[Translation of] Pan Tadeusz: The Last Foray in Lithuania by Adam Mickiewicz
The national epic of Poland and the larger Lithuanian region has become ingrained in the Polish literary consciousness. Bill Johnston’s translation of Pan Tadeusz: The Last Foray in Lithuania by Adam Mickiewicz (Archipelago Books, 2018), allows English-language readers to experience the richness, humor, and narrative energy of the original.
Interlacing narrative threads include the homecoming of Pan Tadeusz from his studies in the city; a feud between local families over ownership of a ruined castle; clandestine preparations for Polish participation in Napoleon’s anticipated invasion of Russia; and the mystery of Father Robak (“Worm”), a monk whose involvement in all the different stories seems to draw them together.
Bill Johnston is professor of Comparative Literature at Indiana University, Bloomington. He has received fellowships and awards for his translations from Found in Translation, the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the PEN America Center, and Three Percent. His recent translations include A Treatise on Shelling Beans by Wiesław Myśliwski (Archipelago Press, 2013) and Twelve Stations by Tomasz Rózycki (Zephyr Press, 2015). He was awarded the PEN Translation Prize and Three Percent’s Best Translated Book Award in 2012 for Stone Upon Stone by Wiesław Myśliwski (Archipelago Press, 2011). His translation of Pan Tadeusz was supported by a Guggenheim Fellowship (2013-2014).
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