Tom Boll

Tom Boll is an Associate Professor in Literary Translation at the University of East Anglia's School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing. He holds a PhD from University College London (UCL), focusing on Octavio Paz and T.S. Eliot. His research explores translation theory, Latin American avant-garde, Mexican cultural history, and archival studies of literary translation networks. Boll previously served as Managing Director of the Poetry Translation Centre, facilitating international poet exchanges, and taught at King’s College London.

Research Interests:

• Translation's social dynamics and archival traces
• 20th-century Spanish American literature and its transnational connections
• Modernist poetry and post-revolutionary Mexican cultural debates

His work analyzes Penguin Books and Farrar, Straus & Giroux archives to trace mid-20th century translation practices. Recent studies include collaborations between Octavio Paz and UK poet Charles Tomlinson, and advocacy roles in translation projects.

Awards:

• Everett Helm Visiting Fellowship (2024)

He curates the Literary Translation Archive at the British Archive for Contemporary Writing and co-translated Mexican poet Coral Bracho's works. Boll's public engagements include lectures on Borges, Paz, and Latin American Nobel laureates.

Labs/Groups: Member of UEA's Translation Research Group.