University of Richmond Professor Kurt Beals Awarded National Fellowship for Work in German Translation

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND — Kurt Beals, a German studies professor and humanities fellow in literary translation at the University of Richmond, has been awarded a fellowship by the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.

Founded in 1971, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts is an internationally renowned artist residency program, hosting both emerging and establish writers, visual artists, and composers for fully funded stays that support their work on creative projects. Fellows are selected through competitive peer review based on the important or innovative work they are doing in their respective fields.

Beals, who has taught at UR since 2023, will join a group of 22 fellows in Amherst, Virginia, next spring, where he will work on a translation of the Frankfurt Lectures by Ingeborg Bachmann. Bachmann was a celebrated 20th century Austrian writer and poet who grew up during World War II.

“I’m grateful to the VCCA for their support of my translation work,” said Beals. “Ingeborg Bachmann’s works across genres, including poetry, fiction, and criticism, have been experiencing a revival with new translations in recent decades. Her Frankfurt Lectures articulate key principles of her understanding of literature, and I hope that my new translation will bring her insights to a broader audience.”

Beals’ most recent work as a translator includes acclaimed editions of All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, The Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse, and Things that Disappear by contemporary German author Jenny Erpenbeck.

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