Translation legacy of Michael Naydan: American dimension

TRANSLATION LEGACY OF MICHAEL NAYDAN: AMERICAN DIMENSION

V. Byalyk

The role of translation can hardly be over-estimated in a multilingual world like ours. Moreover, it's translation from one language into another that enriches both cultures: the culture of the source language and that of the target one. In studying the language of a society of better to say country, it is not a good idea to focus just on the language and the process of communication. Indeed there are other structures that help us better in understanding a country more than language, though the role of language isn't diminished here in any way. Generally, language is an expression of culture and individuality of its speakers. It influences the way the speakers perceive the world. So, focusing on the issue of translation from one language to another, the culture of both languages in the process of translation is influential. Of course, one should consider that to what extent the culture is in the text and to what extent the language is in culture. In other words, we may speak about sociocultural and semiotic aspects of translation, once a language is considered a semiotic system. As a matter of fact, a good translator should be familiar with the culture, customs, and social settings of the source and target language speakers. He/she should also be familiar with different styles of speaking, and social norms of both languages. This awareness, can improve the quality of the translations to a great extent. According to Hatim and Mason [1] the social context in translating a text is probably a more important variable than its genre.

Many outstanding translators are acutely aware of these facts and become well-known in the world due to their proficiency and skills to render all the social and cultural subtleties of the source language text into its target counterpart, thus making cultures closer and, no doubt, bringing nations to mutual understanding. Such a translation activity is of extreme importance for Ukraine to be known, understood and cooperated with on the global scale. The creative work and translation activity of the people involved in it deserve the most thorough consideration. It is also even of more importance due to the fact that talented translators of fiction, as a rule, do their job not for money (as it isn't paid much, unfortunately) but out of love for their profession and people.

The aim of this article is to outline briefly a sociocultural semiotic approach to translation process of a well-known American scholar and translator, Dr. Michael M. Naydan, a Woskob Family Professor of Ukrainian Studies, Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures, The Pennsylvania State University, PA, USA.

Among the objectives set in the article, we can emphasize the following as the major ones: to give a short biographical background of the translator; to outline his professional activity as a scholar and a translator which will include the translation of works of fiction basically from Russian into English and Ukrainian into English periods; to focus on sociocultural aspects of the translator's method of two languages as heterogeneous semiotic systems.

Discussion and the results of the research. Dr. Michael M. Naydan is a prolific literary translator of contemporary poetry and prose from Ukrainian and Russian and an outstanding academician. He has published over 30 books of translations and more than 100 articles and translations in literary journals in the USA and Europe, including Ukraine. The versatile personality of

Dr. Michael Naydan is proved by his public and creative activity both in the USA and Ukraine, his active participation in all spheres of life of the Ukrainian Diaspora in North America, his mastery of rending his love for word, his readiness and eagerness to share his knowledge and help with others, no matter if they are simply students, Fulbright grantees (and he has them about 40) or famous writers, poets, academicians, public figures. His distinctive feature to be human and humane attracts most of all, both very young and mature people who are lucky to communicate with him. He is equally accepted with respect either at the academic venues (a scholarly conference in San Francisco in 2017, ASEEES Convention in Washington, DC in 2016), or in a classroom at the Burrowes Building of the University. He also writes poetry, songs, prose, besides scholarly articles, and paints a little.

Michael Naydan was born in 1952 in New Jersey, USA, to an immigrant family from Ukraine. However, the environment he was brought up was far from being Ukrainian. It took the family, as he stated in one of his interviews [2; 3], 45 minutes to get to the nearest Ukrainian church and Saturday or Sunday Ukrainian school was out of the question. His Ukrainian speaking family was the only source of his tie with the Ukrainian roots. But the love for the native word has been preserved in his heart forever and rendered to his daughter Lila, Professor of creative writing at the University in Philadelphia.

So, no wonder, that, after graduating from high school, he entered the American University in Washington, DC, majoring in Russian. At that time (likewise now too) very few universities could offer Ukrainian as a major. Michael was lucky to have wonderful teachers like Vera Borkovec from Czechoslovakia, Professor Boris Filippov. He also took creative writing classes with two very talented poets, Henry Taylor and Myra Sklarew, who particularly appreciated poetry in translation. At that time he began to translate Anna Akhmatova, Alexander Blok, Osip Mandelstam, Boris Pasternak, and others. His first published translations appeared in the literary journal Hyperion in 1976 [2; 3]. He got his B.A. Russian (1973) and M.A. Russian Studies from the American University (1975) and continued his education at Columbia University, New York seeking for M. Phil degree, Department of Slavic Languages (1980) and Ph.D., Department of Slavic Languages (1984). It was at that time when he happened to listen to the lectures on Ukrainian poetry of modernism at Harvard University by Professor Omre Ronen from Odesa and was carried away afterwards with the poetic works by Tychyna, Rylsky, Bazhan, Johansen and other poets; he even wrote his term project on Rylsky's creative work [2].

