Mitchell, Stephen 1943–

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Mitchell, Stephen 1943–

PERSONAL: Born 1943, in New York, NY; married. Education: Attended the Sorbonne, Paris, France; Amherst College; and Yale University.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, HarperCollins, 10 E. 53rd St., New York, NY 10022.

CAREER: Writer, poet, and translator.

AWARDS, HONORS: Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, 2004, for The Wishing Bone and Other Poems.

WRITINGS:

Parables and Portraits, Harper & Row (New York, NY), 1990.

The Gospel according to Jesus: A New Translation and Guide to His Essential Teachings for Believers and Unbelievers, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1991.

Meetings with the Archangel: A Comedy of the Spirit (fiction), HarperFlamingo (New York, NY), 1998.

The Frog Prince: A Fairy Tale for Consenting Adults, Harmony Books (New York, NY), 1999.

(With Byron Katie) Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life, Harmony Books (New York, NY), 2002.

(With Byron Katie) A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are, Harmony Books (New York, NY), 2007.

Also contributor to sound recording Job, Peter Maxwell Davies, Collins Classics (London, England), 1997. Contributor to periodicals, including the Nation.

TRANSLATOR AND ADAPTOR

T. Carmi, Somebody Like You: Poems, Deutsch (London, England), 1971.

Dan Pagis, Poems Translated from the Hebrew by Stephen Mitchell, Carcanet Press (South Hinksey, Oxford, England), 1971.

Into the Whirlwind: A Translation of the Book of Job, Doubleday (Garden City, NY), 1979, reprinted as The Book of Job, North Point Press (San Francisco, CA), 1987.

Dan Pagis, Points of Departure, introduction by Robert Alter, Jewish Publication Society of America (Philadelphia, PA), 1981.

(And editor) Rainer Maria Rilke, The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, introduction by Robert Hass, Random House (New York, NY), 1982.

Rainer Maria Rilke, The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, Random House (New York, NY), 1983.

Rainer Maria Rilke, Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke = The Lay of the Love and Death of Cornet Christoph Rilke (bilingual edition; also see below), illustrated by Warren Chappell, Arion Press (San Francisco, CA), 1983.

(And author of foreword) Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet, Random House (New York, NY) 1984, reprinted, Modern Library (New York, NY), 2001.

(And author of introduction and notes) Rainer Maria Rilke, The Sonnets to Orpheus, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY) 1985.

(And editor, with Chana Bloch) Yehuda Amichai, The Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai, Harper & Row (New York, NY), 1986.

(And author of foreword and notes) Lao-tzu, Tao Te Ching: A New English Version, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1988.

Rainer Maria Rilke, Duino Elegies, Shambhala (Boston, MA), 1992.

(And selector) A Book of Psalms: Selected and Adapted from the Hebrew, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1993.

(And editor) Rainer Maria Rilke, Ahead of All Parting: The Selected Poetry and Prose of Rainer Maria Rilke, Modern Library (New York, NY), 1995.

Genesis: A New Translation of the Classic Biblical Stories, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1996.

Dan Pagis, The Selected Poetry of Dan Pagis, introduction by Robert Alter, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1996.

Pablo Neruda, Full Woman, Fleshly Apple, Hot Moon: Selected Poems of Pablo Neruda, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1997.

(With James A. Autry) Real Power: Business Lessons from the Tao Te Ching, Riverhead Books (New York, NY), 1998.

Tao Te Ching: An Illustrated Journey, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1999.

Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation, Harmony Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Gilgamesh: A New English Version, Free Press (New York, NY), 2004.

EDITOR

Dropping Ashes on the Buddha: The Teaching of Zen Master Seung Sahn, Grove Press (New York, NY), 1976.

The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry, Harper & Row (New York, NY), 1989.

The Enlightened Mind: An Anthology of Sacred Prose, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1991.

(With Robert Hass) Into the Garden: A Wedding Anthology: Poetry and Prose on Love and Marriage, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1993.

Walt Whitman, Song of Myself, Shambhala (Boston, MA), 1993.

Bestiary: An Anthology of Poems about Animals, Frog (Berkeley, CA), 1996.

