Biography
I graduated from Worcester College, Oxford with a BA in German and Philosophy in 2019 (First Class), before completing my MA in Translation Studies at the University of Sheffield (Distinction). After my MA, I spent a year working at a sixth form college in an outreach / pastoral capacity, before returning to Oxford in 2021 to begin my DPhil in Medieval and Modern Languages, for which I was successfully examined in February 2025.
Research
My doctoral research examined English translations of a selection of German language novels, from Irmgard Keun's Das kunstseidene Mädchen and Gilgi to Sasha Marianna Salzmann's Ausser Sich. I focused on consciousness narratives whose authors have attempted to (and sometimes struggled to) articulate the mind of a gendered subject, and investigated how, and how successfully, these attempts have been translated into English.
I worked under the supervision of Dr Georgina Paul at St Hilda's College, and my research was generously supported by the Clarendon Fund, the OOC AHRC DTP Scholarship, and the St Hugh's College Flora Welch Scholarship.
Teaching and Outreach
I am currently a Stipendiary Lecturer at Somerville College. I offer a variety of Paper VIII modules including ranging from Goethe, the buergerliches Trauerspiel, the 'Postwar Restoration Frenzy' in Austria, and Representations of Trauma.
I have also taught the Prelims poetry paper, and am particularly passionate about teaching Unseen Translation from German at all levels. Recently I held a feminist translation micro-conference with second years, in which students workshopped German extracts together and presented their findings in the form of lightning talks. Other recent classes have focused on the translation of wordplay, children's books, newspaper reports, and prose poetry. As part of my teaching, I have been awarded Associate Fellowship of the HEA.
In Hilary 2023 I began working as a Graduate Ambassador for the MML faculty, which involves designing and delivering sessions for school students to promote progression to languages A-Levels and GCSEs, as well as encouraging applications to Oxford. I am working with schools in the North of England as part of the Faculty's VOx programme, and have developed and led sessions around tactile translations of German poetry, the bilingual identity, and English-to-English translation classes.
I am part of the jury for New Books in German, reporting on German-language works to assess their suitability for translation into English [About Us – New Books in German (new-books-in-german.com)].
Publications
'Mind Your Language! Profanity and Promiscuity in Two English Translations of Irmgard Keun’s Das kunstseidene Mädchen (1932)', Journal of Languages, Texts and Society, 7 (2024) [available from lts-vol.-7-final-i-parkinson.pdf (nottingham.ac.uk)]
[forthcoming] ‘Speaking Your Mind: The Translation of Orality in Marlen Haushofer’s Prose’, German Life and Letters
Selected Presentations
Hilary 2022 -- presented a talk on 'Authers, Lovhers, and Herstories: Translation as Disruption' in the postgraduate roundtable at the OCCT Metaphors in Translation Conference. [https://www.occt.ox.ac.uk/cct-review/conference-review-reflections-metaphors-translation-conference/]
Trinity 2022 -- chaired the Spatial and Temporal Determinism panel and presented a paper entitled 'Bridget Jones' Stenography: The Importance of a Translation's Historical Moment' in the Spaces of Comparison panel at the 19th Annual German Graduate Symposium on Space, Time, and Direction, held in Oxford. [https://www.mod-langs.ox.ac.uk/events/2022/05/06/19th-annual-german-graduate-symposium-space-time-and-direction/]
Trinity 2022 -- presented a paper entitled '"Wie kann ich als Frau zu einer Stimme kommen?": Analysing English translations of women-authored consciousness narratives' at the Clarendon Colloquium, held at Lincoln College.
Trinity 2022 -- presented a paper entitled ‘Let’s (Not) Talk About Sex, Baby: Promiscuity and Profanity in English Translations of Das kunstseidene Mädchen (1932)' at the 70th National Postgraduate Colloquium in German Studies held at King's College, London. [https://modernlanguages.sas.ac.uk/events/event/26267/]
Michaelmas 2023 -- presented a paper entitled 'Translating Interiority: Female Consciousness in Marlen Haushofer’s Die Wand (1963)' at the Women In German Studies 35th Annual Conference, held at the University of Exeter [CfP: WIGS 35th Annual Conference, University of Exeter, 3-4 November 2023 – Women in German Studies (wordpress.com)]
Other Roles and Achievements
Hilary 2022 -- winner of the St Hugh's College Edith McMorran Verse Translation Prize, with a translation of Marlene Streeruwitz's Der Abend nach dem Begräbnis der besten Freundin. [https://www.st-hughs.ox.ac.uk/st-hughs-announces-the-winner-of-the-edith-mcmorran-prize-2022/]
Michaelmas 2022 - Trinity 2023 -- co-convened the Modern German Graduate Seminar, and co-organised the 'Movement and Moment' 20th Annual Modern German Graduate Symposium, held at St Hugh's College in May 2023.
Michaelmas 2022 - Michaelmas 2023 -- served on the Clarendon Scholars' Council as Communications Officer and editor of the Clarendon Chronicle.
Michaelmas 2022 - Michaelmas 2023 -- member of the organising committee for the 8th Annual AHRC International 'Entanglements' Conference. [Entanglements - 2023 AHRC International Conference | Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership (oocdtp.ac.uk)]
Michaelmas 2024 -- winner of the Women+ in German Studies 2024 Essay Prize, with an essay entitled 'Speaking Your Mind: The Translation of Orality in Marlen Haushofer’s Prose'.