Actually, he began working on Ukrainian translations when he was in graduate school at Columbia University. While at Columbia, he won an award for best translations of Russian poets into English three times. Professor Robert Maguire particularly supported his work in the area of translation. He himself was a translator of Polish poetry as well as the Russian writers Andrei Bely and Gogol. And Professor John Malmstad insisted that students translate the poems they analyzed in his Russian poetry seminars to get a better understanding of the poetry. He suggested that Michael translate Marina Tsvetaeva's collection After

Russia in the process of writing his dissertation. He eventually published his translation of that collection as a book with Ardis Publishers. The poet and translator Bohdan Boychuk, the poet Vasyl Barka, and the scholars Assya Humesky and John Fizer all were very supportive of Michael's early work on Ukrainian authors. At that time very few people were working on translating Ukrainian literature into English and Professor George Luckyj from the University of Toronto had stopped translating close to his retirement. It was then that Michael Naydan decided to translate from Ukrainian with more of a sense of purpose. His first book, translations of the poetry of Lina Kostenko, came out in 1990 with Garland Publishers in New York City. Professor Fizer particularly supported the translation of his first book and gave him a great amount of encouragement [2; 3].

Besides Russian and Ukrainian, Michael Naydan also translated from Romanian into English after his acquaintance with the creative work of a talented Romanian poetess Liliana Ursu who came twice to the Pennsylvania State University, USA, on a Fulbright fellowship.

His professional career started at Yale University where he worked as Acting Instructor (1092-1984) and Assistant Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures (1984-1986), then worked as Assistant Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures at Rutgers University - New Brunswick (1986-1988) and the rest of his life is closely tied with the Pennsylvania State University where he worked as Assistant Professor (1988-1990), Associate Professor (1990-1996), Department Head (1991-1997) and starting from 1996 till present as Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Woskob Family Professor of Ukrainian Studies (2007). He also took a position of Director of the Center for Russian and East European Studies (1992-1998). This professional experience in well-known universities not only in the USA but the world over is a tangible asset of Michael Naydan and contributes much to his translation and scholarly mastership.

The translation activity of Michael Naydan may be divided into two periods: the Russian into English translation and the Ukrainian into English translation, if some poetry works by Liliana Ursu translated from Romanian into English are left aside. This, of course, doesn't mean that the periods have a strict chronological framework, on the contrary, they may overlap each other as the creative inspiration might be. But, basically, one can assert that Michael Naydan's translation legacy is within the range of Russian-English and Ukrainian-English translations.

