Peter Wortsman
TRANSLATES: German
Dubbed a A20th-century Brother Grimm” (Bloomsbury Review) and Aa delinquent Hans Christian Andersen” (by playwright Mark O=Donnell), Peter Wortsman is the author of a book of short fiction, A Modern Way To Die (Fromm, 1991), two stage plays, The Tattooed Man Tells All (2000) and Burning Words, (2004), and an artists’ book, it-t=i (Here and Now Press, 2005) on which he collaborated with his brother, the artist Harold Wortsman. Also a critically acclaimed translator from the German, his translations include Posthumous Papers of a Living Author, by Robert Musil, now in its third edition (Eridanos, 1988; Penguin 20th-Century Classics, 1995; Archipelago Books, 2006); Telegrams of the Soul: Selected Prose of Peter Altenberg (Archipelago Books, 2005) and Travel Pictures, by Heinrich Heine (Archipelago Books, 2008). He is the recipient of the Beard’s Fund Short Story Award and fellowships from the Fulbright and Thomas J. Watson Foundations.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Publications
Original Fiction
A Modern Way To Die, smallstories and microtales, by Peter Wortsman, Fromm International, New York, 1991; paperback edition 1993, Fromm Publishing International, NY; excerpted in Small Press magazine, "Reader/Verso" section, Summer 1993
Collaborations
“it - t = i,” an artist’s book, comprising ten of my prose poems, with 10 etchings by graphic artist Harold Wortsman, limited edition, Here and Now Press, NY, 2004
Plays
The Interview, a play, in Dialectical Anthropology, New York, a special double issue of literature and commentary devoted to the Holocaust, 2000
The Tattooed Man Tells All, a play, in Texte, Toronto, Canada, 2000
Burning Words, a history play, excerpted in CrossCurrents, New York, Fall 2006; and in Massachusetts Center for Renaissance Studies Newsletter, Amherst, MA, Spring 2005
Book-length Translations
Songs From the Depths of Hell (Sung by Aleksander Kulisiewicz), album of songs from the nazi concentration camps, I produced, annotated and translated for booklet of liner notes, Folkways, New York, 1978; reissued on audio cassette by Smithsonian Folkways, Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C., 1993. My introduction, "A Singer From Hell," reprinted from Sing Out!, 1977.)
Sadly Whisper the Leaves of the Willow: Polish Partisan and Folk Songs (Sung by Aleksander Kulisiewicz), album, I produced, annotated and translated, Folkways, New York, 1980; reissued on audio cassette by Smithsonian Folkways, Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C., 1993
Pictures, by Robert Musil, Cooper Union, New York, 1983
German Essays in Art History, Gert Schiff, ed., The German Library, Volume 79, Crossroad/Continuum, New York, 1988 (I translated most of the volume)
Posthumous Papers of a Living Author, by Robert Musil, Volume One of Eridanos Library, Eridanos, Hygiene, CO, 1988; second edition, Penguin 20th Century Classics, Penguin U.K., London, 1995; third edition, Archipelago Books, NYC, 2006
Max Beckmann: Tradition as a Problem in Modern Art, by Hans Belting, Timken Publishers, Inc., New York, 1989
69 Ways to Play the Blues, by Jürg Laederach, Semiotext(e), Foreign Agents Series, New York, 1990
Peter Schlemiel, The Man Who Sold His Shadow, by Adelbert von Chamisso, a new translation with an introduction, Fromm International Publishing Co., New York, 1993
Recommendation Whether to Confiscate, Destroy and Burn All Jewish Books, a classic call for tolerance, by Johannes Reuchlin, translated, edited and with my foreword, The Paulist Press, Mahwah, NJ, 2000
Telegrams of the Soul, Selected Prose of Peter Altenberg, selected, translated and with an afterward by Peter Wortsman, Archipelago Books, NY, 2005 (First Serial excerpts in The New England Review, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT, Spring 2005; and The Brooklyn Rail, Brooklyn, NY, May 2005)
Travel Pictures, by Heinrich Heine, Archipelago Books, Brooklyn, NY, forthcoming 2008
Performances
The Tattooed Man Tells All, a play, staged reading by actor Robert Benês, directed by Caroline Thomas, artistic director, The Total Theatre Lab, Fales Library, New York University, NYC, May 15, 2000
Burning Words, a history play, first staged reading by the Amherst Theatre Company, Adam Sanders, artistic director, Massachusetts Center for Renaissance Studies, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Mass., October 3, 2004; second staged reading in conjunction with a conference on “Jews in the Renaissance,” March 6, 2005, Massachusetts Center for Renaissance Studies, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Mass; third staged reading by The Hampshire Shakespeare Company, directed by Lucinda Kidder, Bangs Community Center, Amherst, Mass., January 20, 2006
Burning Words, premiere performance of produced by The Hampshire Shakespeare Company, directed by Lucinda Kidder, Northampton Center for the Arts, Northampton, Mass., Nov. 17-19, 2006; reprise performance by The Hampshire Shakespeare Company, directed by Lucinda Kidder, Forum Theater, Holyoke Community College, Holyoke, Mass., April 30, 2007
DVD of Burning Words, a history play, produced by The Hampshire Shakespeare Company, directed by Lucinda Kidder, forthcoming 2008
A Nursery Rhyme for Dead Children, original song, included in a program, "From Holocaust to Hope," sung by soprano Raya Gonen, at the Embassy of Israel, Washington D.C., May 17, 2001, and other venues in the U.S. and abroad
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Short fiction, essays and poems online
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