Ana Flecha Marco – Translator of the Month

How did you end up working as a translator of Norwegian literature?

I like to say that it’s thanks to my sister and a great Dane, but that’s the fairytale version of real events. When I was seventeen years old, I was awarded a scholarship to study in Flekke, a small village in Fjaler municipality, which is situated on the west coast of Norway. I submitted an application after an English teacher at school told me we’d never be successful; I’ve always been rebellious like that. You had to apply for a place, and if you were awarded the scholarship, you then had a choice of exotic study locations such as India, the USA, Hong Kong, Swaziland and Norway. When I was awarded the scholarship (a successful result, in spite of my teacher!) I had to select a school to attend, and since my sister had previously joined an exchange programme in Denmark (which explains the myth of the great Dane, who was a person rather than a dog), I chose Norway, thinking that it would be much the same. Clearly, I knew precious little about life at that point, and nothing whatsoever about how the Norwegian language would prove to be my most important work tool. My career as a translator started many years later, of course, but the seed had been sown during my teenage years.

Do you have any other jobs alongside your translation work?

When I’m not busy translating, I am an author. I’m also an editor for an imprint that publishes books consisting of letters from various countries. I occasionally work as an interpreter, too.

Your colleague Are Tjihkkom passed the baton to you with the following question: Hi Ana, it was very nice to meet you as a translator into a major language.
Which genres do you enjoy translating from Norwegian, and is there anything that Spanish literature simply can’t compete with?

Hi Are! Lovely to meet you too, and thank you for your questions.
I love translating from Norwegian. I love how efficient and concise the language is, and the way it forces me to recreate the same ideas in Spanish, which is much more long-winded in the sense that those of us who speak Spanish have a tendency to use more words than strictly necessary to express a simple idea, as I have just demonstrated. I prefer to translate fiction for adults and children, particularly when it’s something humorous. I find Norwegian literature cheeky and daring in amusing ways. I also like the challenge of translating picture books, because the illustrations naturally constrain what you can do with the text as a translator, such as when it comes to any play on words, for example. The space available for any text is more limited too, and Spanish translations tend to be longer than the original texts.

You are both a translator and an author. I’ve always thought of it much like being in related professions such as a singer and an instrumentalist, or a painter and a photographer, but that’s been my thing. What prompted you to do both, and how does one role influence the other? You’ve also been involved in publishing and editing, meaning you’ve done more than your fair share of text-based work in the publishing field.

I was a translator before I was an author. I actually started writing because I wanted to publish a book as an editor, and it seemed cheaper and more straightforward to write it myself. Obviously I still had a lot to learn: it was certainly cheaper, but not more straightforward. It didn’t take me long to realise that I wanted to carry on writing; it was something I enjoyed and I was good at it, and even though it may not seem the case, it worked well alongside translation. As a translator, I am bound to someone else’s text, style and ideas, which challenges me and helps me to think creatively. As an author, I have the freedom to come up with my own ideas and to express them in my own words, but being creative and concise are skills I have honed as a translator, and they’re extremely valuable when I write books of my own.

Do you publish your own titles? If not, how do you convince other publishers to publish the Norwegian books that you translate?

Fortunately (or unfortunately) I don’t have my own publishing house. I’m an editor of a small imprint within a small publishing house. Everything is too small; it’s like I’ve turned into Snow White! I did manage to persuade my editor-in-chief to publish one of my Kenneth Moe translations, The Obvious. Poklonka, a Colombian house, had purchased the rights to publish in Colombia, Mexico and Argentina, but not in Spain, so the translation was already complete and the process was straightforward. It is usually the editors who suggest texts to me, but from time to time I am able to talk them into purchasing the rights to a book that I’m keen to translate, which is a very satisfying experience. It’s not always easy to convince them to take a risk on a Norwegian book, often written by an author unknown within the Spanish-speaking market, but the financial, moral and logistical assistance offered by NORLA is a big help.

Which of the books you’ve translated have brought you the most joy?

There are so many, but the one that springs to mind is Nina Lykke’s Natural Causes. The Norwegian title literally translates as ‘wide/advanced spread’ and it was like a prognosis, because the book has spread all over the place and has acquired many enthusiastic Spanish readers. Linn Ulmann’s Unquiet and Girl, 1983 were also a joy to translate, primarily because they’re great reads in themselves, but also because it was thanks to Girl, 1983 that I was awarded the Esther Benítez Prize in 2024.

What would be your best advice to those who wish to embark upon a career in translation?

Read lots, speak to people of all ages, join a translator’s association, get to know your colleagues, ask for help when you need it, enquire about the things that puzzle you, and help out other people. Replace a translator’s association with any kind of union and the same applies for anyone who wants to be part of society.

What would you be if you weren’t a translator?

I’d love to be a wealthy heiress. That would save me from worrying about the bribery of working for a living, and I could devote myself to things that greatly resemble those I already do now, but taking a much more relaxed approach. Unfortunately being a wealthy heiress isn’t the sort of thing you get to choose for yourself, and so even though I do devote myself to the things I love most in life, everyday life can be somewhat stressful.

What is your best translation memory?

I have so many lovely translation-related memories, and they’re all connected to the people I’ve met: meeting and befriending Norwegian translators from all around the world through NORLA, as well as Spanish-speaking translators working from other languages through translator’s associations in Spain, Colombia, Mexico and Argentina. The extraordinary honour of receiving prizes for something as everyday as doing my job. And, of course, the privilege of having such a close relationship with books that I love by authors that I admire. I do also have a more concrete memory that warms my heart. When my niece was younger and still unable to read, she would happen upon any open book and ‘read’ the words “translated by Ana Flecha Marco”. That goes to show how successful indoctrination can be.

We hope you might be willing to pass the Translator of the Month baton to one of your colleagues who translates from Norwegian. To whom will you pass the baton – and what would you like to ask them?

I’d like to pass the baton to my dear colleague Fuyumi Nakamura, one of the members of the NORLA party committee when we were students from the countryside in the big city as part of NORLA’s Translator’s Hotel programme in 2022.

Hi Fuyumi! I have a few questions for you: I’ve noticed that you’ve translated several books with a colleague. Would you recommend co-translation? What are the benefits?
Do you remember the first Norwegian book you ever read? Was it a Japanese translation, or did you read it in the original Norwegian?

Read more

More about Ana on Books from Norway.

Visit Ana’s homepage.

Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview here.

More interviews in NORLA’s series

Translators are our most important stakeholders when it comes to the spread of Norwegian literature in the world. Their work is of crucial significance, and in order to shed light on this, we embarked on this series of interviews, known as ‘Translator of the Month’.
You can find all of the interviews here.