We'll stop briefly on these periods with major emphasis on Ukrainian- English translations. The Russian-English period of translation activity, as it has been mentioned before, started when Michael Naydan was a university student. Among the most known Russian-English translations can be mentioned: Marina Tsvetaeva's «After Russia», Harriman Institute Publications in Russian and East European Studies. Ann Arbor: Ardis Publishers, 1992. 281 pages. A translation and critical study of Marina Tsvetaeva's collection Posle Rossii (1928). Reviewed in Publisher's Weekly, Slavonic and East European Journal (England), Slavic and East European Journal, and Poetry. Slava Yastremski is co-translator. Cotranslator of Landscape of the Soul: Contemporary Russian Poetry about Nature. Plains, PA: Poema Publishers, 1999. Co-translated with Slava Yastremski. Cotranslator of The Dream of Africa: African Poems by Nikolai Gumilev. Plains, PA: Poema Publishers, 2000. Co-translated with Slava Yastremski. Color illustrations by Irina R. Yastremski Co-translator, Olga Sedakova: Poems and Elegies. Bucknell University Press, 2003. Slava Yastremski is co-translator. 117 pages. Reviewed in Slavic and East European Journal and in Library Bookwatch. Cotranslator, Igor Klekh, A Country the Size of Binoculars. Northwestern University Press, 2004. Slava Yastremski is co-translator. 272 pages. Reviewed in The Review of Contemporary Fiction and Slavic and East European Journal. Cotranslator, Marina Tsvetaeva, The Essential Poetry. Co-translated with Slava Yastremski. Guest introduction by Tess Gallagher. Amsterdam-London: Glagoslav Publishers, 2015. 160 pages. Co-translator with Slava Yastremski, Igor Klekh, Adventures in the Slavic Kitchen: A Book of Essays with Recipes. Amsterdam-London: Glagoslav Publishers, 2016. 181 pages. Co-translator with Slava Yastremski, Catherine Nepomnyashchy, and Olha Tytarenko of Abram Terz, Strolls with Pushkin and Journey to the River Black. NY: Columbia UP, 2016. 238 pages. The edition includes an article by Michael Naydan «Remembering Cathy Nepomnyashchy and Slava Yastremski» and notes for the translation of «Journey to the River Black». Besides, some translations were also published in periodicals, such as Translations of Velimir Khlebnikov, Anna Akhmatova, and Boris Pasternak. Hyperion 13 (May 1976): 146-48. Two translations from the poetry of Marina Tsvetaeva. Confrontation 48/9 (Spring/Summer 1992): 216-17. Translation of Alexander Blok's long poem The Twelve. Russian Language Journal L.165-167 Translation of Elena Fainalova's poem «A Psudoclassical Landscape» in A Public Space 2 (Summer 2006): 173. Co-translated with Slava Yastremski.

In translating from Russian, he worked together closely with his colleague from Bucknell University Slava Yastremski, who was a native speaker of Russian. They team-translated Marina Tsvetaeva, Igor Klekh, Olga Sedakova, and a number of other authors. In fact, Slava and Michael had been collaborating quite harmoniously on translations for quite a long time, over 25 years [2] until the sudden death of Slava Yastremski in 2013.

Generally speaking, Michael Naydan has exhibited his ability in both solo and team translation of fiction, of being a good-willing critic, author, editor and compiler the features that will brightly manifest in his Ukrainian-English translation period.

The Ukrainian-English translation heritage of Michael Naydan includes prose, poetry, essays. Among the most important translation works and works on translation we may find the following: Translator, Bohdan Ihor Antonych's The Grand Harmony. Revised edition. Amsterdam-London: Glagoslav Publishers, 2017. (Forthcoming). Translator, Pavlo Tychyna's The Complete Early Poetry Collections. Revised and Expanded edition. Amsterdam-London: Glagoslav Publishers, 2017. (Forthcoming). Author, From Hohol to Andrukhovych: Selected Literary Essays (in Ukrainian). Forthcoming 2017 in the Private Collection Series edited by Vasyl Habor. A selection of his literary essays on Ukrainian topics translated into Ukrainian. Co-translator with Mark Andryczyk and Editor, Yuri Andrukhovych, My Final Territory: Selected Essays. Toronto: U of Toronto Press, May 2017. Forthcoming. The edition includes an introduction and notes by M. Naydan. Author, a novel Seven Signs of the Lion. Amsterdam-London: Glagoslav Publishers, 2016. 344 pages. Translator, The Fantastic Worlds of Yuri Vynnychuk. Amsterdam-London: Glagoslav Publishers, 2016. 277 pages. An expanded book of translations of Yuri Vynnychuk's prose with a new critical introduction. One translation by Askold Melnyczuk and two translations by Mark Andryczyk are included in the volume. Translator, The Garden of Divine Songs and Collected Poems of Hryhory Skovoroda. Amsterdam-London: Glagoslav Publishers, 2016. 132 pages. Co-translator, compiler, editor. Herstories: An Anthology of Ukrainian Women's Prose. Amsterdam-London: Glagoslav Publishers, 2014. Co-translated with 19 other translators. 443 pages. About half the translations are of Michael Naydan. The volume includes an introductory article, biographies of the authors and translators, and notes by Naydan. Reviewed in World Literature Today (November 2014). Also reviewed in East-West: A Journal of Ukrainian Studies (Summer 2015) and in Canadian Slavonic Papers (Fall 2015)

