Zaranko was honoured for her translation of The Peasants, one of the finest 20th-century Polish novels by Nobel Prize-winning writer Władysław Reymont.
The book, entitled Chłopi in Polish, was published in Britain last year by Penguin, which described the book as “one of Poland's most engrossing twentieth-century epics.”
The Peasants, which was originally published in four volumes between 1904 and 1909, won Reymont the 1924 Nobel Prize for Literature.
In her review of The Peasants, Ursula Phillips, a British translator of Polish literature, wrote: “One of the notable aspects of the novel is the ‘peasant-speak’ language created by the author, which does not reflect any dialect spoken in rural Poland. Zaranko’s translation approaches this language with a light touch, utilizing colorful informal speech that avoids any reliance on British dialects, while still retaining its northern rhythm at times."
According to Phillips, "Zaranko’s approach not only makes the original text accessible to contemporary readers but also helps to maintain its authenticity. As a result, her translation is a remarkable testament to her exceptional skill and expertise in translation, and it stands as a significant achievement in the field of Polish literature in translation."
Penguin’s synopsis of the novel says: “In the village of Lipce, scandal, romance and drama crackle in every hearth. Boryna, a widower and the village’s wealthiest farmer, has taken the young and beautiful Jagusia as his bride – but she only has eyes for his impetuous son Antek.
"Over the course of four seasons – Autumn to Summer – the tangled skein of their story unravels, watched eagerly by the other peasants: the gossip Jagustynka, pious Roch, hot-blooded Mateusz, gentle Witek … Richly lyrical and thrillingly realist, at turns comic, tragic and reflective, Władysław Reymont’s magnum opus is a love song to a lasting dream of rural Poland, and to the eternal, timeless matters of the heart."
The novel has twice been made into a feature film, in 1922 and 1972. The 1972 version was also made into a highly popular television series.
Zaranko was born in England to Polish parents. She graduated in Russian studies from the University of Durham and held two British Council scholarships at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, southern Poland. She conducted research towards a doctoral degree in Polish literature at Oxford University but moved into publishing, alongside translating from Polish, Russian, and French.
In 2020, she received the Found in Translation Award for her translation of The Memoir of an Anti-Hero by Kornel Filipowicz.
Sponsored jointly by the Polish Cultural Institutes in London and New York, the Kraków-based Polish Book Institute and W.A.B. Publishers of Warsaw, the Found in Translation Award is the highest distinction given annually to translators of Polish literature abroad.
(mk/gs)