Adjunct Professor
With a Ph.D. in Translation Studies and an MA and BA in Spanish Language and Literature, Dr. George Henson brings over 30 years of experience as a professor of Spanish language, literature, and translation to the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. In addition to the classroom, he brings 20 years of professional experience as a translator of both literary and non-literary texts. His research and academic interests lie in the intersection of gender/sexuality and translation, translation criticism, and translation theory, specifically the use of translation as a paradigm for transdisciplinarity.
Trained at the Center for Translation Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas, Dr. Henson specializes in translation of contemporary Latin American prose. In addition to his own translation work, he frequently reviews translations and academic monographs on translation for a number of academic and literary journals. He has delivered papers at national and international conferences and was invited recently to conduct a workshop on literary translation in Havana by the Cuban Association of Translators and Interpreters. He is a member of American Translators Association and American Literary Translators Association.
Recent Accomplishments
Writing in the L.A. Review of Books, Ignacio Sánchez Prado called Dr. Henson “one of the most important literary translators at work in the United States today.”
Previous Work
Dr. Henson’s translations have appeared in numerous publications, including The Guardian, Paris Review, Asymptote, World Literature Today, Latin American Literature Today, and Two Lines.
Ph.D. Translation Studies, University of Texas Dallas
M.A. Spanish, Middlebury College
B.A. Spanish, University of Oklahoma
Bibliography (translated books)
Mephisto’s Waltz: Selected Short Stories by Sergio Pitol
The Magician of Vienna by Sergio Pitol
The Journey by Sergio Pitol
The Art of Flight by Sergio Pitol
The Cannibal Night by Luis Jorge Boone.
The Heart of the Artichoke by Elena Poniatowska
Read His Translations:
| by Jason Warburg
Middlebury Institute students Andrew Belisle MACI ’23 and Leilani Padilla-Young MATI ’22 both recently passed the notoriously difficult Federal Court Interpreter Certification Examination, qualifying them to serve as interpreters in any federal courtroom.
| by Jason Warburg
Mariah Rust MAT ’22, a first-year translation student, has won the prose category of World Literature Today’s Student Translation Prize for 2021.
Middlebury Institute Professor George Henson has been nominated for a Northern California Book Award in the translated fiction category for his translation of Mephisto’s Waltz: Selected Short Stories by Sergio Pitol.