Translator, The Essential Poetry of Taras Shevchenko. Lviv: LA «Piramida» Publishers, 2014. 112 pages. It includes an introduction and notes by Michael Naydan / Co-translator, Larysa Denysenko's novel The Sarabande of Sara's Band. Amsterdam-London: Glagoslav Publishers, 2012. Co-translated with Svitlana Barnes. Includes an introduction and notes by Michael Naydan. 153 pages. Chosen as May 2013 Editor's Pick by World Literature Today. Compiler, Editor, Two Colors of the Soul: The Selected Poetry of Dmytro Pavlychko. Cervena Barva Press, 2012. 90 pages. Includes an introduction and notes by Michael Naydan as well as 8 of his own translations. Co-translator, Iren Rozdobudko's novel The Lost Button. Amsterdam-London: Glagoslav Publishers, 2012. Co-translated by Olha Tytarenko. 191 pages. Includes an introduction and notes by Michael Naydan. Reviewed in East-West: A Journal of Ukrainian Studies.

Translator, The Essential Poetry of Bohdan Ihor Antonych: Ecstasies and Elegies. Bucknell

University Press, 2010. 173 pages with a biographical essay and translator's introduction. Reviewed in Slavic and East European Journal. Translator, Maksym Rylsky, Autumn Stars: Selected Poetry of Maksym Rylsky. Litopys Publishers, 2008. Bilingual edition of the Ukrainian poet's lyric poetry with an introduction. 302 pages. Reviewed in Journal of Ukrainian Studies, Slavic and East European Journal, and Metamorphoses. Translator, Bohdan-Ihor Antonych, The Grand Harmony. Lviv: Litopys Publishers, 2007. Bilingual edition of Ukrainian poet Bohdan-Ihor Antonych with an introduction and notes. 117 pages. Reviewed in Slavic and E. European Journal, Journal of Ukrainian Studies, and Ukrainian Quarterly. Translator, The Flying Head and Other Poems. Bilingual edition of Ukrainian poet Viktor Neborak's 1990 collection of poetry The Flying Head. Includes a critical introduction and notes. Lviv: Srible Slovo Publishers, 2005. 304 pages. Reviewed in Slavic and E. European Journal. Translator, Yuri Andrukhovych, Perverzion. Northwestern University Press, 2005. 336 pages. Reviewed in The Review of Contemporary Fiction, The Complete Review, Context, Slavic and East European Journal, Australian Slavonic and East European Studies, and World Literature Today. Co-translator, Alex Woskob, Memoirs of my Life. Kyiv: WUS Publishers, 2004. Oksana Tatsyak is co-translator. Reviewed in The Ukrainian Weekly. Translator, Landscapes of Memory: The Selected Later Poems of Lina Kostenko. Bilingual edition Lviv: Litopys Publishers, 2002. 128 pages. Reviewed in World Literature Today and Slavic and East European Journal. Co-editor and co-translator of A Hundred Years of Youth: A Bilingual Anthology of 20th Century Ukrainian Poetry (873 pages). Co-edited with Olha Luchuk. Lviv: Litopys Publishers, 2000. 113 of the translations are Naydan's as well as the biographical sketches in English of the 100 authors and 41 translators. Reviews in Slavic and E. European Journal, Kyiv Post, Narodna Volya, and Hliuk. The Complete Early Poetry Collections of Pavlo Tychyna. (430 pages) Lviv: Litopys Publishers, 2000. Bilingual translation of Tychyna's first five books of poetry. Includes a critical introduction and extensive annotation. Reviewed in Slavic and E. European Journal, Kur'ier Kryvbasu and in Vysokyi zamok. «The Windows of Time Frozen» and Other Stories (272 pages). Lviv: Klasyka Publishers, 2000. Translations of Yuri Vynnychuk's short stories with a critical introduction. Reviewed in World Literature Today and Journal of Ukrainian Studies. Co-editor and co-translator of From Three Worlds: New Writing from Ukraine (Boston: Zephyr Press, 1996). Hardback edition. Reviewed in Los Angeles Times, Boston Review, Publisher's Weekly, Slavic and East European Journal, Kirkus Review, The Ukrainian Weekly, Svoboda, Kultura (Kyiv, Ukraine), World Literature Today, and Journal of Ukrainian Studies. Selected Poetry of Lina Kostenko: Wanderings of the Heart. 150 pages. New York: Garland Publishers, 1990. Reviewed in Slavic and East European Journal, World Literature Today, Svito- vyd, and Suchasnist. Co-translator with Oksana Lushchevska of the children's book, Mermaids (Kyiv: Bratske Publishers, 2017). Forthcoming. Co-translator with Oksana Lushchevska of the children's book, A Letter's Journey (Kyiv: Bratske Publishers, 2016). Co-translator with Oksana Lushchevska of the children's book, The Swing Under the Maple Tree (Kyiv: Bratske Publishers,

