Episode 31: Remembering Natsagdorj, father of Modern Mongolian Literature
Simon Wickham-Smith joins us on this episode. Simon is the foremost scholar and translator of contemporary Mongolian literature into English, he's spent decades bringing Mongolian prose and poetry to readers who'd otherwise have no way in — work that culminated in Politics and Literature in Mongolia (1921-48), one of the only English-language studies of the period. Simon and we discuss his book and what Natsagdorj Dashdorj meant to Mongolians and why he is so revered and should he be revered.
Three Universals “Authors whose name starts with N“:
Natsagdorj Dashdorj
Namdag Donrov
Nyamaa Bataa
Pocketcast | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
69min
Hosts: Anand, Julian
Guest: Simon Wickham-Smith
Date Recorded: July 26 2026
Date Released: August 5 2026
Keywords: literature | history | Germany
Show notes:
Simon’s 2020 book Politics and Literature in Mongolia (1921-48)
Simon’s podcast conversation about that book on New Books Network: East Asian Studies
English translation of the Tears of Venerable Lama By Natsagdorj D.: TEARS OF A VENERABLE LAMA | Translation Studies
Erratum:
Kenny Linden commented on LinkedIn:
"the only translator of contemporary Mongolian literature into English" is not a correct claim.
Kip Hutchins, PhDSainbayar Gundsambuu and Jessica Madison Pískatá all have excellent translations of literary works.
Some are included in the Words without Borders special edition (which also includes a translation by me of a socialist short story by S. Erdene).
https://wordswithoutborders.org/read/country/mongolia/
And here is Jessica's translation of the Grass Trilogy by Ochirbatyn Dashbalbar
https://www.sapiens.org/culture/grass-trilogy/
This is not even getting into the many translations by Charles Bawden and many other talented individuals.
