LSA Collegiate Fellow and Assistant Professor of German
he/him
jchopo@umich.edu
Office Information:
MLB 3132
hours: by appointment
Comparative Literature;
Translation Studies;
Poetry and Poetics;
Race and Ethnicity;
Migration and Diaspora;
Colonialism and Postcolonialism;
Transnational and Global Cultures;
Travel Literature;
Mediterranean;
Central Europe;
Western Europe;
North America
Education/Degree:
Concurrent PhD in German and Medieval Studies, UC Berkeley
MA, German Studies, UC Berkeley
MA, Translation Studies, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
BA, Literature and European History, UC Santa Cruz
About
Dr. Cho-Polizzi is a translator of contemporary German literature. Both his translation work and research focus on topics of migration, diversity, and trans- and multilingualism in the German-speaking world. His book project, tentatively titled Resistance, Resilience, Representation: Unmaking the Myths of Post-Wende German Identity traces the role of translation in the intersectional networks of authors, activists, and journalists pushing to reimagine the multidirectional history of Post-Unification Germany.
Fields of Interest
- Contemporary Literature
- Literary Translation and Translation Studies
- Poetry and Poetics
- Radical Diversity
- Migration, Transnationalism, and Multiculturalism
- Trans- and Multilingualism
- Post- and Decolonial Studies
Booklength Translations
Public Humanities
- "Communication is Part of Belonging": my recent interview with Gina Balibrera
- Editor for the open-access translation of Your Homeland is our Nightmare (Transit Journal, December 2021), edited by Fatma Aydemir and Hengameh Yaghoobifarah (Eure Heimat ist unser Albtraum). This collection presents essays on community, belonging, discrimination, and the concept of homeland from a diversity of voices and positionalities spanning the contemporary German-speaking world, providing an accessible, comparative study for an English-language readership interested in transnational diversity discourse.
Public Humanities
- "Author Meets Translator: A Conversation with Sharon Dodua Otoo and Jon Cho-Polizzi" @ poco.lit., Berlin, Germany, March 7, 2024
- Ada's Room a reading and discussion with Dr. Marie Larose and Dr. Jeaenette Oholi @ Norwich Bookstore, Norwich, VT, February 6, 2024
- "BIPOC Caucus x Asian American Writers Workshop Translation Reading" from Lin Hierse's Wovon wir träumen for the American Literary Translators' Association Conference, November 10, 2023
- "Bilingual Readings: Multigenre Potpourri Reading" from Mikael Vogel's Dodos auf der Flucht for the American Literary Translators' Association Conference, November 9, 2023
- "Communication is Part of Belonging": my recent interview with Gina Balibrera
- Editor for the open-access translation of Your Homeland is our Nightmare (Transit Journal, December 2021), edited by Fatma Aydemir and Hengameh Yaghoobifarah (Eure Heimat ist unser Albtraum). This collection presents essays on community, belonging, discrimination, and the concept of homeland from a diversity of voices and positionalities spanning the contemporary German-speaking world, providing an accessible, comparative study for an English-language readership interested in transnational diversity discourse.
Upcoming Events
Catch my upcoming workshops and writers' conversations this spring and summer:
- April 17, 2024 9:30-10:30 AM (PDT): "Of Return: Literary Translation and Contemporary German Jewish Poetry" @ University of Washington, Seattle, WA (online)
- April 25, 2024 1:30-3:15 PM (PDT): "ALTA (German) Translation Workshop" @ ALTA, Tucson, AZ (online)
- June 1, 2024: Panel discussion on translation with Mirjam Nuenning and Hadija Haruna-Oelker @ Resonanzen Festival, Recklinghausen, Germany
- June 18, 2024 12:30-2:00 PM (GMT): "Encounters: A Conversation with Fatma Aydemir" @ University of London, London, UK
- October 21, 2024 4:00-6:00 PM (CST): "Djinns: A Conversation with Fatma Aydemir" @ University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
Recent Events
- March 20, 2024: "What is the Plural Form of Djinn?" guest lecture @ University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
- March 20, 2024: "'She could do it all and still wear the same hat': A Workshop Translating Fatma Aydemir" @ University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
- March 14, 2024: "Overcoming the Present: Author and Publicist Max Czollek in Poetic Dialogue with Translator Jon Cho-Polizzi" @ Deutsches Haus, NYU, Manhattan, NY
- February 5, 2024: "Translation Masterclass" @ Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
- December 1, 2023: Poetry Translation Workshop with Ronya Othmann, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
- December 1, 2023: "'Between Them, A Staircase Without Grammatical Gender': Translation as Authorship in the Works of José F. A. Oliver", Cultures in Motion Conference, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
- November 9, 2023: "A Clean (Tran-)Slate: Research & Practice of Literary Translation Roundtable" with translator-scholars Sonia Colina, Silvia Guslandi, Patrick Ploschnitzki, Jamie Richards, Diana Thow, and others @ ALTA 46, Tucson, AZ
- October 6, 2023: "Was ist die Mehrzahl von Dschinns?" German Studies Association Conference, Montréal, Canada 10:15-12:14 pm EST
- September 6, 2023: "Positionalities: A Reading & Discussion on Translation & Representation" with Profs. Peter Höyng, Priscilla Layne, Adrienne Merritt, and Didem Uca. Making the Canon, Breaking the Canon: The Task of the Translator, Emory College, Atlanta, GA
- April 1, 2023: "Ada's Room: Author Event" with Sharon Dodua Otoo, Source Booksellers (4240 Cass Avenue, Detroit), 2-4 pm EST
- March 31, 2023: "Ada's Room: Realms in Translation" with Sharon Dodua Otoo, @ 2210ABC Michigan Union (second floor), 2-4 pm EST
- Book Tour for De-Integrate: A Jewish Survival Guide for the 21st Century with Dr. Max Czollek
- January 12, 2023: "Paranoid Poetics: Excavating a Language of Gegenwartsbewältigung" with Dr. Max Czollek, 3308 MLB, 2:30-4 pm EST
- September 27, 2022: "Translating Adas Raum," Ziegler Lecture Series at the University of British Columbia, 12:30 pm PST (3:30 pm EST)
- September 20, 2022: Introducing "Revenge: Fantasy and Self Determination in Jewish Discourse" by Dr. Max Czollek, 2435 North Quad, 5-7 pm EST
Recent and Pending Publications
- "Was ist die Mehrzahl von Dschinns?: Translating the Transnational" in Companion to Turkish German Literature (De Gruyter, forthcoming 2024)
- "Translating the Archive: An Introduction to the Translation of 'The Archive of Migration' by Deniz Utlu" in Companion to Turkish German Literature (De Gruyter, forthcoming 2024)
- "Between the Orbits: Translating Adas Raum" in German Life and Letters: Special Issue on Sharon Dodua Otoo, vol 77.1 (January 2024)
- "Almanya: A [Different] Future is Possible" in TRANSIT Journal 13.2, July 19, 2022
Recent Awards and Distinctions
- Long List for Dublin Literary Award 2024: Ada's Realm by Sharon Dodua Otoo (translated by Jon Cho-Polizzi)
- TOLEDO-Mobilitätsfonds 2023, Literarisches Colloquium Berlin, facilitating a one-month Translator-in-Residence at the Literary Colloquium Berlin as well as participation in the Internationales Übersetzertreffen in Berlin and public speaking engagements at the Übersetzerzentrum at the Leipzig Bookfair.