2016). Co-translator with Oksana Lushchevska of the children's book, Children's Letters on the War (Kyiv: Bratske Publishers, 2015). Co-translator with Oksana Lushchevska of the children's book, Mr. Catsky, Mira and the Sea (Kyiv: Bratske Publishers, 2015). Co-translator with Oksana Lushchevska of the children's book, How Many? (Kyiv: Bratske Publishers, 2014). Co-translator with Oksana Lushchevska of the children's book, The Stars and Poppy Seeds (Lviv: Old Lion Publishers, 2014). The book has received an award for best children's book of the year at the Bologna Children's Book Fair 2014. Co-translator, A Brief Anthology of Contemporary Ukrainian Children 's Literature. Kyiv: Grani-T Publishing House, 2013. 51 pages. Co-translated with Oksana Lushchevska. Co-translator, The

Turnip. Ternopil: Navchalna knyha-Bohdan, 2013. Children's book (24 pages) cotranslated with Oksana Lushchevska. Co-translator, The Mitten. Ternopil: Navchalna knyha-Bohdan, 2013. Children's book (24 pages) co-translated with Oksana Lushchevska.

Here we may also include the translations in periodicals, such as: Translation of an excerpt from Maria Matios' novel Sweet Darusya in Trafika Europe 7 (March 2016): 106-132. Translation of an excerpt from Yuri Vynnychuk's novel Tango of Death in Trafika Europe 7 (March 2016): 66-91

Europe-7-Ukrainian-Prayerl. Translation of Mariya Tytarenko's long poem «Bridges» in Trafika Europe 7 (March 2016): Translation of 14 poems by Natalka Bilotserkivets in Trafika Europe 7 (March 2016): 22-41 Translation of 11 poems by Taras Melnychuk in Trafika Europe 7 (March 2016): 92-105 N5v4U8g/Trafika-Europe-Quarterlv/Trafika-Europe-7-Ukrainian-Praverl. Translation of three chapters of Taras Antypovych's novel Timestealers in Trafika Europe 4 (July 2015), 83-107. Translation of an excerpt from Yuri Vynnychuk's novel Tango of Death in Consequence Magazine. Co-translated with Svitlana Barnes. 7 (Spring 2015), 55-62. Translation of Tanya Malyarchuk's short story «The Rat» in Words without Borders (August 2014) Translations of Serhiy Zhadan's poems «Everything, as always, is justified» and «Atheism» in Solstice: A Magazine of Diverse Voices (Spring 2014) linguistic text translation interpreter

Six of my translations of poems by Maksym Rylsky in Dialogue of the Seas 4 (2012): 50. Translation of an excerpt from Maria Matios' novel Sweet Darusya in Metamorphoses 20.1 (Spring 2012): 206-217. Translation of an excerpt from Halyna Pahutiak's novel The Minion from Dobrobyl in Metamorphoses 20.1 (Spring 2012): 218-237. Translation of an excerpt of Iren Rozdobudko's novel The Button in World Literature Today 85.6

(November-December, 2011): 160-163. Co-translated with Olha Tytarenko. Translation of Tanya Malyarchuk's story «The Demon of Hunger» in World Literature Today. November 2011 Translation of Tanya Malyarchuk's story «Canis Lupus Familiaris» in Belletrista (June 2011)

