Martin

Winter

June 2 1966

Vienna

Austria

Freelance Translator

Various

Translator

2000

Austria

Vienna University

1995

Chinese language and literature, German language and literature, Austrian literature, Teaching German as a foreign language

German

Chinese

German

Chinese

English

I have been interested in poetry and languages since childhood. In addition to Chinese and English, I have learned French and Russian, but these are very rusty right now. I had to learn Latin, but never had very much time for it in high school, regrettably. When I was young, I wanted to become a teacher. At Vienna University I was a very slow and inconsequent student. I fell in love with a girl from Taiwan and went there in 1988 to improve my Chinese. It was an interesting time, because they had recently cancelled martial law there, which had been in effect ever since the Second World War. After the suppression of protests in China in 1989, I became even more interested in contemporary Chinese literature. I often read Bei Dao at that time, in Chinese and in Bonnie McDougall's translation. When Bei Dao founded the legendary magazine Jintian again in exile, I became a regular reader. From 1992, I have taught German in Austria (incl. for refugees from Bosnia) and China (Shanghai, Wuhan, Chongqing, Beijing). I also spent almost two years in Romania, a beautiful country with friendly people. At that time (1996-1998), I spoke some highly irregular Romanian. I also met Chinese exchange students, which led to more friendships five years later, when my wife and I ran into them in Beijing. My grandmother (born in 1911) only speaks German and local Austrian German dialect. She grew up as a foster child, farmhand and factory worker, but she knew and knows more about life than I'll ever know, no matter how much I read, write or travel.

I have worked as language teacher and translator in China and Taiwan for about 15 years since 1988. Since 2000, I have translated for various institutions and publishers in China and Europe. In China, I worked for China Pictorial Magazine (Renmin Huabao, 2005-2008), China Intercontinental Press (three books on Chinese culture and language), China Pictorial Press (a book on Dunhuang caves), China Today, China Daily, the Ministry of Culture, Goethe Institute, Deutsch-Chinesisches Kulturnetz, Heinrich Böll Stiftung (Essays by Qin Hui, He Weifang et al., collected in the book "Wie China debattiert", 2009), Aufbau Verlag ("K" by Hong Ying) and others. I have translated a novel by Liu Zhenyun (Shouji - Cellphone - Mobiltelefone), and also poetry and prose by Ma Lan, Hong Ying, Hung Hung, Yan Jun, Bei Ling and other authors. Since 2008, I am living in Vienna, Austria. I have translated for Vienna's City Council (2008, with Chen Xi), Fleisch Magazine (2009), for Riva Verlag in Munich (Bei Ling's Biography of Liu Xiaobo, 2010) and for various other contractors. Last year I wrote an essay on Chinese literature since 2000, collected in the book Culturescapes China, ed. Katharina Schneider-Roos & Stefanie Thiedig, Basel 2010. The essay was presented in English at the meeting of EACS (European Association of Chinese Studies) in Riga in July 2010. It includes translations of poems by Yan Jun and Cui Weiping as well as references to many other translations. At Vienna's Literaturhaus, I am a member of the literature translator's group Übersetzergemeinschaft.

Some other details can be found in my various blogs. I don't really speak Japanese, but spent a few weeks in Japan in early 1993, on a boat trip from Shanghai. In Beijing my wife and I became friends with some parents of other kids at the local kindergarten. One local mother had studied art in Japan and introduced me to blogging. Since then I have maintained the website at Yahoo Japan mentioned below, as well as http://erguotou.wordpress.com (everything from poetry to politics), http://dujuan99.blogspot.com (poems) and http://blog.sina.com.cn/dujuan9999, among others. My translations of poems and various signs and banners in China can also be found on websites maintained by Charles Laughlin (http://luofulin.blogspot.com, mostly poetry by Ma Lan) and Sam Brier (http://experiencesabroad.com/beijing). The Chinese Studies magazine MCLC (Modern Chinese Literature and Culture), edited by Kirk Denton, has not only spawned an extensive treasure trove of Modern Chinese Literature and Culture sources at http://mclc.osu.edu, but also an Email-list server which has maintained professional and other exchange services for the international Chinese Studies community and beyond, including some very lively discussions. Recently, list members have introduced their blogs, such as Anne Henochowicz's http://chinamuse.wordpress.com, Andrew Field's http://shanghaijournal.squarespace.com/, Jeanne Boden's http://jeanneboden.typepad.com/ and Charles Laughlin's above-mentioned http://luofulin.blogspot.com. The initiative was started by Paul Manfredi, whose blog on art and poetry in China is http://chinaavantgarde.com/.

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