Instytut Książki
Back to Translators

Jess Jensen Mitchell

Polish English

Contact

About me

Born and raised in Wisconsin, I first became acquainted with Polish culture thanks to my grandmother. I was so intrigued by her stories of village life that I went on to write a PhD about Polish literature at Harvard University. My dissertation focused specifically on representations of Upper Silesia on the post-1989 book market. At various times in my life, I've lived and studied in Krakow, Warsaw, and Katowice.
My translation career began with the Emerging Translator Mentorship with Antonia Lloyd-Jones in 2022. Together, we worked on Jerzy Pilch's notoriously difficult novel, Spis cudzołożnic. Proza podróżna. Our translation, The Register of Adulteresses: A Sentimental Journey, will come out later this year with Open Letter Books. I've attended the Breadloaf Translators' Workshop and BCLT, and I am an active member of ALTA (the American Literary Translators' Association). I always seek out opportunities to promote literary translation and forge connections between translators, authors, publishers, and readers.
I love to translate novels of all genres, short stories, academic texts, memoirs, diaries, and historical documents.

Translations

  • Jerzy Pilch. The List of Adulteresses: A Dime Novel. Translated with Antonia Lloyd-Jones. Open Letter Books, 2026 (forthcoming).
  • Fryderyk Topolski. Life, Times, and People. Translated through the Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program. Azrieli Foundation, 2026 (forthcoming).
  • Itta Kafka. Diary. Translated through the Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program. Azrieli Foundation, 2025.
  • Irena Krzywicka. “Life and Love in the Hen House.” (short story). In: The Penguin Book of Polish Short Stories, Ed. Antonia Lloyd-Jones. Penguin Classics, 2025.
  • Ostap Slyvynsky.“The Borderland Text as a Challenge for the Translator: A Case Study in the Ukrainian Translation Olga Tokarczuk’s The Books of Jacob.” In: The Tender Translator: Olga Tokarczuk Across Languages, Eds. Joanna Trzeciak-Huss and Kasia Szymanska. Legenda MHRA Books, March 2026 (forthcoming).
  • Olesia Nakhlik. “Olga Tokarczuk’s Ukrainian Reception as a Process of Self-Discovery,” In: The Tender Translator: Olga Tokarczuk Across Languages, Eds. Joanna Trzeciak-Huss and Kasia Szymanska. Legenda MHRA Books, March 2026 (forthcoming).
  • Wiktoria Tombarkiewicz-Gorzelik. “The Miner and the Silesian Woman: The Origins and Transformations of Folk Dress and Mining Uniforms as a Representation of Upper Silesian Identity” (academic article). Submitted to History and Anthropology, Taylor & Francis.
  • Dominika Słowik. “Beanstalk,” (short story). Asymptote, November 2025 (forthcoming).
  • Wojciech Śmieja. After Manhood (Book excerpt). In: New Books from Poland Catalogue. Polish Book Institute, Fall 2025.
  • Małgorzata Nocuń. Love Was My Only Crime: Women from the Former Soviet Union. Sample commissioned by Wydawnictwo Czarne, 2025.
  • Monika Muskała. Rodeo Roundabout (novel excerpt). In: New Books from Poland Catalogue. Polish Book Institute, Winter 2024.
  • Dionisios Sturis and Katarzyna Szczerba.“Little Greece: Episode 7: Life in Krościenko.” (audio reportage).
  • Dominika Słowik. “Blizzard,” (short story). Two Lines Journal, Spring 2023.
  • Jerzy Pilch. “An excerpt from The List of Adulteresses: A Sentimental Journey” (novel excerpt). In: Emerging Translator Mentorship Showcase, 2022.
  • Michał Kuziak. “Two Economies: Adam Mickiewicz’s Pan Tadeusz and Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park” (academic article). Przekładaniec: A Journal of Translation Studies, December 2022.
  • Maria Prussak. “The Unstable Text of Pan Tadeusz” (academic article). Przekładaniec: A Journal of Translation Studies, December 2022.
  • Yegor Moskvitin. “HBO’s ‘Chernobyl’ Yegor Moskvitin reviews a poignant new depiction of the Soviet disaster” (review). Meduza, May 2019.

More Translators

See all translators

Silvia Borisova

Polish → Bulgarian

Born 6th April 1950, in Sofia. Graduate of University of Sofia (1968-1972), diploma no. IP-5-243-10 certifying completion of a course of Polish language. Philologist,…

View profile

Seda Köycü

Polish → Turkish

Born 1973. Lives in Ankara, Turkey. Studied Polish philology (1991-1995) at the School of Language and History – Geography of Ankara University. Graduated from…

View profile
See all translators