Translations of the poetry of Attila Mohylny, Nazar Honchar, Ihor Rymaruk, Natalka Bilotserkivets, Vasyl Herasymiuk, Viktor Neborak, Yuri Andrukhovych, Ludmyla Taran, Maryana Savka, Oles Ilchenko, Hanna Osadko, Mariya Tytarenko, and Iryna Shuvalova in XXXVI International Poetry Review (Fall 2010): 10-19, 34-41, 4849,58-59, 80-83, 86-89, 92-97, 102-109. Translation of Tanya Malyarchuk's short story «A Woman and Her Fish» in 194 Stand (Spring 2011), 3-7. Translation of Tanya Malyarchuk's short story «A Village and its Witches» in Hayden's Ferry Review 43 (Spring 2009): 37-40. Translations of two of Oles Ilchenko's poems in No. 3 Zoland Poetry Annual (Spring 2009): 164-165. Translations of six of Bohdan-Ihor Antonych's poems in 19 The Dirty Goat (Fall 2008): 98105. Translations of three of Oles Ilchenko's poems in 16.2 Metamorphoses (Fall 2008): 22-25. Translations of Vasyl Makhno's poems «Brooklyn Elegy» and «Coffee in Starbucks», in 7 Absinthe: New European Writing (2007): 56-60. Translations of 12 of Halyna Petrosanyak's poems in Poetry International. Translations of 15 of Viktor Neborak's poems in Poetry International. Translations of 11 of Halyna Petrosanyak's poems. Artful Dodge 46/47 (Fall, 2005): 55-66. Translation of an excerpt of Yuri Andrukhovych's novel The Moscoviad, three of Viktor Neborak's poems, two of Yuri Andrukhovych's poems, and one of Oleksander Irvanets's poems in World Literature Today 79.3-4 (September-December, 2005): 28-32. Translations of 5 of Vasyl Makhno's poems in Poetry International (2005) with a translator's introduction.

Translation of «Writer Yuri Andrukhovych's Address to European Parliament». The Ukrainian Weekly (Dec. 26, 2004): 6, 22. Translations of 14 poems of Taras Shevchenko in Ukrainian Literature 1 (2004), 123-138. Published also as a paperback book by Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press, 2004. Available online at: Translations of Natalka Bilotserkivets's poems «Eyes» and «Hotel Central» in 2 Absinthe: New European Writing (2004): 17-20. Translations of Yuri Andrukhovych's poem «Circle», the poetic cycle «India» and an excerpt from the novel Perverzion entitled «Stakh's Demise» in 2 Absinthe: New European Writing (2004): 21-29. Translation of Oksana Zabuzhko's «A Definition of Poetry» (rpt) in Wood's Lot (April 2003)

Translations of Emma Andijewska's «On the Superiority of the Other Sex» and Patricia Kilina's «Sufi 1» in Toronto Slavic Quarterly 3 (2003)

Translation of Natalka Bilotserkivets' poem «A 100 Years of Youth» (rpt) and Oksana

Zabuzhko's «A Definition of Poetry» (rpt) 56 AGNI (Fall 2002): 35; 435. Thirtieth Anniversary Poetry Anthology. Translation of three chapters of Yuri Andrukhovych's novel Perverzion in 44 Pequod (2001): 9-26. Translation of Yuri Andrukhovych's philosophical essay «Within Time, Down a River» in 53 AGNI (2001): 1-22. Translation of Yuri Andrukhovych's prose piece «Guardians a di Joiman Gate» in Exquisite Corpse 8 (2001). Translation of Viktor Neborak's poem «Metro Fantasy III» in International Poetry Review XXVII.1 (spring 2001): 38-9. Translation of Yuri Izdryk's philosophical prose piece «The Canon of Apologia». The Massachusetts Review XLI: 4 (Winter 2000-2001): 465-467. Translations of Ukrainian poets Serhiy Zhadan, Maryanna Savka, Andriy Bondar, Timofiy Havriliv, Maria Kryvenko, and Yaryna Senchyshyn. The Ukrainian Review (Winter 2000): 369-382. Translations of Attila Mohylny's cycle of poems «Coffee Houses». Delos (Forthcoming). Translations of Liliana Ursu's poems «Winter Teachings», «What are you?», and «After Paradise». Poet Lore 95.1 (2000): 32-4. Co-translated with Tess Gallagher. Translations of Natalka Bilotserkivets's poems «The 2000 Express» and «The Saxaphonist»; Yuri Andrukhovych's «Tram #7» and «The Museum of Antiquities»; and Ludmyla Taran's «You Awaken with an Apple in Your Hand». Salt Hill 8 (2000): 91-98. Translation of Yuri Andrukhovych's «Midnight Flight Down High Castle Hill». AGNI 51 (2000): 133-4. Translation of Yuri Andrukhovych's prose piece «The Testament of Antonio Delcampo» in AGNI 48 (1998): 219-234. Translation of one of Ludmyla Taran's poems in 2B 11-12 (1997): 186-188. Translation of Yuri Vynnychuk's short story «An Embroidered World». Kenyon Review (summer/fall 1996): 36-39. Translations of Yuri Vynnychuk's story «Me and Max»; Bohdan Zholdak's story «The Seven Temptations»; Halyna Pahutiak's «To Come Across a Garden»; and Evhenia Kononenko's story «Three Worlds»; as well as poetry translations of Oksana Zabuzhko and Natalka Bilotserkivets. GLAS (vol. 12, October 1996). Translation of Oksana Pakhlovska's «Forests Near Prypiat» and Oksana Zabuzhko's «Love» in The Ukrainian Quarterly 52, 1 (1996): 22-24. Translation of Attila Mohylny's poem «Archipenko's Plasticity». Denver Quarterly 29. 1 (Fall 1994): 91. Translation of Natalka Bilotserkivets's poem «A Hundred Days of Youth». AGNI 39 (Spring 1994): 42. Translation of Ukrainian poet Attila Mohylny's cycle «Night Melodies». AGNI 38 (1993): 110-13. Translations of Ukrainian poet Oksana Zabuzhko's «Letter from a Summer Home» and «An Ironic Nocturne». AGNI 37 (1992): 276-7. Translations of Ukrainian poet Oksana Zabuzhko's «A Definition of Poetry». AGNI 36 (1992): 9-10. Translations of Ukrainian poet Oksana Zabuzhko's «Love» and «Ninety Degrees in the Shade». Mr. Cogito 10. 3 (1992): 19-20. Seven translations of the poetry of Lina Kostenko. Canadian Slavonic Papers 32. 2 (Summer 1990, pub. 1991): 117, 118, 133, 165, 176. Two translations of poems on the Chornobyl disaster. The Ukrainian Weekly. (April 28, 1991): 2. Eight translations from the recent poetry of Lina Kostenko. Nimrod 33, 2 (Spring/Summer 1990): 4-7. Two translations of Lina Kostenko's poetry. Soviet Ukrainian Affairs (Winter 1989): 8-9. Translation of Ukrainian poet Vasyl Barka's prose-poem «The Wanderer» with an introduction about the author. Modern Poetry in Translation (1983): 57-61. Translation of Ukrainian poet Pavlo