The Essence of Wisdom: Words from the Masters to Illuminate the Spiritual Path, Broadway Books (New York, NY), 1998.

FOR CHILDREN

The Creation, illustrated by Ori Sherman, Dial Books (New York, NY), 1990.

Jesus: What He Really Said and Did, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2002.

(Reteller) Hans Christian Andersen, The Nightingale, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline, Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2002.

The Wishing Bone and Other Poems, illustrated by Tom Pohrt, Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2003.

ADAPTATIONS: Translation of books into sound recordings include Tao Te Ching, Audio Literature (San Francisco, CA), 1989; and Gilgamesh, Recorded Books (Prince Frederick, MD), 2004.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Working on a retelling of stories, including Iron Hans, and Hans Christian Andersen's The Tinderbox and The Ugly Duckling, all for Candlewick Press; Aladdin's Magic Lamp and Other Tales from the 1001 Nights, for Walker.

SIDELIGHTS: Fluent in Arabic, Sanskrit, Chinese, and several other languages, Stephen Mitchell is an accomplished translator noted for his definitive translations of everything from the writings of Rainer Maria Rilke to reinterpretations from the Bible. He is also a poet, editor, and author of original fiction. Among his translations is The Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai, a poet whom Mark Rudman described in the Nation as "one of the half-dozen leading poets in the world." Rudman went on to note the Mitchell and his co-translator, Chana Bloch, "get inside the text and render a subtler, more complex and formally expert Amichai than we have seen before in English."

Mitchell is especially noted for his translation of religious texts, such as his translation of the 2,000-year-old Chinese religious book the Tao Te Ching: A New English Version, written by Laozi (also spelled Lao Tzu). Ann-Ping Chin, writing in the New Republic, believed that the author's "rendition of the Tao Te Ching is beautiful and accessible; again the English, as 'fluid as melting ice,' is a joy to read throughout." Nation contributor David Hinton appreciated that "Mitchell's translation is clearly intended for the novice in Eastern thought."

Mitchell is also the translator for Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation. Graham Christian, writing in the Library Journal, commented that the author's "language flows with great naturalness." A Publishers Weekly contributor further noted that "Mitchell's translation is intimate and personal." Commenting in the National Review on Mitchell's rendition of Genesis: A New Translation of the Classic Biblical Stories, Jacob Neusner praised the work as "an authentically fresh, surprising, and winning translation." Wilson Quarterly contributor Jan Morris wrote that the translation is "intended for readers who want a swift, uncluttered narrative," adding: "The result is a compact and vigorous narrative."

Mitchell also writes fiction, including the novel Meetings with the Archangel: A Comedy of the Spirit. The main character, Stephen, is the author's alter ego, a successful author of a popular spiritual book incorporating his Zen training. When The Archangel Gabriel appears to Stephen, the reader is presented with Stephen's life and spiritual search as he tells it to Gabriel, from Stephen's days as a doubter to his meeting with a Zen master who helps show him the way. "He succeeds in creating a parable for thinking people with a hunger for reality," wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor. Booklist critic Bonnie Johnston called the novel a "touching fictional memoir."

In The Frog Prince: A Parable of Love and Transformation, Mitchell serves as the reteller of the famous fairy tell of the princess and the frog. In Mitchell's version, the princess encounters a frog who promises to retrieve the gold ball the princess dropped down the well if she agrees to take the frog in and treat him as a friend and spouse. Ray Olson observed in Booklist that the author takes the short fairy tale and "expands [it] into a psychological and philosophical novella"; the critic called the book "thoroughly delightful entertainment." A Publishers Weekly contributor similarly wrote that "the tale is gracefully told, and sympathetic readers will find it an appealing tribute to the original."

Mitchell also took on the retelling of The Nightingale by Hans Christian Andersen. A Publishers Weekly contributor commented that both the author and the illustrator, Bagram Ibatoulline, meet the "high expectations." The author's The Wishing Bone and Other Poems is a collection of nine original, nonsensical poems by the author. A Kirkus Reviews contributor called the book a "nicely diverse gathering of words and art," while Ilene Cooper asserted in Booklist that the poems are "whimsical and thought-provoking."

