Gregory Kolovakos

American literary translator, best known as translator of Latin American literature

Gregory Kolovakos (July 30, 1951 – April 16, 1990) was an American literary translator and activist, best known as a translator of Latin American literature by writers such as Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar, José Donoso and Mario Vargas Llosa,^[1] and as the founding executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.^[2]

He was also director of the literature program for the New York State Council on the Arts,^[3] a board member of the Lesbian and Gay Community Service Center,^[1] and a founder of the AIDS Treatment Project^[1] and the PEN Fund for Writers and Editors with AIDS.^[4]

He died of AIDS on April 16, 1990 at his home in Manhattan.^[1] He was survived by his partner Bruce Becker.^[5] Following his death, the PEN American Center's Gregory Kolovakos Award and the Lambda Literary Foundation's Gregory Kolovakos Award for AIDS Literature were named in his honour.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Gregory Kolovakos; Translator, 38". The New York Times, April 17, 1990.
^ Vincent Doyle, Making Out in the Mainstream: GLAAD and the Politics of Respectability. McGill-Queen's University Press, 2016. ISBN 9780773546783.
^ "'Poet Laureate' of New York Given Honors Posthumously". The New York Times, March 18, 1982.
^ "Public Reading to Help AIDS-Afflicted Writers". The New York Times, September 15, 1988.
^ "Corrections". The New York Times, April 21, 1990.