Tychyna's «Along the Azure Steppe». Mr. Cogito 5. 2 (1982): 13. Translations of Ukrainian poet Lina Kostenko and Russian poet Osip Mandelstam. Hyperion 14 (March 1978): 190-91. Translations of Ukrainian poet Vasyl Symonenko with an introductory note about him. Modern Poetry in Translation. 30 (Spring 1977): 18. «Floating Flowers: The Poetry of Lina Kostenko». Ulbandus Review: A Journal of Slavic Languages and Literatures 1 (Fall 1977): 140-57. This titanic work of a translator, author, scholar, critic, reviewer, editor and compiler has been rewarded in numerous awards that Michael Naydan got from his peers in North America rather than from Ukraine the cultural achievements of which he's been popularizing in Anglophone word all his life. Among them are: George S.N. Luckyj Award in Ukrainian Literature Translation (2013), from the Canadian Foundation for Ukrainian Studies for his extensive translations of Ukrainian writers into English. Award in Translation, from the American Association of Ukrainian Studies for the translation of Bohdan-Ihor Antonych's book of poetry The Grand Harmony (2008). Award in Translation, from the American Association of Ukrainian Studies for translation of Yuri Andrukhovych's novel Perverzion (2006). Book of the Year (2005) in the category of poetry by the jury of the Kyiv Publisher's Forum in March 2006 for the translation of Viktor Neborak's «The Flying Head» and Other Poems (Lviv: Srible Slovo Publishers, 2005). Order of the Ravlyk Special Recognition by the jury of the Lviv Publisher's Forum in September 2005 for the translation of Viktor Neborak's «The Flying Head» and Other Poems (Lviv: Srible Slovo Publishers, 2005). First Prize in the category of Ukrainian Intellectual Literature at the Lviv Publisher's Forum in September 2001for A Hundred Years of Youth: A Bilingual Anthology of 20th Century Ukrainian Poetry (Lviv: Litopys Publishers, 2000). The Dmytro Nytchenko Prize (2001) from The League of Ukrainian Philanthropists of Ukraine for the popularization of Ukrainian culture abroad. American Association of Ukrainian Studies Translation Prize (1997), for translations in From Three Worlds: New Writing from Ukraine (1996). Finalist, International Achievement Award. The Pennsylvania State University, 1996. Eugene Kayden Meritorious Achievement Award in Translation, from the University of Colorado for translations of the poetry of Attila Mohylny into English (1993) Pushkin Prize (1981, 1976, 1975) from the Columbia University Department of Slavic Languages for best translations of Russian poets into English. Mihaly-Mogilat Fellowship (1979) from Columbia University for study in the USSR.