Mitchell took a nontraditional and controversial approach with his book Jesus: What He Really Said and Did. This time the author presents his interpretation of which sayings attributed to Jesus are likely true. This version is adapted for young adults from Mitchell's earlier book The Gospel according to Jesus. Writing in Booklist, Ilene Cooper noted that the author "offers an easily understood, thought-provoking journey through the Gospels." A Publishers Weekly contributor felt that "readers from various traditions will identify with his doubts and his quests for answers."

Although the author has worked more and more on his own writings for children and retelling of stories, Mitchell has continued to provide new translations of classic works. In a review of Mitchell's 2004 translation of the Old English classic Gilgamesh: A New English Version, a Publishers Weekly contributor attested, "This wonderful new version of the story of Gilgamesh shows how the story came to achieve literary immortality." Writing in the Library Journal, Morris Hounion commented that "Mitchell uses various versions of the tale to achieve a fuller and more free-flowing adaptation."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Scholar, winter, 2001, Sunil Iyengar, review of Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation, p. 153.

Booklist, August, 1998, Bonnie Johnston, review of Meetings with the Archangel: A Comedy of the Spirit, p. 1967; September 1, 1999, Ray Olson, review of The Frog Prince: A Parable of Love and Transformation, p. 8; February 15, 2002, Michelle Kaske, review of Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life, p. 973; March 15, 2002, Ilene Cooper, review of Jesus: What He Really Said and Did, p. 1247; October 1, 2002, Ilene Cooper, review of Jesus, p. 344; April 1, 2003, Ilene Cooper, review of The Wishing Bone and Other Poems, p. 1407.

History Today, November, 2005, review of Gilgamesh: A New English Version, p. 66.

Horn Book, September-October, 2002, Patty Campbell, review of Jesus, p. 598; July-August, 2003, Susan P. Bloom, review of The Wishing Bone and Other Poems, p. 474.

Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2002, review of The Nightingale, p. 1396; March 1, 2003, review of The Wishing Bone and Other Poems, p. 393.

Kliatt, July, 2003, Claire Rosser, review of Jesus, p. 43.

Library Journal, July, 2000, Graham Christian, review of Bhagavad Gita, p. 101; February 15, 2002, Susan Burdick, review of Loving What Is, p. 166; July, 2004, Morris Hounion, review of Gilgamesh, p. 83.

Middle East, October 2005, Fred Rhodes, review of Gilgamesh, p. 65.

Nation, December 6, 1986, Mark Rudman, review of The Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai, p. 646; June 26, 1989, David Hinton, review of Tao Te Ching: A New English Version, p. 893.

National Review, December 9, 1996, Jacob Neusner, review of Genesis: A New Translation of the Classic Biblical Stories, p. 61.

New Republic, January 2, 1989, Ann-Ping Chin, review of Tao Te Ching, p. 38.

Psychology Today, November-December, 1996, "In the Beginning Was the Word (but It Had to Be Translated)," interview with the author, p. 28.

Publishers Weekly, September 6, 1991, review of Letters to a Young Poet, p. 80; July 27, 1998, review of Meetings with the Archangel, p. 53; September 6, 1999, review of The Frog Prince, p. 78; July 10, 2000, review of Bhagavad Gita, p. 58; November 13, 2000, "Stephen Mitchell: Man of Letters, beyond Words," interview with the author; February 4, 2002, review of Loving What Is, p. 67; April 1, 2002, Jennifer M. Brown, "PW Talks with Stephen Mitchell," p. 80; April 1, 2002, review of Jesus, p. 80; October 14, 2002, review of The Nightingale, p. 84; February 17, review of The Wishing Bone and Other Poems, p. 76; August 16, 2004, review of Gilgamesh, p. 41.

School Library Journal, August, 2002, Linda Beck, review of Jesus, p. 212; November, 2002, Heide Piehler, review of The Nightingale, p. 110; May, 2003, Sally R. Dow, review of The Wishing Bone and Other Poems, p. 140.

U.S. Catholic, March, 2003, Peter Gilmour, review of Bhagavad Gita, p. 6.

Wilson Quarterly, winter, 1997, Jan Morris, review of Genesis, p. 101.