkovsky: the praise of folly in Russian prose since the 1960s. Search Oxford Library online.
2. Web site: Dr Oliver Ready. Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages. University of Oxford.
3. Web site: Dr Oliver Ready. St Antony`s College. University of Oxford.
4. A. N. Wilson. September 20, 2014. This new translation of Crime and Punishment is a masterpiece. The Spectator.