CV
Publications
Fiction
A Modern Way to Die, Smallstories and Microtales, a collection of short fiction, Fromm International Publishing, New York, 1991; paperback edition, Fromm Publishing International, New York, 1993; second edition, Pelekinesis, Claremont, Cal. 2020
Stimme und Atem/ Out of Breath…Out of Mind, a bilingual German-English collection of my stories originally composed in German,
PalmArt Press, Berlin, 2019
Excerpt “I Harbor a Stillborn Scribe of the German Tongue in Me,”
The Yale Review, May 2019
Footprints in Wet Cement, a collection of short prose
Pelekinesis, Claremont, Cal., 2017
Cold Earth Wanderers, a novel
Pelekinesis, Claremont, Cal., 2014
Nonfiction
Epiphany of a Middle-Aged Pilgrim, Essays in lieu of a Memoir, Pelekinesis, Claremont, Cal., 2021
Ghost Dance in Berlin, A Rhapsody in Gray, a travel memoir,
Travelers’ Tales, Palo Alto, Cal., 2013; Geistertanz in Berlin, Eine Rhapsodie in Grau, aus dem Amerikanischen von Werner Rauch, Palm Art Press, Berlin, 2021
The Caring Heirs of Doctor Samuel Bard (Profiles of Selected Distinguished Graduates at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons), Columbia University Press, New York, April 2019
Poetry
Driftwood at the River’s Edge, cutup poems, Bamboo Dart Press, Upland, Cal., 2023
Borrowed Words, cutup poems, Bamboo Dart Press, Upland, Cal., 2022
Collaborative Works
Odd Birds & Fat Cats (An Urban Bestiary), text by Peter Wortsman, art by Aurélie Bernard Wortsman, Turtle Point Press, Brooklyn, NY, forthcoming 2025
Einblattdruck Nr. 170, Der Müll Tanzt einen Walzer mit dem Wind / The Garbage Waltzes with the Wind, a broadsheet, text by Peter Wortsman, etching by Harold Wortsman, PalmArt Press, Berlin, 2020
New York, NY, 1978, a book of photographs and text, comprising photographs by Jean-Luc Dubin and text by Peter Wortsman, translated from the original English into French by Claudie Bernard, Les Editions Dumerchez, Creil, France, 2016
it - t = i, an artist’s book, produced in collaboration with artist, Harold Wortsman, limited edition, Here and Now Press, Brooklyn, NY, 2004.
Journalism
Articles published in the Boston Globe, Cicero, Der Tagesspiegel, Die Welt, Die Zeit, Literary Hub, the Los Angeles Times, Mr. Beller’s Neighborhod, The New York Times, The Paris Review, The Washington Post, and other newspapers, periodicals and websites in the U.S. and elsewhere
Translations
I Just Let Life Rain Down on Me, selected letters and reflections of Rahel Levin Varnhagen, selected and translated and with a foreword by Peter Wortsman, Seagull Books, Kolkata, India, forthcoming May 2024
The Golden Pot, And Other Tales of the Uncanny, by E.T.A. Hoffmann, selected, translated and with an afterword by Peter Wortsman, Archipelago Books, Brooklyn, NY, 2023
Intimate Ties, by Robert Musil, translated and with an afterword
Archipelago Books, Brooklyn, NY, 2019
Hinkemann, a tragedy by Ernst Toller, translated, in The Mercurian, Fall 2017; print edition, Berlinica Books, Berlin and New York, 2020
The Sandman, by E.T.A. Hoffmann, translated, Penguin Little Black Classics, Penguin Classics, London, UK, 2016; English-Chinese edition, Penguin Little Black Classics, 2020
Konundrum, Selected Prose of Franz Kafka, selected, translated, and with an afterword, Archipelago Books, Brooklyn, NY, 2016
The Creator, a fantasy, by Mynona (aka Salomo Friedlaender), translated and with an afterword, Wakefield Press, Cambridge, Mass., 2014
Tales of the German Imagination, from The Brothers Grimm to Ingeborg Bachmann, an anthology, selected, edited, translated, and with an introduction, Penguin Classics, London, U.K. and New York, U.S., 2013
Selected Tales of the Brothers Grimm, selected, translated, and with an afterword, Archipelago Books, Brooklyn, NY, 2013
Selected Short Prose of Heinrich von Kleist, selected, translated, and with an afterword, Archipelago Books, Brooklyn, NY, 2010
Travel Pictures, by Heinrich Heine, translated, and with an afterword, Archipelago Books, Brooklyn, NY, 2008
Telegrams of the Soul, Selected Prose of Peter Altenberg, selected, translated, and with an afterward, Archipelago Books, Brooklyn, NY, 2005 (First Serial excerpts, The New England Review, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT, Spring 2005; and The Brooklyn Rail, Brooklyn, NY, May 2005)
Recommendation Whether to Confiscate, Destroy and Burn All Jewish Books, a classic call for tolerance, by Johannes Reuchlin, translated, edited and with a foreword, The Paulist Press, Mahwah, NJ, 2000
Peter Schlemiel, The Man Who Sold His Shadow, by Adelbert von Chamisso, translated and with an introduction, Fromm International Publishing, New York, 1993
Posthumous Papers of a Living Author, by Robert Musil, translated, Volume One of Eridanos Library, Hygiene, Col., 1988; second edition, Penguin 20th Century Classics, Penguin, London, U.K., 1995; third edition, translated and with an afterword, Archipelago Books, Brooklyn, NY, 2006; Flypaper, a selection, Penguin Mini-Classics, Penguin Books, London, UK, 2011
Songs from the Depths of Hell (Sung by Aleksander Kulisiewicz), album of songs from the Nazi concentration camps, produced, annotated and translated, Folkways, New York, 1978; reissued by Smithsonian Folkways, Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C., 1993.
