Derick Mattern Receives Inaugural Mary Jo Bang Award for Poetry Translation

Matt Erlin, chair of comparative literature and thought and professor of German and comparative literature, stated that the selection committee reviewed a large number of exceptional submissions, with works translated from various languages including Spanish, Russian, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, and Chinese. Erlin emphasized that Mattern's translation was chosen for its excellence, intellectual ambition, and the freshness of the English rendition.

The Mary Jo Bang Award was established this year by an anonymous donor to support translation work and has created an endowment to fund other writing awards within the Department of English. Bang, who joined Washington University’s English department in 2000, is a celebrated poet with numerous accolades, including the Berlin Prize and fellowships from the Guggenheim and Bellagio Foundations. She has also won a National Book Critics Circle Award and a Pushcart Prize, with her poetry featured in several editions of “The Best American Poetry.”

Bang began her translation work in the early 2000s while continuing to write poetry. Her initial project was translating Dante Alighieri’s “Inferno,” which began as an informal undertaking but culminated in a complete translation after seven years. She subsequently translated Dante’s “Purgatorio,” published in 2021, and is set to release her translation of “Paradiso” this July, marking a 25-year journey through Dante’s works. Additionally, she has worked on translations of Shuzo Takiguchi’s “A Kiss for the Absolute” and Matthias Göritz’s “Colonies of Paradise.”

Emphasizing the importance of a poet’s perspective in translation, Bang noted that poets grasp certain nuances in poetic writing that scholars may overlook. She expressed gratitude for the establishment of this new prize, viewing it as encouragement for graduate students to explore translation as a means to enrich their own writing.

Mattern, honored to be the first recipient of the award, expressed his appreciation for the support and community surrounding translation at Washington University. He noted that his experience there has deepened his understanding of language as it applies to creative practice. Göritz, who was both Mattern's thesis adviser and part of the prize jury, praised Mattern’s translation for its fluidity and depth, reflecting a dedication to capturing the essence of the original work. He remarked on the shared qualities in the work of Bang and Mattern, particularly their commitment to preserving the originality of the text while ensuring a smooth reading experience.