Bio note

Jan Paul Hinrichs was born in The Hague (Netherlands) in 1956. He studied Slavic languages and Italian at Leiden University from 1975 until 1981. During the course 1979-1980 he studied nine months at Sofia University. Since 1982 he works at Leiden University as a Slavist. In 1985 he defended his doctoral dissertation in the field of Old Bulgarian linguistics. He wrote several monographs in the field of Slavic studies, including In Search of Another St Petersburg: Venice in Russian Poetry (1997), and Nicolaas van Wijk (1880-1941): Slavist, Linguist, Philantropist (2006), the biography of Holland's first and foremost Slavist. His scholarly work includes articles on the Bulgarian poets Pencho Slaveikov and Aleksandar Vutimski.

Apart from his scholarly work, Jan Paul Hinrichs is a translator of Russian and Bulgarian literature and a writer of literary essays. His translations in book form include poetry by Elisaveta Bagryana (1981), Nikolai Kanchev (1991) and Atanas Dalchev (2007). He published collections of essays on writers in Odessa, De mythe van Odessa (The Myth of Odessa, 2011), and Riga, Trefpunt Riga (Meeting Point Riga, 2017), as well as a book of personal memoirs on Eastern Europe, Brief uit Vidin (Letter from Vidin, 2016). His books are translated in Italian, German, English, Russian and Ukrainian.

Residency goals

During his residency stay at Literature and Translation House, Jan Paul Hinrichs worked on his new book - a "literary guide" of Sofia, published by Bas Lubberhuizen Publishers in Amsterdam as part of their series that currently include literary guides on Dublin, Tübingen, Istanbul, Oxford, Napoli and many others.

Public events

• 2nd May | 17:30 | Sofia Literature and Translation House: Writing the Image of Sofia - Presentation of the work of Jan Paul Hinrichs, translator-in-residence at the Sofia Literature and Translation House, and discussion with colleagues. (in Bulgarian and English; if necessary - consecutive translation)

In partnership with the project "Hidden Letters", an initiative of Read Sofia Foundation. 

Residency materials
 

Jan Paul Hinrichs: Sofia Express, Bas Lubberhuizen, Amsterdam,   2019     The book is written during Jan Paul Hinrichs's residency at Sofia Literature and    Translation House