Kaytek the Wizard nominated for translation award

Penlight Publications

Kaytek the Wizard (Kajtus Czarodziej), which was penned by celebrated children's writer and philanthropist Dr Janusz Korczak, was originally published in 1934.

It follows the adventures of a young boy who gains magical powers. Initially, Kaytek finds the prospect of getting up to mischief irresistible, but he eventually decides he must use his powers to positive effect.

The English version comes courtesy of award-winning British translator Antonia Lloyd-Jones, who told Polish Radio on the book's release that “Korczak had this extraordinary empathy for children, and this is what makes him a very special writer.”

A committed advocate of children's rights, Janusz Korczak (b. Henryk Goldzmit) was a noted Warsaw physician who founded an orphanage that boasted its own newspaper, parliament and court.

An assimilated Polish Jew, his most famed work for children is King Matt the First (the only other of Korczak's children's tales to have been translated into English) which was described by author Michael Morpurgo as “one of the great classics.” Korczak's tragic end came in 1942, when he died together with his orphans during the Holocaust, at the hands of the German Nazis.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Awards are nominated by the US-based Association for the Recognition of Excellence in SF & F Translation (ARESFFT). There are two categories: Long Form and Short Form, with Kajtek the Wizard nominated for the former. (nh)