Jon Cho-Polizzi

Jon Cho-Polizzi is a literary translator and Assistant Professor of German at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He grew up on the Mendocino Coast and studied Literature, History, and Translation at UC Santa Cruz and Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg before relocating to the East Bay, where he completed a concurrent PhD in German and Medieval Studies at UC Berkeley. His translation works highlight the radical diversity of contemporary German-language literature, with a focus on the Berlin literary scene. Recent book-length translations include Sharon Dodua Otoo’s Ada’s Realm (long-listed for the Dublin Literary Award), Max Czollek’s De-Integrate: A Jewish Survival Guide for the 21st Century (for which he was awarded the 2024 Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator’s Prize), and Fatma Aydemir‘s Djinns (which received the Society of Authors’ 2025 Schlegel-Tieck Prize). Jon splits his time living and working between Michigan, Northern California, and Berlin.