Anna Halas

Anna Halas is a playwright, translator, and researcher. She was born in Lviv (Ukraine) and graduated from the Faculty of Foreign Languages at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, specializing in translation. She furthered her education at the University of Oxford in England, focusing on contemporary British drama. Upon returning to Lviv, Anna Halas began teaching and conducting research at Ivan Franko National University, where she presented her PhD thesis on theatre translation, with a particular emphasis on contemporary Irish drama, including the works of Martin McDonagh. 

Anna has attended many prestigious schools of literary and theatre translation, including the University of Edinburgh (Scotland), the University of East Anglia, (England) and the University of Bristol (England). Additionally, she has delivered guest lectures on drama and translation at institutions such as the Ukrainian Catholic University (Ukraine), the University of Birmingham (UK), Princeton University (USA), the University of Notre Dame (USA), Leipzig University (Germany) etc. 

Over her career, Anna has partnered with numerous theatres throughout Ukraine, working with texts by playwrights like Harold Pinter, Edward Albee, Eugene O’Neill, William Gibson, and more. A significant highlight came in 2020 when her translation of Christopher Hampton's "Dangerous Liaisons" was recognized by "Eurodram," a prestigious European network devoted to translated drama.

In recent years, Anna has been translating contemporary Ukrainian drama into English. Furthermore, she has taken on the role of coordinating the "Theatre Translation Lab," an innovative platform aimed at fostering collaboration and experimentation among practitioners and aspiring translators in the field of theatre translation. She serves as the editor and coordinator of the Ukrainian Drama Translations portal and as the curator of the Iryna Steshenko Drama Translation Competition. The annual competition aims to encourage translations of classic Ukrainian dramas into various languages, foster a professional community in theatre translation, and discover talented new translators.