The research grants he was awarded with during his lifetime also added much to the translation skills of Michael Naydan, his understanding of the culture of the people, the peculiarities of the source languages. These included, such as: Fulbright Grant (Spring 2007). Five months of researching contemporary Ukrainian literature and teaching at Lviv National University and the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine. Fulbright Grant (Spring 1999). Five months of researching contemporary Ukrainian literature and teaching at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv in Lviv, Ukraine. Co-investigator, National Endowment for the Humanities Division of Education Grant (1995-1996). Development of a computer based listening comprehension test in Russian. Project headed by Patricia Dunkel of Georgia State University. Completed and available on CD-ROM. Translation and Research Grant, National Endowment for the Humanities Translation Grant (1991-1992). For an annotated translation of the poetry of Pavlo Tychyna. Project completed and published in a bilingual edition. Curriculum Development Grant, New Jersey Department of Higher Education (1987-8), «Video in the 2nd and 3rd -year Russian Language Program». Curriculum Development Grant, New Jersey Department of Higher Education (1987-8), «A Demonstration of Audio Conferencing in International Education». Curriculum Development Grant, Moore Fund Grant (1983-4), to develop video teaching materials for second and third-year Russian language courses at Yale. Translation Grant, Shevchenko Scientific Society (1980), to begin translations of the early works of Ukrainian poet Pavlo Tychyna.

The translations of Michael Naydan are considered to be of perfect quality because of a number of reasons. First, Dr. Naydan is very meticulous with his desire to give the exact message of the source text in the target culture and this requires a lot of research and consulting with experts [4;5]. As he says himself it is very important for him to keep close to meaning of the text in the original while making the translation readable in English. This is always a balancing act. Translation of poetry makes one focus more on hearing the voice of the poet and on the poem's sound. In poetry translation you need to maintain the sound structure (the sound quintessence) of the original, and also what Michael often calls the organic rhythm [2]. For example, the essence of Natalka Bilotserkivets' poem «The Saxophonist» cannot be translated without its sound patterning. He tried to convey that in his translation. On the other hand, prose demands a more logical approach, although you often come across poetic prose in the works of writers such as Yuri Andrukhovych. Poetry, of course, also has an inner logic, but they are other elements such as metaphor, syntax, rhythm, rhyme, etc. that play a more significant role [2]. Secondly, the way of translating which includes some strategies of performing a good translation job is also important. Usually when he is translating, he does a quick first draft either on paper, or types right into the computer. When he translates poems, he often reads the original out loud in order to better hear the melody and get himself into the world of the poetry. Sometimes he accidentally even learns poems by heart that way before he translates them. Then he sets his translation aside for a while to maintain certain distance, and then comes back to work on nuances from time to time [2; 4; 5]. Thirdly, sometimes he sends his translations to friends and colleagues to check them or to see how they work in English.

When he translates from Ukrainian, he works together with various experts including the authors of the works he translates [2]. This helps him to get a deeper insight into the Ukrainian culture, customs, linguistic nuances [4; 5].It has been particularly great for him to work with Olha Luchuk. She and Michael have done the anthology of 20th century Ukrainian poetry 100 Years of Youth for Litopys Publishers and also The Flying Head of Viktor Neborak for Sribne Slovo Publishers. Most recently his former graduate student Olha Tytarenko has also assisted him considerably with his translations of Bohdan Ihor Antonycyh, Tanya

Malarchuk and Maria Matios. Oksana Tatsyak has assisted him with his translations of Yuri Vynnychuk in the past. The cooperation with Myroslava Prykhoda from Litopys Publishers is particularly fruitful, where Michael Komarnytsky is the director and where he publishes publish quite a bit [2].

He strongly believes that theoreticians of translation for the most part do not translate, and because of that, their experience is limited. It is better not to be a slave of any kind of translation theories, but you need to work out your own principles and approaches to your work. A translator categorically needs to know the culture, history, literature, and vocabulary of the language from which he translates, to be familiar with the sociocultural background of the linguistic semiotic system. At the same time, it is necessary to deeply understand those same elements in his native language and culture. However, languages and traditions do not always coincide. Thus one needs to know those disparate moments and figure out a way to translate or explain them for another culture [4; 5].