Stage Productions
Der Tätowierte Mann Sagt Alles, German translation by Karin Rausch, of my play The Tattooed Man Tells All, directed by Kevin Barz, at the Deutsches Theater, in Göttingen, Germany, premiered October 8, 2020
Hinkemann, a Tragedy, by Ernst Toller, staged reading of excerpts from my translation, directed by Matt Ward, read by Lauren Gregory and Ric Area Royer, at the Lichtundfire Gallery, NYC, January 25, 2020
The Tattooed Man Tells All, original stage play, produced by the Silverthorne Theater Company, directed by Ellen Kaplan, starring Keith Langsdale, Hawks and Reed Performing Arts Center, Pushkin Studio, Greenfield, Mass., May 3-6, 2018; restaged Smith College Theater, Northampton, Mass, April 16, 2019
Peter Schlemiel, stage play inspired by my English translation of the German Romantic classic of the same name, by Adelbert von Chamisso, produced at Mountview Academy of Theater, London, UK, summer 2016
Wo man Bücher verbrennt…Reuchlins Streit um das jüdische Schrifttum, a translation by Peter Torberg of my original stage play Burning Words, Theater Ensemble of the Kulturhaus Osterfeld, under the direction of Reinhard Kölmel, Jan. 25-May 4, 2014
Burning Words, original stage play, produced by The Hampshire Shakespeare Company, directed by Lucinda Kidder, Northampton Center for the Arts, Northampton, Mass., Nov. 17-19, 2006; reprise performance, produced by The Hampshire Shakespeare Company, directed by Lucinda Kidder, Forum Theater, Holyoke Community College, Holyoke, Mass., April 30, 2007; issued as a DVD by The Hampshire Shakespeare Company, 2008; Burning Words, staged reading of excerpts, Leo Baeck Institute, Center for Jewish History, New York, April 3, 2016
Burning Words: The Battle of the Books, an exhibit inspired by my play Burning Words and by my translation of Johannes Reuchlin’s landmark call for religious tolerance, Recommendation Whether to Confiscate, Destroy and Burning all Jewish Books, (Paulist Press, 2000), Feb. 8 - May 6, 2016, Rare Book Room, Center for Jewish History, New York
Professional Appearances
Over 150 lectures and literary readings in the U.S. and elsewhere
Fellowships and Awards
Gold Grand Prize for Best Travel Story of the Year, 2012, Solas Awards for Best Travel Writing, for Protect, a travel narrative
Eric Hoffer Book Award, 2013, finalist for Ghost Dance in Berlin: A Rhapsody in Gray
Independent Publishers Book Award (IPPY), 2014, Silver Award in the Travel Essay category, for Ghost Dance in Berlin: A Rhapsody in Gray
Holtzbrinck Fellow, The American Academy in Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 2010
Geertje Potash-Suhr SCALG-Prosapreis (a prize for short original fiction in German), awarded by the Society for Contemporary American Literature in German, for a series of original German texts published in the journal Trans-Lit-2, 2008
Beard's Fund Short Story Award, NYC, 1985, for A Holy Vision and Others (for which I was nominated by novelist Walter Abish)
Thomas J. Watson Foundation Fellowship, Providence, RI, 1974-75, to interview Holocaust survivors in Austria, Eastern Europe, and Israel
Fulbright‑Hayes Fellowship, Washington D.C., 1973‑74, for study of the German Märchen tradition, Albert Ludwig Universität, Freiburg, Germany
Other Honors
The Soul of a Great Traveler: 10 Years of Solas Award-Winning Travel Stories, 2017 (Travelers’ Tales), text included
The Best Travel Writing, 2008-2012, and 2016 (Travelers’ Tales), texts included
The Gold Award-Winning Best Travel Book in the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition of the Society of American Travel Writers, 2008, Encounters with the Middle East, text included
Pro‑Helvetia Foundation Grant, Zürich, Switzerland, 1990, for translation of excerpts from 69 Ways to Play the Blues, by the Swiss writer Jürg Laederach
Education and Accreditations
American Translator’s Association, Alexandria, VA
Accreditation in German, 1984
New York University, NYC
M.A. in German Language and Literature, 1982
Albert Ludwig Universität, Freiburg, Germany
Graduate study in German folklore on Fulbright Hayes Fellowship, 1973-74
Fulbright Certificate, 1974
Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass.
B.A., English and American Literature, Magna Cum Laude, with Honors, 1973
Stuyvesant High School, NYC
Diploma with Honors, and French Gold Award, 1969
Teaching
Flash Fiction Festival, Bristol, UK, June 28-30, 2019
Conducted workshops in Turning Yourself Inside-Out to Get at the Core—Self-Translation as a Source for Flash Fiction and Flash in the Footsteps of Kafka & Co.
Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J., Fall 2018
Department of German, Russian, and Eastern European Languages and Literatures
Visiting Scholar in the College of Arts and Sciences
Lessons from a Laboratory in Literary Translation, a graduate seminar
Hampshire College, Amherst, Mass., Nov. 2002
Visiting Scholar, History Department and Center for the Book
Adelphi University, Garden City, NY, 1978‑81.
Adjunct Instructor in Writing Program, Department of English
Taught courses in The Art and Craft of Writing, Writing and Self Exploration, and Writing About Society
> About > Interviews >Readings >CV
Copyright © 2020. All Rights Reserved. Peter Wortsman