Xan Holt

Xan Holt received his B.F.A in Dramatic Writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2010. He then spent two years working as an English teaching assistant in Austrian secondary schools. Before coming to Columbia, he interned for several theater companies and on various theatrical productions in New York City, such as for the New York City Players and Richard Foreman.

His research examines the influence of political topographies on literary form and narrative, specifically the impact of Cold War spheres of influence and borders on German and Polish literature. His dissertation focuses on travelogues and travel fiction composed during Khrushchev’s Thaw, particularly works by Uwe Johnson, Wolfgang Koeppen, Arno Schmidt and Zbigniew Herbert.

Xan is also interested in literary and academic translation. His translations of poems by Georg Trakl have been published in the Broome Street Review.