Previous activities

NORLA invites foreign publishers, editors, sub-agents and scouts to apply for our fellowship program at the Norwegian Festival of Literature in Lillehammer, 31 May – 2 June 2022. This year marks the physical opening of the newly established rights centre Lillehammer Rights at Scandic Victoria Hotel, where all fellows will get a table. The rights centre is a collaboration with the Norwegian Festival of Literature in Lillehammer. Additionally, we continue with the popular seminar where you will be introduced to New Voices from Norway. This year, participants of all genres and languages are welcome to apply.

What is it like for an author to have their own words translated to another language, and how far can we trust the translator to have picked up all the nuances? What is it like to translate the words of others without changing them to your own, but retaining the author’s special character?

Nina Lykke two prize-winning novels No, a Hundred Times No (original title: Nei og atter nei, 2016) and Natural Causes (original title: Full spredning, 2019) have both been translated to Polish by Karolina Drozdowska. The latter has produced a number of Polish translations of Norwegian books, and can say something about what happens when words in one language are converted into another.

Read more about the translation subsidy for Norwegian non-fiction here.

Foreign publishers may also apply for production subsidies for the publication of Norwegian non-fiction containing a large number of illustrations or with exceptionally demanding technical production requirements.
Read more about the scheme here.

On Monday, January 24th, NORLA will join a panel on Tehran’s second Virtual Book Fair to talk about Children Literature Translations Grant Programs.
The panel is held by Blue Circle Agency and The Iran Book and Literature House.

At NORLA we will close for the Christmas holiday Friday afternoon, December 17.
The office will reopen on Monday, January 3.

Read our Director Margit Walsø’s Christmas Greetings here!
If you happen to read Norwegian, you will find our personal book tips here.

We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Digital book trade meeting in collaboration with the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Beijing and the Consulate General in Guangzhou.
The focus will be on all genres, with screening of NORLA’s selected title films. Andrine Pollen will also present our activities and support schemes.

Meeting of NORLA’s expert committee for fiction for the consideration of applications for translation subsidies with deadline 15 November.

Read more about the translation subsidy here.

In cooperation with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Consulate General in New York, NORLA will organize the following events in New York, Tuesday December 7:

• A book trade meeting for invited guests at The Center for Fiction.
  Here the authors Selma Lønning Aarø, Monica Isakstuen, Victoria Kielland and Nina Grünfeld will introduce themselves to American publishers.

• An open event at Scandinavia House with author Torbjørn Ekelund and author and comedian Are Kalvø.

The Norwegian Embassy in London and NORLA invite translators from Norwegian to English to a lunch seminar at the Ambassador’s residence on 24 November. Publisher Karen Sullivan, Orenda Books, will moderate a conversation with authors Helga Flatland and Ingrid Christophersen. In addition, the translators will meet the authors Bjørn Vatne, Endre Ruset, Jon Ståle Ritland and Silje Ree. A number of journalists and publishers have also been invited.

NORLA will, in collaboration with the Norwegian Embassy in Brasilia, host a two-hour webinar with Brazilian publishers, focusing on fiction. There will be screening of our selected title films, followed by speed dating between Norwegian agents and the Brazilian publishers. Translators of Norwegian literature into Brazilian Portuguese will also participate.

Hanne Ørstavik, Erik Fosnes Hansen, Erika Fatland and Anders Indset are invited to “Norwegian Day” in Kunsthaus Zürich on Sunday 21 November. The theme for this year’s Norwegian Day is “TIME: past – present – future”.
Jørn Lier Horst is unfortunately unable to attendt the event.
Read more about the event here.

On November 18, The Norwegian Consulate General in Shanghai and NORLA host a seminar for Chinese publishers and translators, where invited Norwegian authors, illustrators and literary agents will participate digitally.

Read more about the translation subsidy for Norwegian fiction here.

Foreign publishers may also apply for production subsidies for children’s and young adult’s picture books by Norwegian authors and illustrators.
Read more about the scheme here.

Jørn Lier Horst and Marta Breen attend the Vienna Book Fair, Buch Wien, November 11-13, to present their books in German.
NORLA also visits the fair and we look forward to meeting Austrian publishers and translators.

Norwegian books have been translated into Czech for 100 years. The Masaryk University in Brno is offering an exhibition in the Moravian Library of this impressive collection of Norwegian literature; The exhibition ‘100 years – 100 books’ is part of the celebration of 100 years of Czech-Norwegian diplomatic relations. Exhibition organizers are Professor Miluse Jurickova and Martina Smidtova. And the selection of the 100 titles have been carefully made from the almost 1,500 Norwegian titles published in Czech dating from the oevre of Henrik Ibsen up to contemporary literature. Read more here and here (in Czech). NORLA visits Brno for the opening on November 9th.

NORLA will also visit its sister office CzechLit | Czech Literary Centre and meet Czech publishers and translators.

Thorvald Steen visits the Czech republic, and he will be in Brno to visit the exhibition on November 11th. Steen is the recipient of the prestigious Czech award Gratias Agit 2020, given in recognition of his efforts for democracy, freedom of speech, human rights and international cooperation.