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Website of Michael En

Welcome :)

Hello, I’m Michael En, MA

I’m a queer-feminist translator/​academic/​activist not fond of such labels, engaging in various activities doing too many things at the same time. Currently, I’m mostly involved with work and completing my PhD at the University of Vienna.

I live, among other places, in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Japanese. At the moment, I spend most of my being and doing in Vienna, Austria.

I prefer cats to dogs, tea to coffee, and hoodies to shirts. I enjoy doing cryptic crossword puzzles, singing not only in the shower, and listening to radio plays. I’m chronically exhausted but I’m learning more and more to live with it. I like playing board and video games, in particular Citadels and on Nintendo consoles.

Between ideals of beauty and boxes of chocolate, I try to do what I can to make the world a better place. Maybe relatedly, I sigh a lot. This website is meant as a glimpse into (some aspects of) my life, although I rarely find the time and energy to update it.

Translation & text design

Go to the Qwir website.

Together with Boka En, I created Qwir text + design, a text, translation and design agency for people in academia, activist organisations and other areas of life. Based in Vienna, we offer:

  • translation (to and from en and de)
  • editing & proofreading
  • layout & formatting
  • web & graphic design
  • workshops & training
  • and more

In all our work, we try to encourage what’s good in the world. For Qwir, that means taking a perspective of social awareness, a focus on accessibility, and an overall approach that, in text and design, treats people and the world we live in with kindness.

Learn more …

Communication coaching

Go to the Go like Silk website.

Together with Michèle Cooke, I created Go like Silk. At our office in Vienna, we hold workshops in various formats to show you how you can …

  • flow in communication
    for work and/or fun
  • write with clarity
    and conviction
  • share your expertise
    with joy and care
  • find your own voice
    in German & English

‘Take a piece of silk and throw it in the air. See how it falls. It falls a different way every time. Silk flows its own way. No one tells it this way is wrong or this way is right. Each way is new. Because every moment is new.

To speak fluently, to write with confidence or to share your knowledge, you just need to do what silk does. Go your own way.’

Learn more …

Academia & research

My academic work focuses on and has been shaped by:

  • transcultural communication
  • global & local language power relations
  • translation
  • lingualism
  • critical sociolinguistics
  • discourse analysis
  • native-speakerism
  • stereotype threat
  • gender & sexuality
  • queer theory

And, maybe most importantly: etc.

Academic profiles

You can follow my research on:

Recent publications

I try to make my texts as accessible as possible. If you cannot access a text that you are interested in, please let me know.

  • En, Boka & En, Michael (2022). (Un)doing relationships: Boundary-Drawing and Queer(ing) Ways of Relating. In Rees, Emma (ed.), The Routledge Companion to Gender, Sexuality and Culture. Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780367822040-43
  • En, Michael (ed.) (2020). Truths, trust and translation. A festschrift, love letter and thank you to Michèle Cooke. Peter Lang. doi: 10.3726/b17300
    • Text, teas and thank yous: An Einleitung. 7–9.
    • Of bullet points and cows: Illuminating truths and truisms. 17–33.
  • En, Boka & En, Michael (2020). Beziehung(s)formen im queeren Alltag. In Michel Raab & Cornelia Schadler (Eds.), Polyfantastisch? Nichtmonogamie als emanzipatorische Praxis. Unrast, 45–64.
  • En, Michael & En, Boka (2019). “Coming out”… as a translator? Expertise, identities and knowledge practices in an LGBTIQ* migrant community translation project. Translation Studies, 1–18. doi: 10.1080/14781700.2019.1696222
  • En, Boka; En, Michael; Griffiths, David & Pöll, Mercedes (2017) Non-monogamies and queer kinship: personal-political reflections. Queer STS Forum, 2(1), 15–27. ‹ PDF ›
  • En, Boka; En, Michael & Pöll, Mercedes (2017). A world without gender? The struggle of Austria’s far right over what it means to be human: An analysis of Barbara Rosenkranz’ book MenschInnen. In Michaela Köttig, Renate Bitzan, & Andrea Pető (Eds.), Gender and far right politics in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, 235–252. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-43533-6_16

Conference contributions (selection)

If you saw me at one of these or at any others I didn’t list here, be it at my presentations or in the queue for the buffet, let me know!

Writing

Two poem translations that I’m happy to feature here. Will update as life allows it.

Links & recommendations

Other cool stuff & people

I like these. Maybe you’ll enjoy them, too?

Current and recent teaching

  • UE English as a lingua franca Centre for Translation Studies, University of Vienna Developing awareness of current global(ised) English(es) and the linguistic, socio-political realities they entail. Finding your own voice in English in personal and professional communication. Learning to act responsibly in international and/or translingual communication settings.
  • UE Text and written communication Centre for Translation Studies, University of Vienna Engaging critically with texts in (some of) their different forms. Discussing linguistic and social aspects of (written) texts. Analysing text concepts as well as specific situations, cotexts and contexts. Transcultural text analysis. Standard and non-standard forms of creating written texts.
  • SE Translating Knowledge: Creative English for academic communication seminar for PhD students at the University of Vienna (summer 2018 & winter 2019) Engaging with academic and other English(es) from perspectives outside the academic mainstream. Creative communication strategies for international knowledge transfer. English as a means of expression and a creative tool for assuming an active role in personal academic communication.

Contact me

I look forward to your message to

last update: July 2023