Jamie Bulloch


Jamie Bulloch is a British historian and translator of German literature, with over fifty published titles to his name, and twice winner of the Schlegel-Tieck prize.

Life and work

Bulloch was born at East Dulwich Hospital, London, in 1969 and grew up in Tooting. He first attended Rosemead School, then Whitgift School, where he opened the bowling for the 1st XI. In 1981 he performed with the Children's Music Theatre at the Edinburgh Fringe in a production directed by Jeremy James Taylor, which was also filmed for Granada Television the same year. He returned to the Fringe in 1983 and 1989, appearing latterly in Silver, written by Jonathan Smith and directed by Anthony Seldon.
After taking a first in Modern Languages at Bristol University, he obtained an MA with distinction in Central European History at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies. He took a couple of years out from studying to teach French and German at St Dunstan's College in London, then resumed with a PhD in interwar Austrian history in which he was supervised by Martyn Rady. He taught German language and Central European History at SSEES, UCL, King's College London and Warwick University, and he is the author of a book on Karl Renner in the 'Makers of the Modern World' series.
Recent translations include The Buried City by the Director of Pompeii Gabriel Zuchtriegel, Murder at the Castle by David Safier, which has been longlisted for the 2026 International Dublin Literary Award, Mimik by Sebastian Fitzek, and Darling Mine by Romy Hausmann. His best known work is Look Who's Back by Timur Vermes, which was longlisted for the 2016 IMPAC award and 2015 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. His translation of Portrait of the Mother as a Young Woman was praised by the Times Literary Supplement. He and his wife, Katharina Bielenberg, jointly translated Daniel Glattauer's hit novel, Love Virtually, and its sequel, Every Seventh Wave, both of which were adapted into radio plays starring David Tennant and Emilia Fox. His translation of Hinterland by Arno Geiger won the 2023 Schlegel-Tieck prize, his second award following The Mussel Feast in 2014. He has been shortlisted on three further occasions, and runner-up twice. In 2021 he had two books on the shortlist for the Schlegel-Tieck Prize. Eight of his translations have been nominated for the Dublin Literary Award. Zen and the Art of Murder was shortlisted for the 2018 Crime Writers Association International Dagger. Another of Bulloch's translations is the 2017 German Book Prize winner, The Capital by Robert Menasse. Since 2013 Jamie has been a member of the New Books in German committee.

Personal life

Jamie and his wife, Katharina Bielenberg, live in London with their three daughters. His father was the British actor Jeremy Bulloch, best known for his portrayal of Boba Fett in the Star Wars films. His brother Robbie portrayed Matthew of Wickham in Robin of Sherwood. His aunt Sally Bulloch was a child actress and had roles in several films including The Pure Hell of St Trinians. She later became the Executive Manager at The Athenaeum Hotel on Piccadilly.

As author

  • ''Karl Renner: Austria''

    As translator

  • The Sweetness of Life, Paulus Hochgatterer
  • Ruth Maier's Diary, Ruth Maier
  • Englischer Fussball, Raphael Honigstein
  • Portrait of the Mother as a Young Woman, F.C. Delius
  • Love Virtually, Daniel Glattauer ∗
  • The Mattress House, Paulus Hochgatterer
  • Mesmerized, Alissa Walser
  • Sea of Ink, Richard Weihe
  • The Taste of Apple Seeds, Katharina Hagena
  • Every Seventh Wave, Daniel Glattauer ∗
  • The Mussel Feast, Birgit Vanderbeke
  • The Chef, Martin Suter
  • Someday We'll Tell Each Other Everything, Daniela Krien
  • Four Meditations on Happiness, Michael Hampe
  • Look Who's Back, Timur Vermes
  • Forever Yours, Daniel Glattauer
  • Raw Material, Jörg Fauser
  • Schlump, Hans Herbert Grimm
  • A Very Special Year, Thomas Montasser
  • Montecristo, Martin Suter
  • The Girl Who Beat ISIS, Farida Khalaf and Andrea C. Hoffmann
  • The Empress and the Cake, Linda Stift
  • Kingdom of Twilight, Steven Uhly
  • The Last Summer, Ricarda Huch
  • Gunning for Greatness: My Life, Mesut Özil with Kai Psotta
  • Zen and the Art of Murder, Oliver Bottini
  • Damnation, Peter Beck
  • One Clear, Ice-Cold January Morning at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century, Roland Schimmelpfennig
  • Elefant, Martin Suter
  • A Summer of Murder, Oliver Bottini
  • The Capital, Robert Menasse
  • You Would Have Missed Me, Birgit Vanderbeke
  • The Dance of Death, Oliver Bottini
  • The Hungry and the Fat, Timur Vermes
  • Dear Child, Romy Hausmann
  • The Day My Grandfather Was a Hero, Paulus Hochgatterer
  • The Package, Sebastian Fitzek
  • Passenger 23, Sebastian Fitzek
  • Love in Five Acts, Daniela Krien
  • Sleepless, Romy Hausmann
  • Night Hunters, Oliver Bottini
  • Alice's Book: How the Nazis Stole My Grandmother's Cookbook, Karina Urbach
  • Hinterland, Arno Geiger
  • Walk me Home, Sebastian Fitzek
  • Liminal, Roland Schimmelpfennig
  • The Invisible Web, Oliver Bottini
  • The Inmate, Sebastian Fitzek
  • The Fire, Daniela Krien
  • In the Long Run We're All Dead: The Lives and Deaths of Great Economists, Björn Frank
  • Anatomy of a Killer, Romy Hausmann
  • What Mother Won't Tell Me, Ivar Leon Menger
  • The White Circle, Oliver Bottini
  • Playlist, Sebastian Fitzek
  • Murder at the Castle, David Safier
  • The Gift, Sebastian Fitzek
  • The Buried City: Unearthing the Real Pompeii, Gabriel Zuchtriegel
  • Generation GDR: Truth, Freedom and One Man's Last Journey, Peter Wensierski
  • Mimik, Sebastian Fitzek
  • Darling Mine, Romy Hausmann

    Awards and nominations

  • 2023: Winner of the Schlegel-Tieck Prize
  • 2021: Two books shortlisted for the Schlegel-Tieck Prize
  • 2020: Runner-up in the Schlegel-Tieck Prize
  • 2020: Shortlisted for the Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize
  • 2018: Shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association International Dagger
  • 2014: Winner of the Schlegel-Tieck Prize
  • 2014: Runner-up in the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize
  • 2013: Runner-up in the Schlegel-Tieck Prize