Stephen Mitchell

"Stephen Mitchell" redirects here. For information about the psychologist, see Stephen A. Mitchell

Stephen Mitchell (b. 1943 in Brooklyn, New York) is a poet, translator, scholar, and anthologist. He is married to author Byron Katie.

Biography

Mitchell was educated at Amherst College, the University of Paris, and Yale University, and de-educated through intensive Zen practice, most notably with the Korean teacher Seung Sahn and with Robert Aitken in Hawaii.^{[citation needed]} He is widely known for his translations of old classics which use a poetic rather than literal approach. Languages that Stephen Mitchell has translated from include: German, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, and Danish. Languages that he has not translated from, but rather put together interpretive versions from existing translations into Western languages include: Chinese (Tao Te Ching), Sanskrit (Bhagavad Gita), Akkadian or ancient Babylonian (Gilgamesh). He also co-wrote two of Byron Katie's books, Loving What Is and A Thousand Names for Joy.

Books

Poetry

• Parables and Portraits, HarperCollins, 1990, ISBN 0-06-092532-9

Fiction

• The Frog Prince: A Fairy Tale for Consenting Adults, Harmony Books, 1999, ISBN 0-60-960545-3
• Meetings with the Archangel: A Comedy of the Spirit, HarperCollins, 1998, ISBN 0-06-018245-8

Nonfiction

• A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are (with Byron Katie), Harmony Books, 2007, ISBN 0-307-33923-8
• Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life (with Byron Katie), Harmony Books, 2002, ISBN 1-400-04537-1
• The Gospel According to Jesus, Harper Perennial 1993, ISBN 0-060-92321-0

Translations and adaptations

• Gilgamesh: A New English Version, Free Press, 2004, ISBN 0-74-326169-0
• Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation, Harmony Books, 2002, ISBN 0-60-981034-0
• Real Power: Business Lessons from the Tao Te Ching (with James A. Autry), Riverhead Books, 1998, ISBN 1-57-322089-2
• Full Woman, Fleshly Apple, Hot Moon: Selected Poems of Pablo Neruda, HarperCollins, 1997, ISBN 0-06-018285-7
• Genesis: A New Translation of the Classic Biblical Stories, Harper Collins, 1996, ISBN 0-06-092856-5
• Ahead of All Parting: The Selected Poetry and Prose of Rainer Maria Rilke, Modern Library, 1995, 0-67-960161-9
• A Book of Psalms: Selected and Adapted from the Hebrew, Harper Perennial, 1994, ISBN 0-06-092470-5
• The Selected Poetry of Dan Pagis, University of California Press, 1996, ISBN 0-52-020539-1
• Tao Te Ching, HarperCollins, 1988, hardcover ISBN 0-06-016001-2, paperback ISBN 0-06-016001-2, ISBN paperback P.S. edition 0-06-114266-2, pocket edition ISBN 0-06-081245-1, illustrated edition ISBN 0-71-121278-3
• The Book of Job, Harper Perennial, 1992, ISBN 0-06-096959-8
• The Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai (with Chana Bloch), University of California Press, 1996, ISBN 0-52-020538-3
• The Sonnets to Orpheus by Rainer Maria Rilke, Simon & Schuster, 1985, ISBN 0-67-155708-4
• The Lay of the Love and Death of Cornet Christoph Rilke by Rainer Maria Rilke, Graywolf Press, 1985, ISBN 0-91-045702-6
• Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke, Random House, 1984, ISBN 0-39-474104-8
• The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge by Rainer Maria Rilke, Random House, 1983, ISBN 0-67-973245-4
• The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, Random House 1982, ISBN 0-39-452434-9, Vintage, 1989, ISBN 0-67-972201-7

Edited by Stephen Mitchell

• The Essence of Wisdom: Words from the Masters to Illuminate the Spiritual Path, Broadway Books, 1998, ISBN 0-76-790305-6
• Bestiary: An Anthology of Poems about Animals, Frog, Ltd., 1996, ISBN 1-88-331948-X
• Into the Garden: A Wedding Anthology (with Robert Hass), HarperCollins, 1993, ISBN 0-06-016919-2
• The Enlightened Mind: An Anthology of Sacred Prose, 1991, ISBN 0-06-092320-2
• The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry, HarperCollins, 1989, ISBN 0-06-092053-X
• Dropping Ashes on the Buddha: The Teaching of Zen Master Seung Sahn, Grove Press, 1976, ISBN 0-80-213052-6

Children's Books

• The Tinderbox, by Hans Christian Andersen (illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline), Candlewick Press, 2007, ISBN 0-76-362078-5
• The Wishing Bone and Other Poems (illustrated by Tom Pohrt), Candlewick Press, 2003, ISBN 0-76-361118-2
• The Nightingale, by Hans Christian Andersen (illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline), Candlewick Press, 2002, ISBN 0-76-361521-8
• Jesus: What He Really Said and Did, Harpertempest 2002, ISBN 0-06-449009-2
• The Creation (illustrated by Ori Sherman), Dial Books, 1990, ISBN 0-80-370618-9

External links

• Stephen Mitchell website
• Interview of Mitchell from November-December 1996 Psychology Today about his translation of Genesis (ads present)
• Author profile
• PBS interview
• Speaking of Faith, interview with Krista Tippett
• PW interview
• Interview with Pico Iyer
• Jeanine Payer

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