Ross Benjamin

Biography

Ross Benjamin is the translator of numerous works of German-language literature, including Franz Kafka’s Diaries; Daniel Kehlmann’s The Director, Tyll, and You Should Have Left; Joseph Roth’s Job; and Friedrich Hölderlin’s Hyperion. He is the recipient of a 2015 Guggenheim Fellowship and the 2010 Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator’s Prize. His translation of Tyll was shortlisted for the 2020 International Booker Prize, and The Director was selected as a New York Times Top 10 Book of 2025 and shortlisted for the 2026 International Booker Prize. His essays and criticism have appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Der Spiegel, The Times Literary Supplement, Bookforum, and other venues. He is coeditor of the Substack FRANZ, where he publishes translations of Kafka’s complete letters in chronological order.