Jesse Kirkwood

I am a freelance translator working primarily from Japanese and French into English. My focus is the translation of Japanese literary fiction, but I also translate commercial, academic and art-related texts. I have been translating professionally since 2013.

In 2020 I was awarded the Harvill Secker Young Translators’ Prize for my translation of ‘Nocturne’ by Yūshō Takiguchi, which was published on Granta and can be viewed here. My new translation of Seichō Matsumoto’s Tokyo Express was published as a Penguin Modern Classic in June 2022. My translation of the Akutagawa Prize-winning A Perfect Day to Be Alone by Nanae Aoyama was published by MacLehose Press in May 2024. I have also translated the work of Hisashi Kashiwai, Sanaka Hiiragi, Akimitsu Takagi and Mai Mochizuki.

Praise for Tokyo Express:

‘exceptionally well paced and palpably tense, both features admirably preserved by Jesse Kirkwood in this fresh translation’—Times Literary Supplement

‘Jesse Kirkwood’s English translation of Seicho Matsumoto’s dense yet well paced novel is concise and timeless, giving contemporary readers a relatable window into the past’—Japan Times

Praise for A Perfect Day to Be Alone:

‘Kirkwood translates Aoyama’s writing with subdued loveliness‘—Shelf Awareness